On Wed, 23 Aug 2006, graffoo wrote:
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:39:20 +0200 From: graffoo <graffoo@...400...> To: inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Save and Save As, Save a Copy vs Export
Ulf Erikson wrote:
There are several bug reports and feature requests that show how people find the current Save and Save As combination to be cumbersome to work with, but.. reading feature requests such as #1520237, #1085718, #1282332, #1377887, #1388131 and #1511930 it is clear that there are as many ideas as reporters on what the best solution is. and often is this idea very much influenced by what other applications the reporter has used before
What are the plans (or thoughts and ideas) about how Inkscape should work regarding saving and exporting files in the future? Is there an Inkscape GUI guru (group?) deciding on what the best strategy is? Is there a document describing such a common goal everyone can help work towards?
Well it would be great to have a GUI group to discuss further appearance and functionality of Inkscape ;) at the time all this GUI talk seems to be part of devel list...
There seems to be two works in progress in Svn; a new export dialog that also includes vector formats and a new save a copy dialog. My personal preference goes for extending an existing dialog, but wish to hear whether this is all part of a bigger plan.
From other apps I used, the Export command always worked as a multi format exporter. Not just to one specific format. Current export dialog is great for its detailed settings (but lacks PNG format settings) but it differs from common Save/Open dialogs in gnome. I think that if Inkscape want to follow HID like other gnome apps the export commnad should first show a standard save dialog specifying the file name, extension/format and path. After hitting OK it should display a dialog where user could specify details which are tightly binded to the selected exporting format (eg. export text as curves for PDF, resolution for png and bitmaps generaly, etc) along with specifying document area of export like in current PNG export dialog. Like GIMP does that.
That is an immensely annoying way of doing this.
You are prompted to set the options EVERY TIME. There is no way you will want to change the options absolutely every time, you shouldn't even need to change the options half of the time.
I have seen applicatoins which have an Options button in the Save dialog which allows you to quickly get to the import/export section of preferences and change the settings, without needing to bother you with this information absolutely every time.
About the question of different functionality of Save as and Export.
The big distinction between Save and Export/Save a Copy is the former creates a document under the given name and continues to work on it, whereas the latter saves a copy under a new name (possiby a new format) but goes back to working on the existing document.