Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to modify Inkscape's UI where input of measurement values are used. My apologies if this has been discussed before.
Currently (version 1.4.2) measurement input fields use an edit box containing the number and a combo box to specify the measurement unit.
My suggestion is to use an edit box alone, with the user indicating the measurement unit after the number by typing its name e.g. "4.2px". A space may be optionally used if desired e.g. "4.2 px" (current locale is used to interpret and display decimal points).
Okay, but why?
- Less UI widgets to place, show/hide/enable, reflect to/from, etc.
- Less chance of accidentally using the wrong unit by forgetting to change the combo box selection.
- Ability to use multi-unit measures e.g. "2p4" to indicate 2 picas and 4 pts, common in typography, or things like "6ft 2in".
- Percent symbol (%) can be used where appropriate to indicate a percentage of some contextual distance e.g. a document dimension, lessening the need for users to figure out the computed distance.
If this is of any interest, I have some C++ library code to help with implementation.
Ray Gardener Daylon Graphics Ltd. www.daylongraphics.com
On Sun, 2 Nov 2025 15:34:58 -0800 Ray at Daylon rayg@daylongraphics.com wrote:
My suggestion is to use an edit box alone, with the user indicating the measurement unit after the number by typing its name e.g. "4.2px". A space may be optionally used if desired e.g. "4.2 px" (current locale is used to interpret and display decimal points).
How is the user supposed to switch the unit of the current measurement, then? For example if the current height says 1.23 in and the user now wants to know the measurment in mm?
On 11/3/2025 12:29 AM, Thorsten Wilms wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2025 15:34:58 -0800 Ray at Daylon rayg@daylongraphics.com wrote:
My suggestion is to use an edit box alone, with the user indicating the measurement unit after the number by typing its name e.g. "4.2px". A space may be optionally used if desired e.g. "4.2 px" (current locale is used to interpret and display decimal points).
How is the user supposed to switch the unit of the current measurement, then? For example if the current height says 1.23 in and the user now wants to know the measurment in mm?
That may have marginal utility? Afaik with my own user base, no one requested unit conversions. One problem is that if the number was already correct in magnitude, they want only the unit to change w/o conversion.
It might be because the use cases are already handled e.g. a person needs a shape to be 12 cm tall but with 3 pts added. So instead of typing in 12 and switching the combo box from cm to pt and then adding 3 to the new number, he just types "12cm 3pt". If he needs the points subtracted, it's just "12cm -3pt".
It seems Photoshop uses unit names in their edit fields, but if one right-clicks the field it pops up a menu letting a different unit be chosen, and the conversion can be done like before. Inkscape also provides a menu (of alternate numbers) but it wouldn't be hard to add the unit names there (or just the names if the user clicks on a unit label; I think Photoshop does that).
Inkscape also handles math expressions in number fields, which is great, so there's already a parser there.
Another advantage is when doing business forms. E.g. Instead of having width and height inputs share a single combo box for units, someone needing a rectangle 6" x 7 picas can enter those measurements without having to use one or the other unit.
It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. If a field contains no measurement units, the unit is decided by the combo box. So the decision to drop the combo boxes can be deferred as long as desired.
Side note: while using Inkscape I noticed that the units popup menu gets clipped when the main window is maximized (see attached image). I guess it has no choice in order to keep the current selection aligned. Maybe have a horizontal or grid flyout instead?
Dear Ray,
You have some good idea here and they should be formally recorded in an issue.
Please report it to the inbox and it can be moved to the UX/UI team:
You can copy and paste and attach what you already have in these emails.
Martin Owens
On Mon, 2025-11-03 at 10:36 -0800, Ray at Daylon wrote:
On 11/3/2025 12:29 AM, Thorsten Wilms wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2025 15:34:58 -0800 Ray at Daylon rayg@daylongraphics.com wrote:
My suggestion is to use an edit box alone, with the user indicating the measurement unit after the number by typing its name e.g. "4.2px". A space may be optionally used if desired e.g. "4.2 px" (current locale is used to interpret and display decimal points).
How is the user supposed to switch the unit of the current measurement, then? For example if the current height says 1.23 in and the user now wants to know the measurment in mm?
That may have marginal utility? Afaik with my own user base, no one requested unit conversions. One problem is that if the number was already correct in magnitude, they want only the unit to change w/o conversion.
It might be because the use cases are already handled e.g. a person needs a shape to be 12 cm tall but with 3 pts added. So instead of typing in 12 and switching the combo box from cm to pt and then adding 3 to the new number, he just types "12cm 3pt". If he needs the points subtracted, it's just "12cm -3pt".
It seems Photoshop uses unit names in their edit fields, but if one right-clicks the field it pops up a menu letting a different unit be chosen, and the conversion can be done like before. Inkscape also provides a menu (of alternate numbers) but it wouldn't be hard to add the unit names there (or just the names if the user clicks on a unit label; I think Photoshop does that).
Inkscape also handles math expressions in number fields, which is great, so there's already a parser there.
Another advantage is when doing business forms. E.g. Instead of having width and height inputs share a single combo box for units, someone needing a rectangle 6" x 7 picas can enter those measurements without having to use one or the other unit.
It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. If a field contains no measurement units, the unit is decided by the combo box. So the decision to drop the combo boxes can be deferred as long as desired.
Side note: while using Inkscape I noticed that the units popup menu gets clipped when the main window is maximized (see attached image). I guess it has no choice in order to keep the current selection aligned. Maybe have a horizontal or grid flyout instead?
Inkscape Devel mailing list -- inkscape-devel@lists.inkscape.org To unsubscribe send an email to inkscape-devel-leave@lists.inkscape.org
participants (3)
-
Martin Owens -
Ray at Daylon -
Thorsten Wilms