Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-05 Thread Jakub Steiner
On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 12:36 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:

 For what it's worth, every time I see the question How do I make
 a screenshot? posed on a beginner/intermediate Linux list, the 
 answer always ends up being GIMP. It's still the best method
 that's not dependent on users running specific versions of
 specific desktops.

Personally I'd rather have the screenshooter be a separate application.
There is a good number of efficient workflows using existing tools
(`sleep 5  import (-window root) ~/Desktop/foo.png` [1],
`gnome-panel-screenshot --delay 5 (--window)` , ksnaphot (don't know my
way around that one)). 

I consider the GIMP's screenshooter served its historical purpose, but
isn't as needed even though some of us have grown familiar with it. You
have to look at it pragmatically. Too few resources, lots of more
important code to maintain.

cheers

[1] http://www.graphicsmagick.org/www/import.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSnapshot
-- 
Jakub Steiner [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-05 Thread Clarence Risher
On 2/5/07, Jakub Steiner [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Personally I'd rather have the screenshooter be a separate application.
 There is a good number of efficient workflows using existing tools
 (`sleep 5  import (-window root) ~/Desktop/foo.png` [1],
 `gnome-panel-screenshot --delay 5 (--window)` , ksnaphot (don't know my
 way around that one)).

Shouldnt a (possibly slightly less) simple one-liner be possible
piping script-fu to gimp to call the screenshot plugin's APId
function(s)?  IMHO, we need to keep in mind that things accessible on
the interface dont neccessarily define the capabilities of the back
end.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-01 Thread peter sikking
Akkana wrote:

 I am an interaction architect, I have to take a decision what is
 the best solution for 1 million users. We spend time evaluating
 this feature systematically. We especially focussed on your
 use case. But we saw the cost in UI complexity to put in the
 second delay. This complexity slows down 99% of the users,

 Not being an interaction architect, I'm still not understanding.
 How did you arrive at the 99% number?

I explained how I got to the 1%, the 99% are the rest of GIMP users.
And 1% is already a very generous, on the safe side, estimate.

Do you really think you can round up ten thousand GIMP users who
ever have to take a screenshot of a window with something pressed
AND consider GIMP actually the right tool for this?

You'll struggle to find one thousand, exactly because most would not
choose GIMP. But 1% is a convenient number and it drives the message  
home.

I simply want you to concentrate on 99 GIMP users, who will
never ever take a screenshot of a window with something pressed,
with GIMP. Confront them with two delays, and you make them think
what the difference is. You just stopped them working...

Now you take the same decision as I had to take.

 [pre- vs. post- selection delay]
 I estimate the chance that one is not taking a screenshot of GIMP
 itself as higher than 50%. So you need time to get GIMP out
 of the way.

 To get the screenshot dialog out of the way, you mean?

No, to get GIMP out of the way. The 800 pound gorilla that eats a
million pixels of screen real-estate for breakfast.

 Is it really that common to screenshoot a single window which is
 so large that there isn't room for both it and the screenshot dialog
 on the screen at the same time?

 To the list: does anyone here actually uses the delay for that  
 purpose?
 The people who have asked for before-screenshot delay mostly seem to
 want time to switch desktops (a valid reason but surely not a 99%  
 case).

In general the delay is 'time to get ready'. Get GIMP out of the way.
This can be done in a multitude of ways, of which switching desktops
is one.

 I also wonder about discoverability: Sometimes I have to click on
 the window after the delay, but sometimes I don't. Will people
 figure out that having a mouse button already pressed is what
 makes the difference?

I already asked for the improvement that we use two lines of
text to explain what happens (depending on the snap option)
during and after the delay.

Everything is cool with the interaction syntax, when the delay
expires, the user says 'this one' by either clicking on it, or
already holding it up by the ears.

And you know what? It feels really good that I have sped up your
workflow, compared to 2.2, without making 99 other users
pay for that.

 Steve Stavropoulos' interface, with the two clearly explained
 delays, seems so much easier to understand than trying to intuit
 a mouse-already-down behavior.

Only if you have been taking many screenshots of stuff pressed
in windows with GIMP for the last few years.

Putting the two delays in the UI on the same level is a big
mistake, actually. Makes one even more think what is this
selection..? The 2.2 dialog did that better.

 --ps

 principal user interaction architect
 man + machine interface works

 http://mmiworks.net/blog : on interaction architecture



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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-01 Thread William Skaggs

This discussion goes on too long and distracts too much.  I am
one who would prefer the plugin to work differently, but it is
clear that no solution will be good for everybody, and the approach
Sven has taken is certainly reasonable.

It would also be reasonable, I think, to separately distribute a
fancy-screenshot version, perhaps via the registry, that would
allow more options for handling the delay.

Best wishes,

  -- Bill
 

 
__ __ __ __
Sent via the CNPRC Email system at primate.ucdavis.edu


 
   
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-01 Thread Akkana Peck
peter sikking writes:
 I got the fling that ksnapshot manages to take a snapshot of
 the window + menu. There is where I got the idea. But reading
 the documentation again, they do not 100% promise this.

I should have tried ksnapshot before!  It does get the menus --
even on Edgy where GIMP's snapsnot just gets garbage.
If you have the mouse over only a menu, ksnapshot will even
give you just the menu without the window containing it.

ksnapshot solves the delay problem in a nice clean way:
they have only one (pre-selection) delay, but their window selection
is Window under cursor -- you don't need to click to select
the window. That solves everything without requiring two delays.
It's a nice solution!

(Now off to poke around X and think about Sven's fabulous super-
layered-screenshot idea.)

-- 
...Akkana
Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional: http://gimpbook.com
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-02-01 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Thu, 2007-02-01 at 10:37 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:
 If you have the mouse over only a menu, ksnapshot will even
 give you just the menu without the window containing it.
 
 ksnapshot solves the delay problem in a nice clean way:
 they have only one (pre-selection) delay, but their window selection
 is Window under cursor -- you don't need to click to select
 the window. That solves everything without requiring two delays.

This is exactly how the GIMP screenshot plug-in in SVN behaves.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Clarence Risher
On 1/31/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Hi,

 On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 19:09 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:

  Sven's argument is true, but does not address my point.  In every case
  like this the process will be more complex than just shot-clip-done.
  In cases of non-rectangular areas the clipping will be quite annoying.
   And in the rare case of alpha transparency it would be impossible to
  erase the parts of the desktop or other windows behind the window
  you are trying to capture.

 The point is that you are bringing up a completely new topic here. There
 is currently no support whatsoever for shaped windows or windows with an
 alpha channel. As long as no one adds such support (which would be
 extremely complicated to get right on all systems), there is no point in
 arguing about it.

Perhaps there is no intentional support, but I guarantee you that gimp
(as of 2.2, and i expect still in 2.3) takes screenshots of
non-rectangular windows just fine.  The result is a black rectangle
containing the visible shape of the window.  For a completely silly
example, consider a screenshot of xeyes.  Think about how bothersome
it would be to manually crop out the window behind the eyes (which are
oval) if you had to make do with a desktop screenshot and a crop tool.
 A less silly example is any window decoration theme with rounded
corners, or bits that extrude off the edges.

Also, my silly xeyes idea brings up a point on the primary topic as
well...  I need a delay before selecting the xeyes window to get to
the proper desktop, or bring it to the front, and a delay after
selecting it because I dont want it to look crosseyed (for anyone who
doesnt know, xeyes is two animated eyeballs that stare at the mouse
cursor).
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Akkana Peck
peter sikking writes:
  Peter, I have to ask: how much have you actually used GIMP for
  screenshots? Have you done a lot windows cut from full-screen
  screenshots? Or talked to users who do?
 
 I am an interaction architect, I have to take a decision what is
 the best solution for 1 million users. We spend time evaluating
 this feature systematically. We especially focussed on your
 use case. But we saw the cost in UI complexity to put in the
 second delay. This complexity slows down 99% of the users,

Not being an interaction architect, I'm still not understanding.
How did you arrive at the 99% number? Is that the percentage of
users who would be slowed down by seeing both delay options?
Or by the previous behavior of having a delay only after selection?
What is the corresponding percentage of users who are slowed down by
having only a before-selection delay?  Are these numbers based on
usability testing, or user interviews, or analysis of bugs or public
comments, or what?

I'm hoping that, this being an open source project, the methodology
involved in this interaction analysis is public and available for
everone to see and understand and learn from.

[pre- vs. post- selection delay]
 I estimate the chance that one is not taking a screenshot of GIMP
 itself as higher than 50%. So you need time to get GIMP out
 of the way.

To get the screenshot dialog out of the way, you mean?
Is it really that common to screenshoot a single window which is
so large that there isn't room for both it and the screenshot dialog
on the screen at the same time?

To the list: does anyone here actually uses the delay for that purpose?
The people who have asked for before-screenshot delay mostly seem to
want time to switch desktops (a valid reason but surely not a 99% case).

 In 'snap window' mode the shot shall be taken:
 
 a) on the first mouse-down after the timer (can be zero) has expired;
 b) immediately, when a non-zero timer expires AND a mouse-button
 (left, right [pop-up menu], even middle?) is being held down.

That takes care of menus, but there transient effects which don't
involve a mouse button down. For gimp, examples include the cursor
outline of a brush, or the line you get pressing shift in a drawing
tool. That's admittedly an uncommon case, but how about the very
common case of hover effects in a browser?

I also wonder about discoverability: Sometimes I have to click on
the window after the delay, but sometimes I don't. Will people
figure out that having a mouse button already pressed is what
makes the difference?

Steve Stavropoulos' interface, with the two clearly explained
delays, seems so much easier to understand than trying to intuit
a mouse-already-down behavior.

-- 
...Akkana
Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional: http://gimpbook.com
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Thorsten Wilms
On Wed, Jan 31, 2007 at 11:02:20AM -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:
 
 [pre- vs. post- selection delay]
  I estimate the chance that one is not taking a screenshot of GIMP
  itself as higher than 50%. So you need time to get GIMP out
  of the way.
 
 To get the screenshot dialog out of the way, you mean?
 Is it really that common to screenshoot a single window which is
 so large that there isn't room for both it and the screenshot dialog
 on the screen at the same time?

Yes. I always reserve a workspace for GIMP, though.


 To the list: does anyone here actually uses the delay for that purpose?
 The people who have asked for before-screenshot delay mostly seem to
 want time to switch desktops (a valid reason but surely not a 99% case).

In my case, I use a short delay just to switch workspace most 
of the time. Sometimes I need more delay for some menu or popup.


 Steve Stavropoulos' interface, with the two clearly explained
 delays, seems so much easier to understand than trying to intuit
 a mouse-already-down behavior.

I think so, too.


--
Thorsten Wilms
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Alex Pounds
On Wed, Jan 31, 2007 at 11:02:20AM -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:
 Is it really that common to screenshoot a single window which is
 so large that there isn't room for both it and the screenshot dialog
 on the screen at the same time?
 
 To the list: does anyone here actually uses the delay for that purpose?
 The people who have asked for before-screenshot delay mostly seem to
 want time to switch desktops (a valid reason but surely not a 99% case).

