search

aferrero2707 / PhotoFlow

A fully non-destructive photo retouching program providing a complete layer-based workflow including RAW image development.
http://aferrero2707.github.io/PhotoFlow
GNU General Public License v3.0
315 stars 36 forks source link

Complexity of the user interface #102

Open richo67 opened 8 years ago

richo67 commented 8 years ago

I am not sure if this is the best place to write about it. Let me know please. I am searching through Linux photography software for alternative to my lightroom+NIK windows centered workflow. One of the option I liked very much is photoflow, especially after I have seen the video tutorial with 0.2.5 version. I liked the clear user interface and beautiful logic with masks.

I have downloaded latest git build with gtk3 and I found interface changed. I find the UI not very good and certainly not fro daily intensive use with many images. Is there a plan to focus on this part or is your focus more on developing new plugins, features?

It may be because the distribution Elementary OS but this is what I see:

screenshot from 2016-08-04 14 13 52

aferrero2707 commented 8 years ago

Usability and UI layout is one of my current focuses, so I am open to any type of suggestions.

Could you describe what would be your preferred arrangement of the UI elements? Layers on the left, and tools on the right of the preview? Or tools in separate dialog(s), as it was the case in the very early versions of the program?

Also, could you provide me a screenshot of the gtk2 version (photoflow-git package) running on your system? I still have some issues with UI colors in some cases...

Thanks!

richo67 commented 8 years ago

I really prefer to use as little as possible UI elements to modify image. I like to keep mouse on one place not necessarily move mouse from and to very small UI elements. I will try to draw my suggestion in short while. I need to think about this little more.

The video to which I was referring was video at this location http://photoflowblog.blogspot.nl/2015/11/photoflow-tutorials-part-1-basic-usage.html . That video is using version with separate dialogs.

Here is th screen-shot(s) you asked for:

screenshot from 2016-08-07 14 12 13 screenshot from 2016-08-07 14 11 48

richo67 commented 8 years ago

@aferrero2707 you had suggestion in the Fuji RAW thread:

Concerning the error about the "pixmap" engine, could you try to install the "gtk2-engines-pixbuf" and "gtk2-engines-murrine" packages? Hopefully the UI will then look better...

I did as you suggested the murrine had already been installed on my system. After I installed the pixbuf nothing has changed in GTK2 version of photoflow, it looks exactly the same.

riiski commented 7 years ago

Is there any help regarding UX needed? I am looking to get some exp in this field.

aferrero2707 commented 7 years ago

@richo67

I have downloaded latest git build with gtk3 and I found interface changed. I find the UI not very good and certainly not fro daily intensive use with many images. Is there a plan to focus on this part or is your focus more on developing new plugins, features?

There have been several further changes in the UI layout during the past months... did you have a chance to check more recent versions of photoflow-git from the same PPA?

Also, since I am trying to fix pending issues in view of a new official release, could you tell me if you still see wrong colors with the GTK2 version and, if yes, could you give me the details of the desktop manager and desktop theme you are using?

Thanks!