[Gimp-developer] a good student UI project...

[saulgoode at flashingtwelve.brickfilms.com]

Quoting peter sikking <peter at mmiworks.net>:

> so now we need a design problem. the course is short but
> intense, 3 days with me full-time to work up a solutions model
> and then they take some days to finish their presentation.
>
> so now huge redesign problems, more something like a compact tool.
> (like the free/poly select tool), or a tricky interactive dialog
> (like, combined brightness/contrast + levels + curves).
>
> please post your suggestions what we could do.

A challenging problem that has not yet been addressed by GIMP's  
interface is how to interactively stroke paths, and not merely just to  
see the results simple stroking (thickness, color, dashing), but  
actually provide some presently non-existent capability such as  
tapering and perhaps even arrowheads.

This is a particularly tricky problem because, like the current Text  
Tool, it requires both a dialog to choose certain settings as well as  
some on-canvas handles to interact with rendering (I am thinking here  
of control handles similar to the Paths Tool's, but that they affect  
the rendering and not the path itself).

There is also a problem in that currently stroking a path works upon  
an existing drawable, and honors several paramaters such as the  
selection, layer modes, and paint tool options, whereas the Text Tool  
avoids these issues by creating a new layer.

Personally, I think interactive path rendering to a new layer would be  
worthwhile in and of itself (creation of tapered curves is sorely  
missed by me), and would offer the advantage of permitting later  
modification of that rendering, but it would mean a departure from the  
current stroking behavior (which is a worthwhile capability not to be  
abandoned).