On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:14:16 +0000, Rock wrote:
> Can you please be so nice and report this ideas on Pinta's idea web page:
For the record, I did post this screenshot summary to the Pinta Developers Group:
--- < warning > .... long ... slightly off topic < / warning > ... ... ---
Hi IgorZ,
Thanks for responding to our request.
I'll update the Centos.org forum with your additional information.
As Paint.NET is probably the best freeware screenshot editor on Windows, it would be useful for these features to be in an RPM installation form.
I will gladly comply with your request for more information as screenshot editing is a common set of tasks, which pan does some of the best in the world!
I'm on CentOS at the moment, so I will provide the Paint.NET screenshot examples separately.
In addition to arrows, which Paint.NET does better than any freeware program on the planet, or texting (which Paint.NET does nicely without the need for setting a pre-defined bounding box), one needs the following 10 activities to be as efficient as possible:
Screenshot editing:
1. The users snaps a screenshot (various methods exist so I'll simply show what I currently use on CentOS):
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372357/640/13372357.png
Note: I use the gnome-screenshot tool on CentOS; on Windows, I use the Print-Screen button and then I paste into and crop in IrfanView because nothing is better than IrfanView for cropping as described further below).
2. Depending on the screenshot capture utility, a separate step may exist to select the three types of screenshots, and to capture to a file:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372374/img/13372374.png
Note: It's VERY helpful if "mistakes" can be rectified in a single click. For example, say the default is yellow for text but that it doesn't look good once I start typing; it's helpful if the color change is as simply as clicking on another color without having to switch out of texting mode. In the case of Kolourpaint, which is what I'm using on Linux for these screenshots, it's trivially easy. Paint.NET is "not" so easy mainly because I close the rather large and obnoxious rainbow window most of the time; so I have to bring it back up.
3. Open that screenshot in your favorite editor program (the fastest program on Windows for this is IrfanView but I'll be using Kolourpaint on Linux for this):
Note: I control-V paste into IrfanView because Paint.NET cropping isn't as intuitively easy or as few steps as IrfanView's click-sweep-click cropping.
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372403/img/13372403.png
Note: Saving to a file should be intuitive! That means it should select a file name like Gnome-Screenshot does, and then it should append a number to the file name if that file name already exists. This saves the user mouseclicks. It's helpful if the file naming is intelligent (as Gnome-screenshot is, which will name the file based on the type of screenshot and the window opened); but the most important feature is to make file naming easy and intuitive in the fewest clicks possible - and of course, it should default to the same directory after one has been chosen!
4. Cropping should be as simple as click->sweep->click (it's helpful if cropping is settable as the default starting mode)
Note: Most programs, including Paint.NET enforce an additional (unnecessary) 4th cropping step (see IrfanView cropping for the canonical method).
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372415/img/13372415.png
5. Moving things around should be as simple as click->sweep->click->grab and let go.
Note: Most programs, including Paint.NET enforce an additional (unnecessary) move step (see Kolourpaint moving for the canonical method).
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372779/img/13372779.png
Note: It's nice if the move also has the option of transparency, which KolourPaint has so that you can "see partially through" a moved object when placed.
6. Cutting things out, and repairing the damage also must be easy to perform, as KolourPaint is:
Cutting out should be click-click-cut and repairing "can" be via the eye dropper + paint can (which should switch instantly since that's what you're always doing).
The easiest way to fill in damage is to select an adjacent area and simply stretch it (as Kolourpaint does nicely):
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372800/img/13372800.png
7. Of course, texting should be intuitive, and Paint.NET has that one solid.
You simply type. No need to draw a bounding box. If you make a mistake, you merely correct it directly.
There is no additional text-editing window like The GIMP or Shutter has.
8. A nice feature is being able to stretch the canvas which KolourPaint does intuitively (for the right side & bottom anyway).
You just grab the stretch dot and drag it to where you want it to go.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372817/img/13372817.png
Note: I never could understand Paint.NET's canvas stretching mechanism.
9. Then, pasting an additional file into that stretched canvas is easy with the "Edit->Paste from File" command:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/13372952/img/13372952.png
Note: You can turn similar colors on such that the pasted or moved image is "see through".
10. At this point, you need to resize the image easily, which should have standard options, e.g., 640x480 pixels:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/13373110/img/13373110.png
In summary, for screen editing, nobody beats Paint.NET for its arrowing capabilities or texting abiltity; but some beat Paint.NET on the following:
a. SCREENSHOT: Gnome-Screenshot for intuitive screen capture and saving the file (Paint.NET doesn't have this feature, AFAIK)
b. FILE->OPEN: IrfanView for sheer speed of opening the file (much faster than Paint.NET)
c. EDIT->CROP: IrfanView for the intuitive crop (one fewer step than Paint.NET)
d. MOVE: KolourPaint for intuitive move (one fewer step than Paint.NET)
e. CUT & REPAIR: KolourPaint (two fewer steps than Paint.NET)
f. GROWING THE CANVAS: KolourPaint does this nicely simply by selecting the edge dots and stretching them.
g. PASTE FROM FILE: KolourPaint has a nice paste-from-file but I'd prefer the canvass to grow automatically according to the new dimensions of the old & new file.
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