Change annotator layout, move tool setting to horizontal region above the image

[DamirPorobic]

I've been thinking for some time about moving the tool specific settings (like width, color and so on) to the horizontal region above the image and then show the tool selection in a single column on the left side. That would allow to add more tool settings to the top and even few wider ones that currently wouldn't fit.

[c33s]

makes quite a lot of sense.

2 references

photoshop cs6

greenshot

[DamirPorobic]

Thanks for the examples.

[DamirPorobic]

How does this look:

I kind of prefer the settings at the bottom, but that seems to be unusual. The items settings at the top make look crowded there.
Note that this is a working version, there is still some room for improvement, like the buttons for color and line edits for width don't have to be that wide. Also the height is something that should be looked into.

[DamirPorobic]

And here with dock widgets, which I think is becoming my personal favorite. There is still stuff that needs to be fixed but it allows a nice level of customization:

[fabianski7]

wow, it's looking amazing

[DamirPorobic]

I'm experimenting with some different title bar options but I'm maybe going in the wrong direction, maybe better stick to the UI elements that the users are used to

[DamirPorobic]

Or I could try to have something there like in Photoshop with the handle on the left side for horizontal widgets and at the top for vertical.

[DamirPorobic]

I think I like those Photoshop handles

[antrrax]

For the sake of ergonomics, the top bar is better. because when grouping the commands (main menu and properties) in the same region, it decreases the movements of the mouse, perhaps that is why it is a preference of most users.

But I think that any changes you make should be easier from the point of view of maintaining the code.

[c33s]

i also like it more if the toolbar is on the top but i am also a fan of making it configurable :)

[DamirPorobic]

It's going to be configurable

[fabianski7]

how does it look in a gtk environment? i think that is something to consider as well. i have seen several gnome users using ksnip

[DamirPorobic]

I believe it will get the Fusion Theme and look like this

[DamirPorobic]

I have pushed a first version with dockable elements. The position is not yet saved, that's my next task but you can play around with it an give some feedback.

[fabianski7]

The only problem I had was with the effects tool. When it is at the bottom of the screen, you can't see the menu with all the options because it is cut off. I think this was there even before these changes, but now that the user can choose where it is going to be, it is more likely to happen.

Other than that, it is working very well. Great job.

[fabianski7]

it was also not possible to save the custom location of the panels after closing ksnip

[DamirPorobic]

Saving and restoring state of widgets should work now.

[fabianski7]

Another detail: the panel lines are misaligned when the tabs are hidden automatically.
In the screenshot above this is already visible, but it is less noticeable in a theme with fewer lines, like lightly.
In breeze it gets a bit worse: