Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Topic: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool (Read 13313 times) previous topic - next topic

Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

September 25, 2008, 11:59:48 pm

Hello,
I am currently reworking Shades a bit, mostly refactoring the old code. This presents an unique opportunity to rid of things that aren't used, and I believe one such big useless blob is the "area mode".

Personally, I never use it the way it was originally planned - that is, place a few rectangles that cover the buggy pixels, then do a "clear". Regardless, I always place area and immediately clear. A bit of thought reveals this as a really stupid concept anyway.

Thus it seems having a big brush, eh, eraser, might work better. Something roughly circular with which you could just smear the area. For precise purposes there is always the single pixel corrector in paint tools, so...

Attached is a brush demo. Allow more sizes? Bigger? Smaller?

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #1 – September 26, 2008, 09:43:42 am

Variable size and shape, a circular and square version, with size variation controlled by a slider would be ideal. At the very least, a 1x1px, 5x5px, 20x20px and big (maybe 50x50px) version would be good.

And I agree, I've never used the area select mode, click'n'drag tools are a lot quicker to use in the majority case of needing to clean up one or two pixels, and provide live feedback on progress.

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #2 – September 26, 2008, 11:06:49 am

Ok, I have used the area tools several times - but I think it's nothing I couldn't also handle with a selection bigger "delete-brushes".

But VS, while you working on it anyway... I've always had problems zooming in. Like when I have zoomed in and then moved the view to a particular part and then try to zoom in one more step, I need to find the place I was looking at again... a little uncomfortable IMO.

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #3 – September 26, 2008, 12:53:20 pm

To me it seems the mindset needed for area tool is similar to autocad... think first, then act. Plan it like a war strategy: you usually lose, not win. Press buttons only when you're absolutely sure you want to.

On the other hand, Macromedia Flash can undo even selections and such non-modifying actions, so you can pretty much play with controls and mostly go back if something went wrong.

I tend to like the second approach more.

Of course the brush mode can be added, instead of replacing areas completely.

Did you zoom using mouse, or the buttons?

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #4 – September 26, 2008, 01:15:49 pm

zoomed with the +/- keys - didn't even know that one can zoom by mouse (and still don't know how...?)

EDIT:

Ah middle mouse button!

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #5 – September 26, 2008, 01:27:20 pm

Ok, now I have a fairly good idea what might be wrong... but I only started working with the code yesterday after five months' break. So it may turn false easily.

For the record, pressing +/- keys is the same as using these buttons.

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #6 – September 26, 2008, 01:46:28 pm

feedback: I never used the area tools. I always clear all unintended special colors on the whole image, after that i start adding special colors.

proposal: It would be nice to have a "select by color-tool" (often called "magic wand") together with a big pencil. So you could select all the windows (if they all have the same color) and then paint some of them with a big pencil without having to hit the exact pixel.

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #7 – September 26, 2008, 01:49:43 pm

Quote from: VS – on September 26, 2008, 01:27:20 pm

For the record, pressing +/- keys is the same as using these buttons.

Except that the mouse button zooms centered on the mouse pointer, while the +/- keys zoom to... well somewhere else - definitely never where I want. But now that I know that there's a mouse zoom (and how it works), I'm happy!

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #8 – September 26, 2008, 02:11:48 pm

mobo - well I'm not going to re-create The Gimp

That's what the external editor capability is for. Maybe if I don't have anything to do in a few years

Dirk - yup, it zooms rather freely. I guess that scrollbar "offsets" are kept. I fixed it, except the code is a huge mess right now, so probably no way to get it into release soon...

Re: Shades - feedback please - area cleaning tool

Reply #9 – September 26, 2008, 03:38:03 pm

Quote from: VS – on September 26, 2008, 02:11:48 pm

That's what the external editor capability is for.

Ok, haven't used that either. but i'll try it next time.