or the UI ideas we definitely need for release.
Well, at some point I was trying to think up a unified interface for accessing line styles, but it would require a rather big interface change, so I'm not sure anybody would be in favour. (in any case, there is 0 chance of this being implemented anytime soon)
Have the rest of you ever used Krita? Krita has two small boxes at the top that when clicked, each opens a window: - One to choose brush engines + edit options + test and create previews - One to access presets
It sounds complicated, but it's actually quite easy to use: the presets system works very well, and the brush editing drop-down allows you to access complicated options quickly (then save them as easy-to-access presets). Although the editing window itself is large, it actually doesn't get in the way too much compared to say, Inkscape's fill and stroke tab, because you get it out of the way as soon as you've chosen.
The way I see it, while brushes are at the heart of raster drawing programs, line-styles are (more or less) at the heart of illustration programs. I'd envision an interface more or less like Krita's, but with line styles: - A linestyle editing pane, with a list of different engines to the left and options to the right, and a test-pad at the bottom where you can also create previews for new presets - A presets drop-down - (maybe something with fills too, not sure though)
The different engines would include: - Plain: normal, boring lines. It's is own "engine" because it's the most commonly used "style." - Dotted lines: here you'll have the dotted lines, markers etc. - Powerstrokes: everything that used to be in the Live Paths Effects pane will be moved here. There could be a visual editor to design and save line styles, basically a horizontal powerstroke to which you add and edit controls. Once you've saved it as a preset, the shape will then be mapped onto any powerstroke you draw. You could also choose "use current clipboard" to map the style of a currently copied powerstroke onto the editor, for saving. - Pattern along Path: Options include 1. Repeat styles 2. Whether to use the original colors of the object or use the fill color and 3. Whether to choose a pattern from a gallery, or use the clipboard. You can easily add new clips to said gallery (so you can make custom vines, chains, etc.), just like with Krita's pixel-brush brush-tip gallery. - Calligraphy maybe? - Line tiling? This is if Inkscape ever adds complex tiling along a line (see blueprint for tiling tool). - Render: specific live path effects, like stroke, etc.
The presets drop-down will show all available presets, regardless of engine. It will have a search box for easy filtering. There'd be intuitive names like: - Graph full line single-arrow - Graph dotted line double-arrow - Powerstroke decreasing - Powerstroke increasing - Powerstroke sharp edges etc. (want a graph connector? Type "Gr" and you'll already get the list of graph lines)
The tools in the left pane would be separated into line drawing tools (that apply the selected engine) and other tools. You can choose whether you want shape tools to use "plain lines" by default or use the chosen line style engine.
To make the whole system even easier to use, the different engines would require more on-canvas editing options. For example, the purple diamond used for powerstrokes right now could be extended to Pattern Along Path to create variations in the sizes of the patterns. If on- canvas editing is too complicated, the editor pane at least could be used to specify and preview the size of the patterns used.
If anybody is interested I can try to make a few mock-ups, even if they don't get used.