RSS/Atom feed Twitter
Site is read-only, email is disabled

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

This discussion is connected to the gimp-developer-list.gnome.org mailing list which is provided by the GIMP developers and not related to gimpusers.com.

This is a read-only list on gimpusers.com so this discussion thread is read-only, too.

15 of 16 messages available
Toggle history

Please log in to manage your subscriptions.

Minor enhancements in the export dialog Guillermo Espertino (Gez) 25 Nov 03:33
  Minor enhancements in the export dialog Nicolas Robidoux 25 Nov 14:04
  Minor enhancements in the export dialog Richard Gitschlag 25 Nov 14:57
   50B24780.1050505@gmail.com 25 Nov 17:55
    Minor enhancements in the export dialog Alexia Death 25 Nov 17:55
     Minor enhancements in the export dialog Richard Gitschlag 26 Nov 18:46
      Minor enhancements in the export dialog Alexia Death 27 Nov 07:40
       Minor enhancements in the export dialog Nicolas Robidoux 27 Nov 14:40
        Minor enhancements in the export dialog Nathan Summers 27 Nov 14:52
         Minor enhancements in the export dialog Richard Gitschlag 27 Nov 18:25
          Minor enhancements in the export dialog Tobias Ellinghaus 27 Nov 19:09
       Minor enhancements in the export dialog Liam R E Quin 27 Nov 16:52
        Minor enhancements in the export dialog Ofnuts 28 Nov 01:45
         Minor enhancements in the export dialog Liam R E Quin 28 Nov 03:15
  Minor enhancements in the export dialog Guillermo Espertino (Gez) 05 Dec 03:31
   Minor enhancements in the export dialog Richard Gitschlag 05 Dec 13:06
Guillermo Espertino (Gez)
2012-11-25 03:33:44 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

We've been discussing in the spanish-speaking libre graphics community about the save vs. export debate, and even though the discussion ended up polarized between new and old behavior backers like here, a couple of interesting comments emerged.

This is what I noted: Several users seem to miss the default "by extension" option in the export dialog. They tend to use the dropdown to select the output format. This is perceived as a tedious extra step "I have to use a different option (export) then I have to find the proper format". Once they learn about that feature it is very well received, so probably adding a more obvious description to that option could be useful.

"by extension (the extension in the filename will be used to choose the export format)"

I think there's enough room in the dialog to add that and that would make the feature more obvious.
I'm aware that this feature isn't new and it was exactly the same in 2.6, but several people seem to have missed it.

The other thing is about remembering the output format selected through sessions. GIMP remembers the last format used for export in the same session, but as soon as you close GIMP it will be forgotten and the default PNG is used.
For people who process mostly JPGs from a digital camera, for instance, having to change to jpg on every session can be tedious. If GIMP remembered the last format used (or at least offer that option) those people would perceive the export dialog as more useful and they'd probably change their mind about the overall value of the distinction between save and export.

Gez.

Nicolas Robidoux
2012-11-25 14:04:20 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Guillermo:

These are the most constructive comments I've read about this issue.

+1

nicolas

Richard Gitschlag
2012-11-25 14:57:51 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:33:44 -0300 From: gespertino@gmail.com
To: gimp-developer-list@gnome.org
Subject: [Gimp-developer] Minor enhancements in the export dialog

This is what I noted: Several users seem to miss the default "by extension" option in the export dialog. They tend to use the dropdown to select the output format. This is perceived as a tedious extra step "I have to use a different option (export) then I have to find the proper format". Once they learn about that feature it is very well received, so probably adding a more obvious description to that option could be useful.

Now that is strange, because using Windows GIMP 2.8 it seems to be the default setting for my Export dialog, even between sessions.

-- Stratadrake strata_ranger@hotmail.com
--------------------
Numbers may not lie, but neither do they tell the whole truth.

=

Alexia Death
2012-11-25 17:55:26 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Guillermo Espertino (Gez) wrote:

And this is kept between sessions, but the PNG extension is always used in the filename. If you change the extension to JPG, for instance, when you close and re-open GIMP it will go back to PNG (using the default "use extension" option, but it won't remember the last extension used).

I cant remember since when, but in current git for 2.8, all imported images default to imported format before all other options.

Current order in git is for format AFAIK: 1. last export of this image
2. imported extension
3. last export of any image
4. png

Original 2.8.0 did not use imported extension at all and it was a nuisance when working with JPG-s. 2.8.2 had the order slightly different, 2 and 3 were switched.

--Alexia
Richard Gitschlag
2012-11-26 18:46:07 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:55:26 +0200 From: alexiadeath@gmail.com
To: gespertino@gmail.com
CC: gimp-developer-list@gnome.org
Subject: Re: [Gimp-developer] Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Current order in git is for format AFAIK: 1. last export of this image
2. imported extension
3. last export of any image
4. png

So then the issue is that out of that priority chain none of steps 1 thru 3 are saved between GIMP sessions. (Okay, step 1 and 2 can't, as they're image-specific, but step 3...) If you simply start GIMP up and select the Export command, the default extension is PNG when that may not be desired. And the suggestion is for a slightly expanded priority chain:

1 - Last export of current image 2 - Extension of current imported image 3 - Last export of any image
4 - User preferences setting
5 - PNG if all else fails

-- Stratadrake strata_ranger@hotmail.com
--------------------
Numbers may not lie, but neither do they tell the whole truth. =

Alexia Death
2012-11-27 07:40:18 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 8:46 PM, Richard Gitschlag wrote:

So then the issue is that out of that priority chain none of steps 1 thru 3 are saved between GIMP sessions. (Okay, step 1 and 2 can't, as they're image-specific, but step 3...) If you simply start GIMP up and select the Export command, the default extension is PNG when that may not be desired. And the suggestion is for a slightly expanded priority chain:

1 - Last export of current image 2 - Extension of current imported image 3 - Last export of any image
4 - User preferences setting
5 - PNG if all else fails

This seems quite reasonable - different workflows/uses need a different default. PNG makes sense for a web designer, but not for a photographer/photomanipulator or painter who preffer to export to JPG or for game texture artist who needs to export in a specific third rather esoteric format.

Im ambvalent tho between a user set default and just carring the last export over sessions. Both have pros and cons. Set default is good if you have one area of use and preffered format for that, but it's very unflexible if you do both web design and photography in bouts. On the other hand, it will only matter if you have closed GIMP totally, meaning you are starting a new session anyway that has no relation to the last, so carrying over the last exported format may hinder rather than help and set default may work better...

Nicolas Robidoux
2012-11-27 14:40:40 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Could an xcf file contain info RE: export preference?

Then, for example, you could use the last used across sessions or whatever other rule, but loading an xcf would override.

Nathan Summers
2012-11-27 14:52:39 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Nicolas Robidoux wrote:

Could an xcf file contain info RE: export preference?

Then, for example, you could use the last used across sessions or whatever other rule, but loading an xcf would override.

Excellent idea.

Rockwalrus

Liam R E Quin
2012-11-27 16:52:10 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Tue, 2012-11-27 at 09:40 +0200, Alexia Death wrote:

[...] different workflows/uses need a different default.

I find I want a different default in different projects.

Long term I'd really like to see gimp start to acknowledge the idea of people working on multiple projects, both sequentially and in parallel.

I'm in the middle of processing photos (raw to JPEG or TIFF) when a client calls and I need to open a scanned greyscale PNG image and work on it. As part of doing that I open my "project" xcf file with colour swatches, notes and layers to drag into the main image.

In this view I'd really like to have multiple windows, one per project, each with remembered file format and folder for import/open and for export.

