Custombrush Panel displaying the name of the Custombrush

[Sewie]

Would it be possible to have, somewhere in "Tool : Custombrush" panel, the name of the selected custombrush displayed? For clarity sake.

What I mean is that when I select a custombrush it stays clear what brush it is that I've selected, right now I lose that information as soon as I change the size of the brush, because the custombrush button loses its highlight. And when I select a custombrush through a keyboard shortcut I don't have the info altogether.

[Svengali]

This is a problem of many dimensions (sorry for the pun) partly because there are so many attribute variables for a brush that can change. For starters, what if the brush doesn't have a name? Or, which attribute variables of the brush would be allowed to change and have the brush name remain the same? Color(s), scale, rotation, skew, outline, smoothing, etc. And what about cutbrushes that are captured, then used immediately without being saved?

I ran into a similar problem with the Brush History Table when I discovered that simply changing the rotation of the brush makes it a new brush requiring a new entry in the Table... but the new Table icon for the brush doesn't change, a duplicate copy is added to the Table. Color changes to the same brush? Same thing... which quickly neutralizes any advantage to having a stand-alone Brush History Table Panel (something I requested a while back that stays open all the time.)

So for the programmers, I guess its a question of defining the threshold or tipping point where the current brush becomes a new brush? Currently, it seems to be that ANY change in the attributes of a brush changes it into a new brush, one side effect being that the highlight of the original brush turns off.

Or maybe each brush that is being tracked could have a root name with a version number attached to it that would auto-increment with each change in attribute?

In the project's history panel, there are major and minor steps in the project session history which can be collapsed and expanded and selected. Maybe something like that for brushes as they evolve or change, as they are being used? Unwieldy though, if you change brushes or toggle between two brushes or between brush and eraser brush in rapid succession as part of your drawing process.

Myself, I'm constantly changing or modifying drawing tools and brushes or their colors - so I have to often just draw a sample stroke and undo it or optionally, check the tool parameter list and color palette to see where I am.

Sven

[Sewie]

Yes, I see how that can get complicated real fast...

How about if the brush has a name that is appointed by the user, that name gets displayed until another brush gets selected. Even if it is resized or rotated or if the profile editor graph gets adjusted, skewed, outlined, etc. So that it is clear which custombrush is the basis for the adjustments. Perhaps, when adjusted, a (red) asterix can appear behind the name so that the user can instantly see that the brush is not exactly the same as the one that was selected in the custompanel.

If a brush has no name (for example in the case of a captured cutbrush), no name gets displayed, just an empty field. Edit: Or it could say "Unknown Brush",or "Custombrush_0001", etc.

Just to keep it simple and clear. Or am I overlooking something?

[Svengali]

Saved Tool profiles are stored to include all of the parameters which define that tool. These can be viewed using the following script embedded in a new button:

Code: Select all

tv_GetActiveTool // check which tool is active and get parameters
ToolInfo = result // get all tool parameters so they can be restored
tv_warn ToolInfo // show tool's parameters and values
tv_cmd ToolInfo // Must estore all tool's parameters to what they were

Perhaps a "name" parameter (defined by the creator of the tool) could be added to these that would be loaded when the saved tool is reloaded and a number zero is appended to the name so it can be displayed in the Tool: panel as you suggest. Each time a change is made in some parameter for this brush, the appended number could be incremented and the name redisplayed in the Tool: panel.

With a little modification to the tool panel, the display of the name might be turned into a dropdown list that would let you select some previous version of the current brush (an earlier appended number). Changing tools would reset the name, starting again with an appended number zero. Where no name has been assigned yet, the brush might be assigned a default name.

I have no idea if this is easy or hard to implement and haven't really thought very deeply about the drawbacks, but this sounds like something close to what you are proposing.

Sven

[Sewie]

Sounds good tot me, except for the dropdown list in the tool panel. Perhaps it's just me but I prefer that part of the interface as clear and uncluttered as possible.

Would the history panel not be a better place for this dropdown list? Or perhaps a new dedicated brush history panel?

[Svengali]

Virtually every item in the Tool panel will either popup or drop-down a list of some kind for adjusting the current brush parameters or options. I don't think A brush name drop-down window would clutter the panel unnecessarily.

I'd still like to see the Main Panel's current brush button (with its popup brush history table) somehow enable the user, with a single right click, to turn the popup table into a separate brush panel (like the 10.5 color palette can now generate a separate, stand-alone color palette panel).

And a very useful enhancement to that, would give the user the ability to save and load a whole table of brushes to or from that new stand-alone brush panel.

Making anything like that work is all in the details, but I can dream.

Sven

[Sewie]

If it's clear, easy to use and uncluttered, I'm all for it!