I used the v.20 invert mask/selection

[greenmorpher]

I used the v.20 invert mask/selection yesterday. Wonderful.

Still narked by the fact that I have to go two levels down to a little, almost invisible check box to get transparency. It is one of the things I do very often.

Cheers, Geoff

[bruce1951]

+1. I'm always using the transparency. I would like it to be a bit more obvious. Too easy to overlook/forget.

regards

[chrischa]

The panels I need regularly are always open on my workspace, and so the transparency-checkbox is always visible. Wouldn't this be an option for you?

layer.png

[greenmorpher]

A thought chrischa, but I don't use that panel for any other reason so I am not about to have it open to take up precious screen space.

In the Layer menu there are four sections. The second section would be the valid home for a command "Add Transparency". Then we could make a key command for it too.

I just can't understand why this does not happen. Won't inconvenience anyone, would be a convenience for some/many.

incidentally, the target for clicking to get transparency at present is very small. That's a problem.

Cheers, Geoff

[bkh]

In the Layer menu there are four sections. The second section would be the valid home for a command "Add Transparency".

You are right, transparency should be accessible from the main menu as well. From a technical perspective, it should, imo, be part of or next to "Convert Layer Type", or preferably, under Tools -> Color (because it only applies to bitmap layers).
[/quote]

Then we could make a key command for it too.

If you want a keystroke, why don't you record an action and assign a keystroke to it?

Cheers

Burkhard.

[photoken]

transparency should be accessible from the main menu as well.

I disagree. PL already has very long menus, and a layer's transparency property is one of the "secondary" properties that is best kept in the Layer Attributes panel.

[Herbert123]

I tend to agree with Geoff that the transparency option for layers ought to made more accessible aside from the checkbox in the layer properties. Even though I have the layer properties open at all time, for regular photo editing I can see how it could just get in the way of things.

The layer menu seems a bit of a cumbersome choice, however - in particular for the simple reason that it is already possible to quickly assign transparency to any layer:

ALT double-click on the thumbnail, and the layer is assigned transparency. ALT double-click again on the thumbnail, and transparency is removed.

Easy-peasy!

Geoff, does that solve your frustration with the layer transparency option?

[photoken]

The layer menu seems a bit of a cumbersome choice, however - in particular for the simple reason that it is already possible to quickly assign transparency to any layer:

ALT double-click on the thumbnail, and the layer is assigned transparency. ALT double-click again on the thumbnail, and transparency is removed.

Easy-peasy!

Wow! Excellent tip, 123!

I think that removes any need for any menu option....

[greenmorpher]

I tend to agree with Geoff that the transparency option for layers ought to made more accessible aside from the checkbox in the layer properties. Even though I have the layer properties open at all time, for regular photo editing I can see how it could just get in the way of things.

The layer menu seems a bit of a cumbersome choice, however - in particular for the simple reason that it is already possible to quickly assign transparency to any layer:

ALT double-click on the thumbnail, and the layer is assigned transparency. ALT double-click again on the thumbnail, and transparency is removed.

Easy-peasy!

Geoff, does that solve your frustration with the layer transparency option?

Sounds good. But "the thumbnail"? What thumbnail? -- Ah! Gotcha! in the Layers Palette.

And then the "i" palette opens and stays open in front of the picture I am editing. So it has to be closed by clicking on the tiny red button. The thing is not quite so simple.

BUT the command still needs to be visible. How many invisible commands do we want?

Is PL really loaded with long menus? No it is not. Adding one more to the second set of layer commands so the menu was 6, 5, 4, 3 commands instead of 6,4,4,3, is hardly going to shake the foundations of PL's user experience, while making a frequently used command easily accessible. And please, no pleas along the lines of "if we add one more command then everyone will want their favorite command added". It doesn't happen.

Cheers, Geoff

[bruce1951]

I almost always use transparency. The way it is at the moment means it's easy to overlook.

I think the issue is one of 'needs'. We all have different needs. Rather than arguing the point of what we all 'want/'need' would it be better to encourage the PL developers to give us the capability of a 'better' ability to create custom menus. We can currently select what menu/s we can see at any one time. But what if we could select our favourite Tools, Tool settings, Layer tools, Tools, Filters and Effects etc etc etc. Drag them into one simple user defined menu.

PSP gives the user the option of scrolling through all the commands and allowing the user to create one simple custom menu. I guess PL can to. But I'm not aware of it or the how to. But if we could select our 'commonly' use items and build them into one custom menu then great. We could build one menu and close everything else. No idea of how much humour is needed to achieve this but food for thought?????


regards

[photoken]

But what if we could select our favourite Tools, Tool settings, Layer tools, Tools, Filters and Effects etc etc etc. Drag them into one simple user defined menu.

You can do that by creating a Custom Tool Bar. (Edit...Options...Usage...Toolbars)

PL also does a great job of allowing us to customize the contents of the various panel groupings. So, for example, I have one (docked) panel group consisting of the Layer panel, the Layer Attributes panel, the Adjustment Layer panel, and the Channels List.

Whether or not such a custom panel group is docked, the entire panel group can be minimized or expanded by a simple double-click. IOW, you can create your own custom panel group and use it as the functional equivalent of a custom tool bar. (That custom panel group of mine means that the transparency option for a layer is always, at most, two mouse clicks away.)