But it's not for today :-)

Liam

Liam Quin - XML Activity Lead, W3C, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/
Pictures from old books: http://fromoldbooks.org/
Ankh: irc.sorcery.net irc.gnome.org freenode/#xml
Richard Gitschlag
2012-11-27 18:25:06 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:52:39 -0500 From: rockwalrus@gmail.com
To: nicolas.robidoux@gmail.com
CC: gimp-developer-list@gnome.org
Subject: Re: [Gimp-developer] Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Nicolas Robidoux wrote:

Could an xcf file contain info RE: export preference?

Then, for example, you could use the last used across sessions or whatever other rule, but loading an xcf would override.

Excellent idea.

Rockwalrus
_______________________________________________ gimp-developer-list mailing list
gimp-developer-list@gnome.org
https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer-list

IMHO, the XCF data should contain not just the last export format but the full exported file name.

-- Stratadrake strata_ranger@hotmail.com
--------------------
Numbers may not lie, but neither do they tell the whole truth.

=

Tobias Ellinghaus
2012-11-27 19:09:01 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Am Dienstag, 27. November 2012, 19:25:06 schrub Richard Gitschlag:

[...]

IMHO, the XCF data should contain not just the last export format but the full exported file name.

And give personal information like usernames (which tend to be part of file paths) away?

[...]

Ofnuts
2012-11-28 01:45:32 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On 11/27/2012 05:52 PM, Liam R E Quin wrote:

On Tue, 2012-11-27 at 09:40 +0200, Alexia Death wrote:

[...] different workflows/uses need a different default.

I find I want a different default in different projects.

Long term I'd really like to see gimp start to acknowledge the idea of people working on multiple projects, both sequentially and in parallel.

I'm in the middle of processing photos (raw to JPEG or TIFF) when a client calls and I need to open a scanned greyscale PNG image and work on it. As part of doing that I open my "project" xcf file with colour swatches, notes and layers to drag into the main image.

In this view I'd really like to have multiple windows, one per project, each with remembered file format and folder for import/open and for export.

But it's not for today :-)

Liam

"gimp --new-instance" ?

Liam R E Quin
2012-11-28 03:15:16 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

On Wed, 2012-11-28 at 02:45 +0100, Ofnuts wrote:

In this view I'd really like to have multiple windows, one per project, each with remembered file format and folder for import/open and for export.

But it's not for today :-)

"gimp --new-instance" ?

The main problems with that are (1) it uses more memory, and (2) that the last one to exit is the one that gets to save tool options, recent files, etc. But I do take that route sometimes.

Liam

Liam Quin - XML Activity Lead, W3C, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/
Pictures from old books: http://fromoldbooks.org/
Ankh: irc.sorcery.net irc.gnome.org freenode/#xml
Guillermo Espertino (Gez)
2012-12-05 03:31:06 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

I'm adding an extra item to the list: I also had several of reports about people choosing the file filter dropdown (in the export dialog) by mistake, thinking it was the format selector.

A label saying "show only:" or something like that could help.

Also the widget is too prominent and it drags your attention to it before the file format selector, which is usually more important than the file filter dropdown.

Gez

Richard Gitschlag
2012-12-05 13:06:42 UTC (over 12 years ago)

Minor enhancements in the export dialog

Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2012 00:31:06 -0300 From: gespertino@gmail.com
To: gimp-developer-list@gnome.org
Subject: Re: [Gimp-developer] Minor enhancements in the export dialog

I'm adding an extra item to the list: I also had several of reports about people choosing the file filter dropdown (in the export dialog) by mistake, thinking it was the format selector.

A label saying "show only:" or something like that could help.

Also the widget is too prominent and it drags your attention to it before the file format selector, which is usually more important than the file filter dropdown.

Gez

In comparison, win32's native dialog box combines the two dropdowns - there's only the file format selector and it automatically filters the list by whatever you select. (If you want to filter it otherwise, you just enter the appropriate *.whatever as a filename)

-- Stratadrake strata_ranger@hotmail.com
--------------------
Numbers may not lie, but neither do they tell the whole truth.

=