Ell has just implemented the grouping of tools in the toolbox for the upcoming version 2.10.16. This means a) all tools now fit pretty much any screen in a single column, and b) the default window layout where tool options are below the toolbox makes even less sense now.
can’t post screenshots at the moment but the first thing I do after a gimp install is to move the tool options to below the layers. Then I slim down the tool palette.
That was my long winded way of saying I like your proposal!
I don’t know what to think about that. It looks too much like the standard Photoshop or Krita interface. This may be nice for the people making conversions from Adobe, but I’m not sure if it’s more effective for the work.
On one hand, I like the grouping of tools and if all tools fit into one column, you gain a little bit of space for the image, but on the other hand, the tool settings, layer overview and all other settings are pressed into the right column, which makes it very crowded and tight.
Especially if you work with many layers you need a good overview, which gets lost when suggested changes are made.
This can be an advantage but also a big disadvantage.
A clean workspace prepared for the intended purpose is pleasant, but who decides what is necessary for particular purpose? If the user can customize it to his needs, then I think it is great.
But I don’t think much of the ready-made settings, because you always have to customize them, and it could be very tedious to search for options and tools in some hidden sub-menus.
Some time ago, we discussed the possibility of having tool settings as a horizontal toolbar below the menu bar and above the image area, optionally, of course. At least one regular developer (Jehan) was interested in that.
Mmm… I don’t know how I managed to make the impression that this would not be customizable, Of course it would be.
Ok I find that a more elegant solution. I use Inkscape and it works that way. If you , in addition to that, can show and hide the bar as an option, that would be even better, I’d love it.
I keep three windows visible all the time: Tool Options, Layers and Navigation.
The new suggested default layout makes more space for the image which is good, but it’s not so convenient to place Tool Options on the opposite side of the screen from tool selection. It’s rare for me to select a tool without adjusting the options and that’s a lot of mousing back and forth across the screen.
Still, the new idea looks nice and it might be a good default for new users.
What about stacking the tools at the far left as suggested, and then moving the other dockable windows just to the right of the tools? In other words, putting all the controls on the left and the image on the right? With an option that makes it easy for users to flip the layout and put controls on the right.
I would definitely appreciate the Inkscape layout. What I don’t like about Inkscape is that the truncating behaviour is inconsistent and unpredictable. If GIMP can overcome that, it would be an excellent update.
In the screenshot, I noticed that there is a sampling points tab. It should be there by default; it is the first thing that I activate on installation, but I always forget how to do it because it is hard to find in the menus.
Another improvement that I would like to see, although it is only semi-related to UI, is making the creation of and copying of data to masks easier. Again, it is something I forget how to do every time because the current way is so unintuitive.
I have two monitors and GIMP gets its own workspace… One monitor is full screen with the image, and the other is full screen with one huge docker of tools. Will post a screenshot soon.
First off, thanks for your input and screenshot. Saved both to the photography folder
As mentioned above, one option is to make a horizontal context-sensitive toolbar for tool options.
I’m not sure I understand you copy your data, create a new mask which gets automatically selected (rather than the layer data), then you Ctrl+V and anchor the floating selection. How would you improve this workflow?
Tool menu - I like the tools to be easily accessible, but they should take up as little space as possible. GIMP-2.10.14 doesn’t allow me to make them into a single column, so I have two columns with the wasted space below.
Tool settings - I want all settings to be visible, to reduce scrolling.
Main preview - should take up most of the screen real-estate.
I always want to see layers, and usually want to see the histogram. GIMP’s histogram could look a bit more exciting.
Two comments about your screenshot:
I think the theme in your screenshot could use more padding overall. Notice for example how the top menubar in my screenshot shows clearly separated menus, while in your screenshot they sort of all flow into each other, due to lack of padding. The same for the main tool panel icons - just a touch more padding would improve the feel.
I also notice in your screenshot that the text size of the tool context menu (left) and the menubar (top) is much larger than the text size of the panels on the right. I suppose it’s just a mockup and the final result will be consistent.
The image, fullscreen view, nothing else on my main screen.
Tools on the 2nd $20 screen: color rendition, icons, theme… indifferent
No need of screenshot.
Always hated image monowindow views (Gimp & others).