That's pretty much all I use the delay for. Very, very occasionally I'll
want to screenshot something that takes me a few seconds to set up, but
mainly it's to take something on a different desktop. Generally these are
large windows. I think that most of my screenshots are web pages, closely
followed by bug reports (usually in Gaim). For both of these I much prefer
not having the capturing window on the desktop, and with webpages I want
as much of the app visible as possible. There is no room for both on my
screen. 

-- 
Alex Pounds (Creature)  .~. http://www.alexpounds.com/
/V\http://www.ethicsgirls.com/
   // \\
Variables won't; Constants aren't   /(   )\
   ^`~'^
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Robert L Krawitz
   From: Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:38:21 +0100

   On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 22:03 +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

I'm not sure if you're assuming everyone is using gnome here. I work on  
xfce4 and I dont have a screenshot applet or whatever. I have scrot if I  
dont use gimp. Most window manager screenshots seems just to grab the  
whole screen. The nice thing about the gimp one was that it's more  
specific and precise.

   Of course I am not assuming that. But I don't know all the other desktop
   environments out there and I expected that they more or less all have a
   reasonably well working way of taking screenshots. After all this is
   where the functionality belongs.

   Perhaps the xfce project should think about adding such a tool. Or
   simply integrate an existing tool. All that needs to be done is to set
   up some global keyboard shortcuts. But that's better discussed on the
   xfce lists, I guess...

A lot of people don't run an all-out desktop environment; they run a
simple window manager (fvwm, ctwm) precisely because they don't want a
heavyweight environment weighted down with gadgets.  xfce4 is popular
because it is much lighter weight than KDE or GNOME.

-- 
Robert Krawitz [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Project lead for Gutenprint   --http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net

Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works.
--Eric Crampton
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Wed, 2007-01-31 at 04:44 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:

 Perhaps there is no intentional support, but I guarantee you that gimp
 (as of 2.2, and i expect still in 2.3) takes screenshots of
 non-rectangular windows just fine.  The result is a black rectangle
 containing the visible shape of the window.

See. I told you that shaped windows are in fact rectangular. All windows
on the X window system are, by definition. The screenshot plug-in just
takes a screenshot of that window and since it doesn't support asking it
for the shape bitmap or the alpha channel, the result is rectangular and
doesn't have any transparency.

 Also, my silly xeyes idea brings up a point on the primary topic as
 well...  I need a delay before selecting the xeyes window to get to
 the proper desktop, or bring it to the front, and a delay after
 selecting it because I dont want it to look crosseyed (for anyone who
 doesnt know, xeyes is two animated eyeballs that stare at the mouse
 cursor).

Your window system comes with a tool called xwd. If you are a fan of
xeyes, you will also like xwd. It was written about around the same
time.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-31 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Wed, 2007-01-31 at 11:02 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:

  In 'snap window' mode the shot shall be taken:
  
  a) on the first mouse-down after the timer (can be zero) has expired;
  b) immediately, when a non-zero timer expires AND a mouse-button
  (left, right [pop-up menu], even middle?) is being held down.
 
 That takes care of menus, but there transient effects which don't
 involve a mouse button down. For gimp, examples include the cursor
 outline of a brush, or the line you get pressing shift in a drawing
 tool.

You can take a screenshot of the brush outline and even the
straight-line preview just fine with the screenshot plug-in from 2.3.x.

With the changes that I've done in SVN, you can screenshot pretty much
everything. Sure, there will always be a few corner cases left
unhandled. But these corner cases are just that, corner cases. As long
as the user can somehow solve them, as long as the desired result can be
obtained, perhaps with a little more effort, that should be fine.

Would still be nice if someone could find a way to ask X for the
application window that a popup window belongs to. I haven't found a way
to do that and the longer I stare at the XLib manuals, the more I start
to believe that there is no clean way to do that.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Clarence Risher
On 1/30/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 to propose a user interface that fits all needs.

imho, the 2.2 interface met all needs.  i have yet to hear any reason
for eliminating either option, other than removing ONE element from
the screenshot GUI.

(sorry for the dupe email Sven)
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 02:26 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:
 On 1/30/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  to propose a user interface that fits all needs.
 
 imho, the 2.2 interface met all needs.  i have yet to hear any reason
 for eliminating either option, other than removing ONE element from
 the screenshot GUI.

We have had several reports about this UI being confusing. Users filed
bug reports claiming that the plug-in wouldn't do the right thing.
Obviously they did not understand the user interface. And that is not
surprising because it is quite irritating. Just try the user interface
on your grandmother.

Now someone please show some creativity. Asking for the changes to be
reverted is a punch in the face of the people that have put their free
time into improving the usability of this plug-in.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Clarence Risher
On 1/30/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 02:26 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:
  On 1/30/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
   to propose a user interface that fits all needs.
 
  imho, the 2.2 interface met all needs.  i have yet to hear any reason
  for eliminating either option, other than removing ONE element from
  the screenshot GUI.

 We have had several reports about this UI being confusing. Users filed
 bug reports claiming that the plug-in wouldn't do the right thing.
 Obviously they did not understand the user interface. And that is not
 surprising because it is quite irritating. Just try the user interface
 on your grandmother.

 Now someone please show some creativity. Asking for the changes to be
 reverted is a punch in the face of the people that have put their free
 time into improving the usability of this plug-in.

Well then, as crude as it may sound, consider this an intentional
punch in the face, as much so as those people punched Ms Peck (great
book, btw) in the face by making her waste time un-crippling the
plugin.  As soon as someone integrates the region feature into the 2.2
plugin, I will be running that.  As has been mentioned in so many
other threads time and again, you can't hold GIMP out as a viable
replacement for Photoshop AND make it grandmother-friendly.  The 2.2
interface was fine.  Maybe it needs better tooltips and labels for
some people.  Hide one of the delays in an 'advanced options' panel if
you must.  But do not remove functionality just to make grandma happy.
 Removing functionality is never the answer.  Removing functionality
is the question.  The answer is NO.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Alexander Rabtchevich
Clarence, would it be better to be not so aggressive? ;)


-- 

With respect
Alexander Rabtchevich
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Simon Budig
Sven Neumann ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
 Also your approach is very lame indeed. This discussion wasn't even
 close to coming to an end. It would have been a lot nicer to propose a
 solution instead of wasting time like this.

