On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:01:47 +0100, peter sikking <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Let's look at the user requirements: for a _moment_ > you want to see what you are _doing_ at high magnification, > while working on a _macroscopic_ scale. I would like to know why you state that the user requirements include showing for a _moment_ what you are doing at high magnification. If the view of the zoomed-in area does not overlap the normal work area, some users may be equally interested in seeing at all times what they are doing at high magnification so that, for example, they could detect any unusual details that are not visible at a smaller scale. Or they could be interested in seeing the high magnification area at many moments that are relatively close to each other in time so that, for example, they could precisely adjust several points in a path or iscissors curve. To me, the argument that the zoomed-in area should only be displayed for a brief moment is far from obvious. > I add here that to be able to be of help, the magnified > area needs to have a strong relationship (closeness) to > the actual mouse position, but always needs to be out > of the way. > > everything speaks for a key-triggered loupe. Again, this is far from obvious. You state that it "always needs to be out of the way" but there is no real way to ensure that it is _always_ out of the way, except by letting the user position some window in advance (which then speaks against a key-triggered loupe). Otherwise, there is no way for GIMP to predict what area close to the mouse pointer is a "safe" area that the user is not interested in. The user may still be interested in some context around this area in order to be able to align things, repeat some pattern, etc. > during the moment that one is focussed on the detail > there is plenty screen space to put a really sizeable > loupe window, and it will be automatically close, but > also automatically out of the way. You assume that focusing on the detail means that the user lost interest in the context. This is not always the case. If you do not let the user position the high magnification area (as would be possible with an auto-tracking view), then the key-triggered loupe would probably have to support a combination of modifiers so that the user can tell GIMP: "no, don't pop it up somewhere above my mouse pointer, but rather somewhere in the lower left corner, or somewhere far to the right". -Raphaël _______________________________________________ Gimp-developer mailing list Gimp-developer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer
