[Gimp-developer] Modifier key to create new layer from floating selection

[David Gowers]

Hi,

On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 2:34 AM, Daniel Hornung <daniel.hornung at gmx.de> wrote:
> On Thursday 20 November 2008, David Gowers wrote:
>>
>> This is usually effectively the same as pasting (ctrl+V for most
>> people, Insert for me). Is creating a floating selection that does not
>> match the clipboard contents a common use case, or do we just need to
>> document this behaviour better?
>
> Sorry, I think there's a misunderstanding here:
>
> I proposed a mouse-driven way to create a new layer from an existing floating
> selection. (And not to paste the current (floating) selection into the
Okay then, 'New layer' button does this (unless you also want to keep
the floating layer around -- that can be done too with a bit of
scripting). There is also a 'new layer'  action available that you can
bind a key to, that does the same thing.

Kind of hinted at here:
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-using-layers.html

being more explicit is better though.

(the above page may also be out of date -- GIMP now preserves the
exact shape of the clipboard rather than autocropping to hold the
content in a minimal rectangle)


> respective layer.)
>
>
> And yes, that Ctrl-V anchors a copy of the current floating selection was new
> to me and probably should be better documented.  Plus the "Edit" menu entry
To be exact, it anchors any current floating selection before creating
a new floating selection.


> still says "Paste Ctrl+V" while "Paste Into" (which does the same) does not
> have a shortcut listed.
Paste Into is markedly different from Paste.

Try this:

1. Open an image.
2. Edit->Copy
3. Make a circular selection
4. Edit->Paste Into

Essentially, 'Paste into' uses the selection mask to mask out parts of
the selection, whereas 'Paste' clears the selection beforehand.

http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-edit-paste-into.html

With 'Paste into' it's possible to quickly paste one or more things
into a limited area.
(I personally favor layer masking for this; however for speed of use,
Paste Into is superior.)


>
> Btw, http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-selection-float.html still seems to be from
> 2.4 times (or older), I'll crosspost this fact to the gimp-docs mailing list
> as well.
Older for sure :) Just plain confusing.
I think a crossreference to
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-using-selections.html#gimp-using-selections-moving
is also a good thing to include in the floating-selections page.

(I'm pretty sure we are trying to get rid of floating selections, but
I suspect we will only be free to find an adequate alternative when
the projection system is completely GEGLized.

David