Please realize that your mails sound very much like you dont really want
to change anything. You nearly suggested removing the screenshot plugin,
you think of the current UI to be more appealing, you suggest
various workarounds. None of your mails up to Akkanas latest mails
even suggests that you are willing to reopen this issue.

Now you are demeaning akkanas IMHO valid approach which is IMHO not
fair. Fortunately you finally seem to open up a little regarding a
discussion of the UI. But I'd really appreciate if you'd value other
peoples work as much as you expect your own work to be valued.

Bye,
Simon
-- 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  http://simon.budig.de/
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Robert L Krawitz
   From: Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:35:17 +0100

   On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 02:26 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:
On 1/30/07, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 to propose a user interface that fits all needs.

imho, the 2.2 interface met all needs.  i have yet to hear any
reason for eliminating either option, other than removing ONE
element from the screenshot GUI.

   We have had several reports about this UI being confusing. Users
   filed bug reports claiming that the plug-in wouldn't do the right
   thing.  Obviously they did not understand the user interface. And
   that is not surprising because it is quite irritating. Just try the
   user interface on your grandmother.

   Now someone please show some creativity. Asking for the changes to
   be reverted is a punch in the face of the people that have put
   their free time into improving the usability of this plug-in.

If those people choose to take it that way.  Another way to interpret
it is that the experiment was tried, but failed.

IMHO the criterion that all functionality should be easy and obvious
for a naive user is misplaced, particularly when it's taken to the
extreme of we shouldn't have any functionality that isn't easy and
obvious for a naive user.  There are a lot of interesting things that
aren't easy or obvious to people who don't have the context, and
sometimes that context is by its nature quite extensive.  To say that
we shouldn't do these things because innocent users might stumble
across them and get confused is to permanently doom ourselves to
having very limited functionality.  I'm well aware that I tend toward
the opposite extreme, but even with Gutenprint I have people asking
for more tunables because they have no other way of doing what they
want (these are OS X users -- largely professional photographers, I
think -- who want very fine grained control over the ink generation).

I understand that no project has time to implement every single
feature demanded by every single user, and that feature bloat carries
maintenance costs.  That argument doesn't apply to this situation --
this isn't a newly-added feature; it was a conscious decision to
remove something (in a plugin, not in the core application) that was
already there and working.  If the interface is confusing, then maybe
it's a reason to improve it; maybe something as simple as improving
the help message would serve the purpose.

The two options really serve two entirely different purposes; it may
inherently be impossible to combine them into one that works for
everyone.

For my part, I've been awfully tempted to port the GTK 1.2 file load
and save dialogs forward to GTK 2.x.  I suspect that my limited time
is better spent on Gutenprint and perhaps KPhotoAlbum, but those
dialogs are simply very painful to use.

-- 
Robert Krawitz [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread jernej
On Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 9:35:17, Sven Neumann wrote:

 We have had several reports about this UI being confusing. Users filed
 bug reports claiming that the plug-in wouldn't do the right thing.
 Obviously they did not understand the user interface. And that is not
 surprising because it is quite irritating. Just try the user interface
 on your grandmother.

This is one thing I dislike about GTK+/Gnome in general - clueless users
think XYZ is confusing [because they don't bother to read documentation], so
let's remove features until only something basic remains; who cares about
advanced users that may have actually needed that feature.

 Now someone please show some creativity. Asking for the changes to be
 reverted is a punch in the face of the people that have put their free
 time into improving the usability of this plug-in.

How about this: get rid of the delay completely, and instead take the
screenshot when a certain key (eg. F12) is pressed?

-- 
 Jernej Simončič  http://deepthought.ena.si/ 

The solution to a problem changes the problem.
   -- Peer's Law

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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Alexandre Prokoudine
On 1/30/07, Robert L Krawitz wrote:

 For my part, I've been awfully tempted to port the GTK 1.2 file load
 and save dialogs forward to GTK 2.x.  I suspect that my limited time
 is better spent on Gutenprint and perhaps KPhotoAlbum, but those
 dialogs are simply very painful to use.

http://prokoudine.info/shots/gimp/gtk-autocomplete.png

With gtk 2.10.x I see no point either porting gtk 1.2 dialog or even
discussing it :))

/me ducks

Alexandre
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Marco Ciampa
On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 01:10:56PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 How about this: get rid of the delay completely, and instead take the
 screenshot when a certain key (eg. F12) is pressed?
It could be an answer if:

1) the key is customizable
2) we are really shure that there is no way that another app could stole the
  keyboard disabling the feature

the first is easy, the second IMHO impossible.

-- 

Marco Ciampa

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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Alexandre Prokoudine
On 1/30/07, Marco Ciampa [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 01:10:56PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  How about this: get rid of the delay completely, and instead take the
  screenshot when a certain key (eg. F12) is pressed?
 It could be an answer if:

 1) the key is customizable
 2) we are really shure that there is no way that another app could stole the
   keyboard disabling the feature

 the first is easy, the second IMHO impossible.

Compiz/Beryl is known to steal a lot of keys, and since those are
becoming mainstream for Linux desktop, it will be quite difficult to
find new key combinations that won't be stolen. I can speak only for
myself, but I never had any issue with delay.

