Here is an email I received a few minutes ago...
Jon
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Inkscape interface Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 14:07:12 -0500 (EST) From: Joshua <jwar@...629...> Reply-To: jwar@...629... To: jon@...235..., horkana@...44..., Peter.Moulder@...38...
Good day, Jon, Alan and Peter.
Attached to this e-mail is just a simple little mock up of an idea for an alternate Inkscape interface.
Since most users like the current interface, there would, of course, be no need to change it. But when I read that, amazingly, future versions of Inkscape will incorporate SVG animation, (!) I thought the interface might need a little adjustment to incorporate future features (like the animation feature, filters, anything else that could be used to display the power of SVG).
I could be way off with this, but it's just an idea.
Thanks for the great work.
-Joshua / Jiaxiang
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On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 11:14:56 -0800, Jon Phillips <jon@...235...> wrote:
inkscape interface.png
I think it makes no sense to preserve the tool controls bar (above the canvas) and then repeat all the buttons for zoom and node tools also on the left, in the Sodipodi-like toolbox. It looks very confusing, giving you no clue as to what group of buttons is the main tool buttons and what are just sub-modes of the main tools.
Inkscape's idea of a UI is simple:
1. There's a set of a few (not more than 15 in any case) main tools, each corresponding to a distinct mode of operation and/or appllicable to a distinct class of objects. They are represented by big visible buttons on the left. No other clutter is allowed there.
2. Each tool may have some controls which only make sense within the context of that tool. These go into the controls bar above the canvas. The key idea is that the controls bar switches automatically to reflect the current tool, so you never see the controls for non-active tools. This reduces clutter immensely.
3. There are also actions that are independent of the current tool and may be used at any time, such as Save or Export. These go to the Commands bar above the controls bar. Right now it's an all-in-one, but later we may break it into smaller logically grouped toolbars that can be dragged around, shown/hidden separately, etc.
4. There are dialogs that contain controls for complex operations. Dialogs are, as a rule, independent of the current tool and are too big to fit into any toolbar. So they are floating. E.g. layers will be in a dialog of their own (in addition to the statusbar selector).
This general scheme can be improved (e.g. dialogs can be made to dock together a-la Gimp), but I think it represents sound principles that have so far proven themselves. The attached mockup breaks most of these principles for no apparent advantage. Overall, it's quite bulky and messy.
participants (2)
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bulia byak -
Jon Phillips