Re: [tdf-discuss] UI proposal

On Sat, 2010-10-23 at 01:58 +0300, Povilas Kanapickas wrote:
> First of
> all, Office suite should include a tool to make at least moderate quality
> schemes and similar things. That tool should be also integrated within the
> suite, so it'd be possible to edit embedded graphics directly. 

Yes but ideally also able to stand alone from the suite for use in other
circumstances. Integration through internal messaging between
applications is perfectly possible. In Inkscape, raster graphics can be
embedded and various effects applied through the extensions. I can't see
it being impossible to add editing as another extension but maybe a
better approach is to communicate with other editors already in
existence. Embedding pngs seems to produce svg flies about 30% bigger
than the originals from a quick and unscientific check. Double click a
graphic and automatically open it in a raster editor would be another
possibility with "save" returning the edited image back to Inkscape.
That would require some open standard protocols to be defined for
transfer of data between apps (if it doesn't already exist). Drag and
drop between different apps supporting the standard would be another
possibility. It's really only a way of short-cutting cut and paste. 

> The more
> powerful the integrated graphic editor is, the less there will be users who
> need to do the 'long trip' just to edit a graphic object (by saying long
> trip I mean deleting the object, finding the image in the file manager,
> opening it, editing, embedding into right location and adjusting image
> parameters). This is the reason, why the solution 'Let's just have Draw, and
> leave Inkscape for the advanced users' isn't viable. In addition to that,
> why to decentralize the (scarce??) resources available?
>
> Of course, I wouldn't be saying all that if there were usability problems
> with Inkscape. But IMHO it has quite low learning curve while providing a
> lot of features.

Agreed. What we need is innovation to get away from the megalithic
approach and build cross platform standards that support data messaging
between applications. Then smaller applications that are easier to
develop and manage are possible, working together or apart as required.
With phone technologies moving into the computer space this becomes more
important to help with power consumption, cost etc.
> Just my 2 cents
> Povilas


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