Alexandre
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Robert L Krawitz
   Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:13:45 +0300
   From: Alexandre Prokoudine [EMAIL PROTECTED]

   On 1/30/07, Robert L Krawitz wrote:

For my part, I've been awfully tempted to port the GTK 1.2 file load
and save dialogs forward to GTK 2.x.  I suspect that my limited time
is better spent on Gutenprint and perhaps KPhotoAlbum, but those
dialogs are simply very painful to use.

   http://prokoudine.info/shots/gimp/gtk-autocomplete.png

   With gtk 2.10.x I see no point either porting gtk 1.2 dialog or even
   discussing it :))

Could you at least put file modification time (not just date) and size
in the information?

Then there's also the problem of the save dialog not showing what
directory it's saving into (the folder name isn't very helpful if I
have multiple directories with the same name).  The path bar on the
open dialog is quite useful and would be just as useful on the save
dialog.

-- 
Robert Krawitz [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Project lead for Gutenprint   --http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net

Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works.
--Eric Crampton
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread peter sikking
Well what do you know?

At the moment Kamila and I are very busy with our (interaction
architecture) expert evaluation of the current GIMP, and this
morning we happen to stop by the screenshot plugin.

We actually took into account all comments made in this thread
up to that moment.

Here are our findings:

Absolute number one:

Yes, taking screenshots is a task for the OS/desktop environment.
That guarantees that it is available in every app. Also looking
at the product vision I do not see screenshots as something
essential that GIMP must do.

But the the GIMP team consist of nice guys and girls, so
they leave the screenshot feature in. Also OK with us,
the interaction architects.

One delay or two?

After looking at the old UI, and the UI in 2.3.13,
taking into consideration
- the complexities of taking a snap of a window with a menu
   flapped open or a button being pushed;
- traversing trough virtual desktops;
- how window managers treat menus;
- relative obscurity of the use cases;
- the stress on ease of remembering (used every once in a while)
   of this feature;
- the fact that it is a piece of cake to cut out a rectangle
   out of a image in GIMP, or two added rectangles (window +
   menu sticking out).

we are positively sure that the solution shown in 2.3.13
is the better solution. One delay, with one meaning.

We would like to see however two improvements:

1) A big, fat visual countdown of the delay. I can see a
big (200 point font) semitransparent numbers overlaying
the screen counting down 4-3-2-1. No more guessing how
long do we still have to get that other window in front.

2) A better explanation of the delay. Move the delay value spin-box
up a line, behind the word Delay, and take some room below it
for a two-line sentence that confirms what will happen next.
Use 3 different texts, one for each of the shot modes
(window / screen / region), because what you can do with the
cursor after the delay is different for each mode.

BTW: we did not take into account the use of GIMP by grandmas,
only used-in-anger by hard-boiled 'pros' according to the
product vision.

I think that puts an end to any doubts,

 --ps

 principal user interaction architect
 man + machine interface works

 http://mmiworks.net/blog : on interaction architecture



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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 11:32 +0100, Simon Budig wrote:

 Please realize that your mails sound very much like you dont really want
 to change anything.

True. I don't think that the requested change should be made. That does
however not mean that it cannot be done and will not be done. There has
never been any final decision from my part. Everything I say is subject
to discussion and I am always open for arguments and willing to change
my mind.

In this particular case I do however expect that someone takes the time
to evaluate both the 2.2 and the current UI and to check them against
common use cases. And if it turns out that we need two delays, then it
would have been appropriate to come up with a quick mockup of how such a
user interface could look like without reintroducing the problems that
we have with the old UI. I don't think that is asked too much.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 13:10 +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 How about this: get rid of the delay completely, and instead take the
 screenshot when a certain key (eg. F12) is pressed?

This works nicely but can only be implemented reasonably well on the
Desktop level. Actually, it's exactly how the GNOME screenshot utility
works. Being able to take a screenshot by using a global keyboard
shortcut makes it a lot more useful than the GIMP's screenshot plug-in
can ever become.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 17:51 +0100, peter sikking wrote:

 We would like to see however two improvements:
 
 1) A big, fat visual countdown of the delay. I can see a
 big (200 point font) semitransparent numbers overlaying
 the screen counting down 4-3-2-1. No more guessing how
 long do we still have to get that other window in front.

Unfortunately that is probably not possible to implement in a portable
fashion. One thing that I could imagine that might work is to use custom
cursors. While the pointer is grabbed, we could let the mouse cursor
count down the remaining seconds.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 11:04 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:

 It wasn't? I waited more than a day after your last posting, and
 there was nothing more. I don't think most of us thought that more
 begging was going to accomplish anything after you said no.

I never said no. I only explained the changes that happened since 2.2
and explained why I think that the current UI is better. That doesn't
mean that it cannot be improved further. It only means that I am
unwilling to revert the whole thing.

 That's because the old interface was fine for most people. You're
 playing feature blackmail -- I'm going to remove this feature in
 order to force someone to come up with a new UI that I like, except
 that I may never like any UI enough, in which case you'll have to do
 without your feature forever.  Perhaps you think that's a good
 motivation to get people working on the UI, but in reality it
 just makes people frustrated and angry.

Sorry, but UI design is not about like or dislike. All I want is that
someone comes up with a UI proposal and shows us how it is better than
the current one. At least show us that you actually tried to consider
the problems and looked for solutions.

You can't just say that the old user interface was fine and that we
should revert to it. That would mean ignoring the many complaints that
led to this change.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 11:04 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:

 For the book, I had to make hundreds of screenshots, many of them
 showing menus or other transient features such as brush outlines.
 For some, where the menus were entirely inside the window, I was
 able to use single window with delay. For others, where menus
 extended outside the window, I had to use region of the screen
 (which also is no longer available, since that too needs the delay)
 or full screen, then crop off the part that wasn't window or menu.

