Scribus UI/UX improvements

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Kunda

Awesome! Looks like shifting to integrating indigodock in to scribus-indigo has gotten a lot more attention. Full speed ahead!

tim_occ


Kunda


micker

very very gooooooddddd !
can we have windows version for testing and participate to debug and issue ?
regards

lochi009

Hello,

I just want to share my thoughts about the upcoming indigo-ui.

The screenshot below shows my current standard UI-setup for scribus 1.5.3svn applied to the Indigo-AppImage.
The orange coloured text is added by hand, since the latest AppImage (Ubuntu) doesn't show any text there. I also changed the terms "Properties" and "Text Properties" to "Frame" and "Content".

My wish: I would like to see all the sub-menu/sub-panels (Drop Shadow, Shape, ...) in "Properties" and "Text Properties"
moved to the "icon"-panel on the left side.

The other panels like "Align and Distribute", "Scrapbook", "Layers" and so on, I would rather arrange the way it's already possible with the latest scribus-svn. So e.g. I can have  the layers panel in a fixed position and always visuable .

I don't know, if that's the way the ui-changes are planed to be anyway ...

regards, lochi009

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tim_occ

Hi lochi,

currently there is no finished design concept. So, it is still open for more input. If I get you right you need only an icon bar in the Frame panel or do you need only a split Frame (Properties) panel into single panels?

greets,
Martin

tim_occ

For the overall design concept I found some nice User Interfaces and there is a new common trend. It is a quick access/tool bar. It is similar to my old proposal as described here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1M6R4ggFbgU1EXbWiL8hwppyQJhsNnUlw7_7rOA3Im1Q/edit#slide=id.gcb561e9b3_0_9

I think such tool bar will be really useful.

Check out the application screenshots in attachement. I like the way that the apps are simple but have all advanced features.
Focus is on most often used features and basic settings. Features which are not often used are in a "second navigation layer". These advanced stuff is accessible on same places where the basic settings are.

In the end you have all important stuff on one screen and if you need more detailed settings you can show it by one click. I think it is also a good idea for Scribus to put the advanced features in a second layer:
1. to have a clear interface
2. to make it intuitive

Tools here: Affinity Photo, Affinity Drawer, Sketch 3, Gravit.io

greets,
Martin

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GarryP

I'll give my vote for having a quick-access toolbar. They can be very useful.

For instance, it would be much easier to change the outline colour of a shape by just selecting from a drop-down on a toolbar rather than navigating to the Colour tab of PP, making sure you have Outline selected and then changing the colour. It's this sort of long-winded navigation that makes Scribus a bit of a pain to use sometimes.

Selecting which tools to show on the toolbar at any given time might cause a bit of an argument but I think it would be well worth the effort.

a.l.e

today i've updated my libreoffice at work... and my thoughts went back to the scribus' property palette(s).

i think it's time to work on a sound concept paper and make a proposal to the team.

personally, starting from the way the libreoffice property palette works could be a good idea...

anybody on boat to prepare such a document?

GarryP

Forgive me for asking, but isn't that what the IndigoDock is all about?

My impression of the project was that it was going to make the PP more flexible while also removing clutter with the ability to collapse dialogs/palettes into icons.

If dialogs can also be docked/undocked then that's pretty much like the LibreOffice palette isn't it? Or am I missing something? (That's entirely possible as I've not used the IndigoDock myself and don't often use the LibreOffice palettes as the toolbar is usually good enough for what I need.)

a.l.e

hi garry,

yes, this what indigodock is about.
that's why i'm talking about the pp in here : - )

for now, i see indigodock as a testbed for the dock, with a sample implementation. and with a bunch of screenshots as its bases.
now we know what is possible and we have a code base that we can eventually use for mocking ideas.

my point: i'd like to sit down and have a chat about how the new PP should work. and produce a document that states a bunch of recommendations for the PP.

we can start with the current state of indigo dock (which is the result of multiple experimentations) or from libreoffice (which is a product that is not thought for DTP, but has the advantage of being a finished product... (and being free software so we can freely "copy"/borrow from it)). or from both.

GarryP

Ah, I see. I thought you were proposing to start another "rival" project. Got myself a bit confused there. Sorry.

I can't really comment on IndigoDock as I've not used it and, as I said above, I don't have much experience with the LibreOffice palettes. (My use of LO is so basic I only need the toolbars but the palettes look nice.)

CGood

I don't know those other applications well enough to sort out how exactly they relate to the points at hand, but the idea of having the most used tools and properties closer to the surface while eliminating the visual traffic jam feels good to me. I'm in favor of things that hew to GarryP's description, "My impression of the project was that it was going to make the PP more flexible while also removing clutter with the ability to collapse dialogs/palettes into icons".

I find myself wishing I had faster access to several items. If I am off topic here - please ignore or let me know an I can re-post when and where more appropriate.

The tools that I wish were right at the surface are - at least as I can recall this moment:

Styles
Colors And Fills
Levels
Guides
Align and Distribute
Layers
Inserting non-keyboard characters / spaces / glyphs

Thinking about interface and the icons that line the edges of the app, I would love to be able to customize by putting most of them away. I try to use keyboard shortcuts. Somehow remembering what some icons do is not a strong point for me, and trying to pick out the one I want out of a mass of little minimal graphics slows me down. In LibreOffice, the first thing I do when installing is get rid of almost all icons and save only the few I actually use. Every once in a while. I add another icon as needed.

Again please let me know if this is relevant or off topic. Everyone has plenty on their plates and I'm not trying to suggest we re-invent too many wheels at one time. So, is this pertinent to the IndigoDock?

tim_occ

Hey,

I agree with a.l.e about the property panel (if you are talking about libreoffice 5). It is similar to the layout what Scribus currently have and also what big player uses (like Sketch).

In attachment you can see what I have in mind for Scribus. The property panel have a main section for necessary settings and addional sections for optional settings.
Optional settings are not "enabled" by default, so the input fields are not visable and Scribus have to use some default values, like contour color = none and width = 0.

For every object we can define a preset of settings in the property panel.
Example: Rectangle -> Geometry and Fill color have some pre-filled values.
Example: Line -> Geometry and Contour have some pre-filled values.
Example: Text Box -> Geometry and Basic Text Options have default values.

Furthermore we can put some quick actions (icons) on right side of the section header. Like: enable/disable feature, show/hide advanced settings, show style editors, etc.

greets,
Martin

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CGood

I'm slow. I get it much better now. Yes, I like what I see! Thanks for the additional examples.