[Herbert123]

Geoff, I just noticed too that the <alt> double click solution is not a real solution: double-clicking open the layer properties panel. I have it open all the time, and did not notice it before.

Ideally the layer properties should not open when <alt> double-clicking a layer's thumbnail to turn on transparency. I think this is occurring because of the rule in the GUI coding is that a double-click on a layer will open the layer properties, and holding down <alt> does not override that behaviour - and it should, in my opinion. The small transparency checkbox is indeed not user-friendly enough. Right-mouse clicking the layer thumbnail could provide a different contextual menu and contain that option. Other image editors use the thumbnail to display additional/different contextual options.

As for the option to customize the menus in PhotoLine: I am all for that. Compare to OpenTOonz and Cinema4D:

https://help.maxon.net/#5225
https://vimeo.com/160517233 (~2 minutes in)

The menu structure in PhotoLine I always found somewhat awkward. I would love the ability to completely customize it, and save those changes in a panel layout (which would perhaps then be renamed to "work layout" or "work space").

For example, of all the menus I regularly use the Color, Mask, external program, and lasso menus. The issue with these is that they are hidden in a submenu. Having to open and navigate to that submenu time and again is frustrating. Sure, I could assign shortcuts, but when I work with my wacom I may have it on my lap at at times, and I do not want to break the workflow (having to reach for my keyboard that is a meter away). Besides, I have many external applications set up, and assigning keys to all of them is just not a viable solution.

Another thing I like about Maxon Cinema4d is the option to tear off any menu, and place it anywhere in the work layout - the menu becomes a button list. Super handy, and with the customizable panel layout manager it is really easy to create specialized screens for particular tasks. I love this feature.

One of the main criticisms made against PhotoLine by new users and in reviews is the menu layout: it is completely different compared to the one used by the industry standard(s). I think that a menu customize option, such as the one in Cinema4d and OpenTOonz would solve this. During the first start-up after installing PhotoLine, just provide a list of menu layout and shortcut key map options to simplify the transition.

[Herbert123]

But what if we could select our favourite Tools, Tool settings, Layer tools, Tools, Filters and Effects etc etc etc. Drag them into one simple user defined menu.

You can do that by creating a Custom Tool Bar. (Edit...Options...Usage...Toolbars)

PL also does a great job of allowing us to customize the contents of the various panel groupings. So, for example, I have one (docked) panel group consisting of the Layer panel, the Layer Attributes panel, the Adjustment Layer panel, and the Channels List.

Whether or not such a custom panel group is docked, the entire panel group can be minimized or expanded by a simple double-click. IOW, you can create your own custom panel group and use it as the functional equivalent of a custom tool bar. (That custom panel group of mine means that the transparency option for a layer is always, at most, two mouse clicks away.)

Custom icon-only toolbars are not the solution:

taskbar.png

1) many icon designs are too similar or entirely obscure in PhotoLine. This is not really the fault of the developers - merely that PhotoLine offers that many functions, and icons just do not work in these cases.
2) many functions lack a custom icon. Distinguishing between identical looking icons becomes rather difficult
3) textual buttons are easy to understand in any context, and in any numbers. Icons in large groups are not. At the very least icon labels should be provided.

I still have issues to distinguish between the meaning of icons in the tool settings at times, and have to resort to tool-tips. And as a designer, I find PhotoLine's icons not exactly the prettiest ones around (personal opinion).

An icon-based GUI stops being effective and becomes a terrible hindrance in a feature-rich application. This happened to TrueSpace in the past, and the GUI became "icon hell": https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LSifMzccRYQ/maxresdefault.jpg

Anyway, I think adding a customize option to completely customize all the menus, and a second option to tear off menus and place them as button lists in the view would alleviate these problems.

And, for those users who prefer icons-only, provide an option to hide and show the icon and/or text:

[bkh]

[quote="Herbert123"]GThe menu structure in PhotoLine I always found somewhat awkward. I would love the ability to completely customize it, and save those changes in a panel layout (which would perhaps then be renamed to "work layout" or "work space").
PL's menus are fully customisable – you just need a text editor to rearrange the items in MenuStructure.txt. I've been using my custom menus since PL 15. The only problem is that you'll have to copy your custom menu structure to every new version of PL. (I'd really love it if PL could use a MenuStructure file in the preferences.) Look for MenuStructure in the forum for instructions (but the syntax is almost self-explaining).

Of course, a built-in menu editor would be more user friendly than a text file (don't mess up the syntax or PL will crash.)

Cheers

Burkhard.

[bruce1951]

Many folks who have used PSP will know that you can create your own menu. View/Customize. From there you can create a new custom Menu/Tool bar. It's just then simply a matter of dragging all your most used tools/features over into this one Tool Bar. Name it and dock it where you like. It's actually a very simply system. Not sure if the developers agree with my interpretation of 'simple' though.

Every menu along the top of the screen is available. Click on one and then every tool within that menu becomes available. So in my case all those opening of menus, scrolling down and opening up sub menus are a thing of the past. My 'normal' work flow is sitting right there in my own custom menu. Ready for use every time I open PSP.

regards