Any particular reason why you didn't use the screenshot feature of your
desktop for this? Just asking. Please don't get upset again. I am only
trying to get an idea on why you prefer to use the screenshot plug-in
for this.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread gg
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:04:31 +0100, Akkana Peck [EMAIL PROTECTED]  
wrote:

 [ ... skip to end of message ... ]
 P I think that puts an end to any doubts,
 Oh, well, that's it, then.
 There's no point in mere users trying to offer any input.

hmm, when I first read that earlier it sounded uncomfortably like : I  
think that puts an end to any arguements.

Peter has come up with some good improvements already and I'm sure  
there'll be a lot more but I hope he get's it 100% right 'cos I get the  
feeling there will be no discussion afterwards.

Luckily we still have your lame effort to fall back on when needed.

gg.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Clarence Risher
On 1/30/07, peter sikking [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 - the fact that it is a piece of cake to cut out a rectangle
out of a image in GIMP, or two added rectangles (window +
menu sticking out).

For the record, windows are not always rectangular, or do not always
fill their bounding box.  Or they may contain (alpha) transparent
areas that are well nigh uncleanable when full-screen screenshot'd
without sufficient prearrangement.

(sorry for the duplicate peter, i always forget this mailing list
doesnt set reply-to)
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Alex Pounds
On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 08:22:11PM +0100, Sven Neumann wrote:
 Any particular reason why you didn't use the screenshot feature of your
 desktop for this? Just asking. 

Not everybody uses a desktop that has a screenshot feature built in. I
don't, and whenever I want a screenshot I use the Gimp plugin. I would be
very disappointed to see it removed. 

-- 
Alex Pounds (Creature)  .~. http://www.alexpounds.com/
/V\http://www.ethicsgirls.com/
   // \\
Variables won't; Constants aren't   /(   )\
   ^`~'^
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Akkana Peck
Alex Pounds writes:
 On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 08:22:11PM +0100, Sven Neumann wrote:
  Any particular reason why you didn't use the screenshot feature of your
  desktop for this? Just asking. 
 
 Not everybody uses a desktop that has a screenshot feature built in. I
 don't, and whenever I want a screenshot I use the Gimp plugin. I would be
 very disappointed to see it removed. 

Same here. I have set up a desktop function that does a screenshot
via import (from image magick); but that doesn't allow me controls
like delays, and it saves to a file which I then have to open in
gimp as a separate step (and remember to delete later). I use it
for quickie show someone on bugzilla or IRC what I'm seeing snaps
but not for the important ones.

For what it's worth, every time I see the question How do I make
a screenshot? posed on a beginner/intermediate Linux list, the 
answer always ends up being GIMP. It's still the best method
that's not dependent on users running specific versions of
specific desktops.

-- 
...Akkana
Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional: http://gimpbook.com
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 14:03 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:

 For the record, windows are not always rectangular, or do not always
 fill their bounding box.  Or they may contain (alpha) transparent
 areas that are well nigh uncleanable when full-screen screenshot'd
 without sufficient prearrangement.

The windows are still rectangular, even if they have a bitmask or alpha
channel that makes their shape appear non-rectangular. Screenshots of
such windows will always be rectangular so this doesn't really matter
here.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Steve Stavropoulos
On 1/28/07, Steve Stavropoulos wrote:
  So it seems both options are needed. What about a checkbox below the
 delay to select when the delay will be applied?


  You may need both delays, so I think a second wait line not only
makes for a fully functional plugin, but removes the ambiguity as to
when the delay is applied. In
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~steve/gimp/ you can find the patch that
adds the second wait and the screenshot of the result (taken with the
new screenshot plugin making use of both delays). The patch also
corrects the tooltip of the first delay as it was referring to the
delay after select.

PS. I know nothing about gtk, so the patch may be not very beautiful,
but it works nicely.

PS2. I really like the new interface of the screenshot plugin. In
contrast, the old seems just ugly :)
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Marco Ciampa
On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 12:36:54PM -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:
 Alex Pounds writes:
  On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 08:22:11PM +0100, Sven Neumann wrote:
   Any particular reason why you didn't use the screenshot feature of your
   desktop for this? Just asking. 
  
  Not everybody uses a desktop that has a screenshot feature built in. I
  don't, and whenever I want a screenshot I use the Gimp plugin. I would be
  very disappointed to see it removed. 
 
 Same here. I have set up a desktop function that does a screenshot
 via import (from image magick); but that doesn't allow me controls
 like delays, and it saves to a file which I then have to open in
 gimp as a separate step (and remember to delete later). I use it
 for quickie show someone on bugzilla or IRC what I'm seeing snaps
 but not for the important ones.
 
 For what it's worth, every time I see the question How do I make
 a screenshot? posed on a beginner/intermediate Linux list, the 
 answer always ends up being GIMP. It's still the best method
 that's not dependent on users running specific versions of
 specific desktops.
 
I use alternatively

1) gimp-2.2
2) gimp-2.3
3) ksnapshot

1) when I need the delay that is missing in gimp-2.3
2) or 3) when I want to save time autocropping the window decorations
3) when I cannot use 2) and viceversa (taking gimp-2.3 dialogs snapshots for 
example
or using gimp under MS Windows or ReactOS)

Please do not revert to 2.2.
IMHO the gimp-2.3 way is better than the 2.2 version, not the best.
See ksnapshot for an example of a better interface.

-- 

Marco Ciampa

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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Marco Ciampa
On Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 11:58:08PM +0200, Steve Stavropoulos wrote:
 On 1/28/07, Steve Stavropoulos wrote:
   So it seems both options are needed. What about a checkbox below the
  delay to select when the delay will be applied?
 
