-----Original Message----- From: inkscape-devel-bounces@lists.sourceforge.net [mailto:inkscape-devel-bounces@lists.sourceforge.net] On Behalf Of jiho Sent: woensdag 19 maart 2008 8:39 To: Joshua Facemyer / Impressus Art; Inkscape List Devel Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Fwd: sorting out PS/EPS/PDF export mess
Export...: User may choose from a number of lossy formats, vector and bitmap, with all of the various options for selecting areas etc.
Agreed. I would still like to see a "Save incremental
copy" option,
even if not in the menu at least as a key command, which
would do the
same as the "Save a copy" option - except that it doesn't open the dialog and saves a copy according the the incremental copy rules in the export or doc prefs dialog, wherever makes most sense.
I think this should ultimately replace "Save a copy" and show a standard save dialog except for some buttons which insert placeholder syntax.
Although it might duplicate functionality, "Save a copy" seems to me like a very clear description of exactly what it does, plus it is recognizable from other apps. "Export" to me implies saving to some different file format to export it from Inkscape to some other program. ('save a copy' was my first patch, I'm protecting my child!) Moreover, Save a copy would, like Aaron proposed, always save to InkscapeSVG; export can save to other formats and it would be nice if Inkscape remembered the last format that was saved to and opened the dialog with that. Removing save a copy removes this possibility.
However I don't see is how it is possible, usability wise, to have a command that does not open a dialog (while I agree with Joshua that this would be very nice). Indeed, if the prefs for the name format are in Inkscape general preferences and that the menu command just saves the file according to those, with no user interaction, the user cannot figure out how it actually works the first time he uses it: Bad. If the prefs are in the save dialog, together with a checkbox [Do not show this dialog in the future] it will make it impossible to change them easily afterwards: Bad. So we'll need to make a clumsy workaround like something in the general prefs which says: [Show the incremental save dialog again]: Bad too. The only possibility I see, which is very suboptimal though, it to have the prefs for the name in Inscape general prefs (or on a per document basis even) and to artificially show a small progress bar when saving, with a message and a button pointing to where the prefs are. This means slowing down artificially an otherwise quick process which, again, is probably suboptimal (to say the least). Anyone with ideas?
Why not have it as a document preference. First time user hits "save increm" Inkscape can't find the doc pref and opens a dialog where to save the incremental files (the path to which depends on which file being edited and therefore it should not be a global preference). Then the second time user presses it, Inkscape sees the doc pref and does not ask. Changing things is possible from document preferences dialog.
(On the other hand, having that in the export dialog make it possible to keep it open at all time and just click [Export] to save a new copy :-P Yes, I am kind of single-minded --if that's the right expression and if it is not too pejorative in English)
I'm not too sure how many dialogs I'd like to keep open at the same time! :)
-johan