 
   You may need both delays, so I think a second wait line not only
 makes for a fully functional plugin, but removes the ambiguity as to
 when the delay is applied. In
 http://master.math.upatras.gr/~steve/gimp/ 
Simple and powerful, I like it!
-- 

Marco Ciampa

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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 23:58 +0200, Steve Stavropoulos wrote:

   You may need both delays, so I think a second wait line not only
 makes for a fully functional plugin, but removes the ambiguity as to
 when the delay is applied. In
 http://master.math.upatras.gr/~steve/gimp/ you can find the patch that
 adds the second wait and the screenshot of the result (taken with the
 new screenshot plugin making use of both delays). The patch also
 corrects the tooltip of the first delay as it was referring to the
 delay after select.

Nice. Thank you.

Do the two delays make sense for all three options? When you are doing a
screenshot of the full screen, one delay should be sufficient. If we go
for two spinbuttons as you suggest, the first spinbutton should probably
be set insensitive if full screen is selected. Another option would be
to change the lower part of the dialog according to the choice made in
the upper part. A GtkNotebook with hidden tabs is probably best suited
to implement this without causing the dialog to resize itself.

 PS. I know nothing about gtk, so the patch may be not very beautiful,
 but it works nicely.

You should be able to get away with a single GtkWidget *spinnner
variable. Also you probably want to set tooltips on both spinbuttons.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread peter sikking
Sven wrote:

 We would like to see however two improvements:

 1) A big, fat visual countdown of the delay. I can see a
 big (200 point font) semitransparent numbers overlaying
 the screen counting down 4-3-2-1. No more guessing how
 long do we still have to get that other window in front.

 Unfortunately that is probably not possible to implement in a portable
 fashion.

Yeah, only a desktop environment can pull something like that off.
Which brings us back to absolute number one:

Yes, taking screenshots is a task for the OS/desktop environment.

 One thing that I could imagine that might work is to use custom
 cursors. While the pointer is grabbed, we could let the mouse cursor
 count down the remaining seconds.

The delay has one purpose: to allow the user to get her
window/ desktop in order, ready for the shot. Maybe better
leave the cursor normal during that.

Akkana Peck wrote:

 peter sikking writes:
 P At the moment Kamila and I are very busy with our (interaction
 P architecture) expert evaluation of the current GIMP, and this
 P morning we happen to stop by the screenshot plugin.
 [ ... skip to end of message ... ]
 P I think that puts an end to any doubts,

 Oh, well, that's it, then.
 There's no point in mere users trying to offer any input.

input is fine, if you tell me something that makes me doubt
about the decision that I have taken, then I will re-evaluate
the whole thing, taking into account all old and new input.

 P - the fact that it is a piece of cake to cut out a rectangle
 Pout of a image in GIMP, or two added rectangles (window +
 Pmenu sticking out).

 Peter, I have to ask: how much have you actually used GIMP for
 screenshots? Have you done a lot windows cut from full-screen
 screenshots? Or talked to users who do?

I am an interaction architect, I have to take a decision what is
the best solution for 1 million users. We spend time evaluating
this feature systematically. We especially focussed on your
use case. But we saw the cost in UI complexity to put in the
second delay. This complexity slows down 99% of the users,
in order to make 1% happy. The decide to make 99% happy
in the standard distribution, and the 1% can use the (already
released! go open source!) super screenshot plugin, or a load
of other ways of getting the job done efficiently.

 Peter, I couldn't find in your message where you explained why
 you concluded the pre-selection delay is worthwhile, while the
 post-selection delay is not. Can you explain that more clearly?

I estimate the chance that one is not taking a screenshot of GIMP
itself as higher than 50%. So you need time to get GIMP out
of the way. Hence the delay. Taking screenshot of something
on the screen is a field that is one or two orders of magnitude
broader than taking screenshots of transient user interface
elements. Combined with other factors (need exactly the window,
user sees GIMP actually as the right tool for this job...) we
get to my estimate useful at max for 1% of our users.

Clarence Risher wrote:

 On 1/30/07, peter sikking [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 - the fact that it is a piece of cake to cut out a rectangle
out of a image in GIMP, or two added rectangles (window +
menu sticking out).

 For the record, windows are not always rectangular, or do not always
 fill their bounding box.

You see, you had me doubting there, but then Sven wrote:

 The windows are still rectangular […]

else I would have given the whole thing a re-think.

Marco Ciampa wrote:

 See ksnapshot for an example of a better interface.

So I had a look, one delay, but they also gave me an idea how
we can make everybody here happy, without the cost of two delays:

In 'snap window' mode the shot shall be taken:

a) on the first mouse-down after the timer (can be zero) has expired;
b) immediately, when a non-zero timer expires AND a mouse-button
(left, right [pop-up menu], even middle?) is being held down.

The latter captures menus being open or pushbuttons being down
exactly when the timer expires.

So you can set a single timer, go to the app, push open or down
whatever needed to be pushed and wait for the delay to expire:

snap.

So this mail has become a running narrative towards a better solution.

I thank everyone for their extra input. It helped us to improve GIMP.

 --ps

 principal user interaction architect
 man + machine interface works

 http://mmiworks.net/blog : on interaction architecture



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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Wed, 2007-01-31 at 00:53 +0100, peter sikking wrote:

 So I had a look, one delay, but they also gave me an idea how
 we can make everybody here happy, without the cost of two delays:
 
 In 'snap window' mode the shot shall be taken:
 
 a) on the first mouse-down after the timer (can be zero) has expired;
 b) immediately, when a non-zero timer expires AND a mouse-button
 (left, right [pop-up menu], even middle?) is being held down.
 
 The latter captures menus being open or pushbuttons being down
 exactly when the timer expires.

Very nice! I gave a quick shot at an implementation and came up with the
following patch:

Index: plug-ins/common/screenshot.c
===
--- plug-ins/common/screenshot.c(revision 21819)
+++ plug-ins/common/screenshot.c(working copy)
@@ -398,10 +398,16 @@

   if (status != GrabSuccess)
 {
-  g_message (_(Error grabbing the pointer));
+  gint   x, y;
+  guint  xmask;

-  XFreeCursor (x_dpy, x_cursor);
-  return 0;
+  XQueryPointer (x_dpy, x_root, x_root, x_win, x, y, x, y,
xmask);
+
+  // FIXME: check window type and walk up the window hierarchy
until
+  //we hit a toplevel window
+
+  if (x_win == None)
+g_message (_(Error selecting the window));
 }

   if (shootvals.shoot_type == SHOOT_REGION)
@@ -574,9 +580,11 @@
   g_free (keys);
 }

-  XUngrabPointer (x_dpy, CurrentTime);
+  if (status == GrabSuccess)
+XUngrabPointer (x_dpy, CurrentTime);

   XFreeCursor (x_dpy, x_cursor);
+
   if (x_gc != None)
 XFreeGC (x_dpy, x_gc);


If you actually try this you will understand why I added a FIXME. If you
open a popup menu and keep the mouse button pressed until the timer
expires, this code takes a screenshot of the popup menu, not of the
window that the popup is created from. This behaviour is correct from a
technical point of view (after all popup menus are separate windows).
But it's not what the user expects. We will somehow have to special-case
this. I posted the patch here in case that someone experienced with XLib
programming wants to give this a try.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Clarence Risher
On 1/30/07, peter sikking [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Clarence Risher wrote:
  On 1/30/07, peter sikking [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
   - the fact that it is a piece of cake to cut out a rectangle
  out of a image in GIMP, or two added rectangles (window +
  menu sticking out).
  For the record, windows are not always rectangular, or do not always
  fill their bounding box.

 You see, you had me doubting there, but then Sven wrote:

  The windows are still rectangular
  [edit to restore context: even if they have a bitmask or alpha
  channel that makes their shape appear non-rectangular. Screenshots of
  such windows will always be rectangular so this doesn't really matter
  here. ]

 else I would have given the whole thing a re-think.

Sven's argument is true, but does not address my point.  In every case
like this the process will be more complex than just shot-clip-done.
In cases of non-rectangular areas the clipping will be quite annoying.
 And in the rare case of alpha transparency it would be impossible to
erase the parts of the desktop or other windows behind the window
you are trying to capture.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread gg
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:22:11 +0100, Sven Neumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Any particular reason why you didn't use the screenshot feature of your
 desktop for this? Just asking. Please don't get upset again. I am only
 trying to get an idea on why you prefer to use the screenshot plug-in
 for this.

I'm not sure if you're assuming everyone is using gnome here. I work on  
xfce4 and I dont have a screenshot applet or whatever. I have scrot if I  
dont use gimp. Most window manager screenshots seems just to grab the  
whole screen. The nice thing about the gimp one was that it's more  
specific and precise.
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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 19:09 -0600, Clarence Risher wrote:

 Sven's argument is true, but does not address my point.  In every case
 like this the process will be more complex than just shot-clip-done.
 In cases of non-rectangular areas the clipping will be quite annoying.
  And in the rare case of alpha transparency it would be impossible to
 erase the parts of the desktop or other windows behind the window
 you are trying to capture.

The point is that you are bringing up a completely new topic here. There
is currently no support whatsoever for shaped windows or windows with an
alpha channel. As long as no one adds such support (which would be
extremely complicated to get right on all systems), there is no point in
arguing about it.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-30 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Tue, 2007-01-30 at 22:03 +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 I'm not sure if you're assuming everyone is using gnome here. I work on  
 xfce4 and I dont have a screenshot applet or whatever. I have scrot if I  
 dont use gimp. Most window manager screenshots seems just to grab the  
 whole screen. The nice thing about the gimp one was that it's more  
 specific and precise.

Of course I am not assuming that. But I don't know all the other desktop
environments out there and I expected that they more or less all have a
reasonably well working way of taking screenshots. After all this is
where the functionality belongs.

Perhaps the xfce project should think about adding such a tool. Or
simply integrate an existing tool. All that needs to be done is to set
up some global keyboard shortcuts. But that's better discussed on the
xfce lists, I guess...


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-29 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

On Mon, 2007-01-29 at 22:21 -0800, Akkana Peck wrote:

 Okay, it sounds like the developers aren't willing to put back the
 delay functionality that was removed from the screenshot plug-in.
 
 So for those of us who need the delay and don't want to go back to
 2.2, I've grabbed the old 2.2 screenshot plug-in, updated it so it
 works with 2.3, fixed a couple of warnings it was giving (gchar
 vs.  guchar), and made it build as a standalone plug-in (with
 gimptool --install).

Why don't you just copy the screenshot binary from the 2.2 installation
to your gimp-2.3 installation?

Also your approach is very lame indeed. This discussion wasn't even
close to coming to an end. It would have been a lot nicer to propose a
solution instead of wasting time like this. So far no one has even tried
to propose a user interface that fits all needs.


Sven


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Re: [Gimp-developer] Meaning of delay in screenshot plugin

2007-01-28 Thread Sven Neumann
Hi,

I don't think the plug-in will be removed but I would like not to
clutter the user interface again. The current UI seems to be more
appealing and usable than what we used to have.

Personally I tend to use the Screenshot functionality that is built into
the GNOME desktop. The screenshot is just a keypress (Print, Alt-Print)
away and importing it into GIMP is accomplished easily by dragging the
preview onto the GIMP toolbox.


Sven


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