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  1. #1
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    Default Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    .. The align dialog Box.

    It should be a dockable panel, not a floating one and/or it should be available with other menu panels. I won't bother to ask for real time alignment guides..

    ..The lack of nested layers.

    Examples courtesy of Flash 8..


    OK, I feel better now..
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    Overall, I like the functionality of the Alignment dialog, but...

    I have two monitors side by side with my Xara window full-screen in the left monitor and all my galleries open in the right monitor, by default. There is one thing I hate over and above everything else about the Alignment toolbar. Let's say you launch it and leave it open. Then you launch or select another toolbar like a Bitmap or Layer Gallery which then sits on top of it. The Alignment toolbar button is now greyed out so you can no longer select it. But because the dialog is behind all of your other dialogs you don't know where it is. You have effectively lost it unless you close all other toolbars / galleries until you find the one it is behind. That sucks über bitter lemons in my book.
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    Do you really like the user interface of Flash compared to Xtreme's? If you had stated you liked Illy's instead of Xara's I might not replied and said "well everyone has their own opinions" and left it like that but when you have to work in such a small space due to the terrible user interface set up I have to strongly disaggree. When Xtreme came out with its dockable galleries etc. the first questions in this forum was how do we make them undockable.

    Nested layers I would say is something that I would like but its not a the top of the list. The aligment tool works and it works easily and it can be brought to use with the press of 3 Keys so the only difference is that the operation of the aligment tool is that you have to use drop down boxes instead of a graphic button and if that is your complaint thats sad.
    Design is thinking made visual.
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  4. #4
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    Quote Originally Posted by Albacore View Post
    Do you really like the user interface of Flash compared to Xtreme's? If you had stated you liked Illy's instead of Xara's I might not replied and said "well everyone has their own opinions" and left it like that but when you have to work in such a small space due to the terrible user interface set up I have to strongly disaggree. When Xtreme came out with its dockable galleries etc. the first questions in this forum was how do we make them undockable.
    Well, I don't have AI; Flash has these features so it's easy to use them as an example. I think it's perfectly reasonable to illustrate a point using parts of the Flash interface - it doesn't mean make Xtreme the same as Flash. Where did you get that idea from?

    Nested layers I would say is something that I would like but its not a the top of the list.
    I like to use Xara to build graphic assets and assemble them according to their use. If I'm making a web design, I might use one layer for individual assets, another layer as a web page background template, another layer as an alternative template, another layer to hold a populated page using Template 'A' as the layout, another layer shows the populated page using template 'B' as a layout in the background, etc.. As I go along I'm flipping between pages and assets and there is a natural hierarchy in my design. I might also have print designs sharing the same assets for the customer. Layers are a real irritation for me.

    I'd like to be able to simulate my web pages just by turning on and off the visibility of a layer folder, rather than flip the visibility of many layers.

    If Xara really got their act together we could have poor mans multi-page layout using nested layers.

    The aligment tool works and it works easily and it can be brought to use with the press of 3 Keys so the only difference is that the operation of the aligment tool is that you have to use drop down boxes instead of a graphic button and if that is your complaint thats sad.
    Well maybe I am sad. Why am I looking for a lost dialog that loses visibility and requires me to click around drop downs and buttons, when I can have a docked panel that would always be visible (my choice) and can do the same with a single click. If that's sad, that's exactly what I am.

    Paul
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  5. #5
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    It's strange how different users have different preferences. I loathe docking panels or more accuratly floating panels that dock automatically. I don't want docked panels, never, ever, at anytime, so please don't have an auto dock! Or at least an option to toggle it on/off. You should see me rant and rave when my Bitmap Gallery suddenly devours half my work space. It's MY workspace you ****, who told you you could **** park yourself ***** there? etc

    I prefer Xtremes single click operation to that of Flashs 2 click operation, but it's not something that bothers me greatly either way.

    I've never used nested layers in Flash (Used nested library objects tho) and whilst it might be a nice feature, I personaly have never had a layer gallery that long that it needed nesting.

    One of the features I think's great about Flash is the ability just to hold down the left mouse button & drag show/hide or lock/unlock layers. The ability to wire frame individual layers is great as well. But all in all Flashs user interface is a nightmare, with so many panels the workarea ends up the size of a postage stamp. Thank god for dual monitor displays.
    Egg

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  6. #6
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    I'm very happy with Xara's alignment dialog. I find it much easier to read than all those little symbols.

    The only complaint I have is the one I keep voicing: there's no option to align to selected object.

    Perhaps the solution is to add an "advanced" extension to hold additional options, as in the Color Editor. For example, SWiSHmax allows you to align to the objects' anchors in addition to the standard positions. That could be useful. (The anchor position stays with the object until you specifically change it.)

    Of course, SWiSH determines the object's position according to the anchor, no matter where it's placed. And you can't put the anchor just anywhere, as you can in Xara. The possible positions correspond to those in Xara's Origin Position control.

    While I was thinking about whether a similar anchor/position/alignment approach would mitigate my problem with the bottom-left ruler origin, it occurred to me that an "anchor magnet" could help out the people who want to snap one part of an object to a particular part of another object. Since I'm not a programmer, I have no idea how feasible that is.
    Last edited by amoore; 01 November 2006 at 04:40 PM.
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  7. #7
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    I'm with egg on the docking panels, they are a pain in the **** as they dock whether you want them to or not so don't add the alignment menu, which is fine as it is by the way, to the list of stuff you don't dare move about the screen.
    Last edited by masque; 01 November 2006 at 05:02 PM.
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  8. #8
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    NONE of my galleries dock anymore, not since this informative thread:

    http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...hlight=docking
    -=Bob=-
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  9. #9
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    you guys are aware that if you hold the ctl key down while moving the panels, they won't dock....
    Glenn
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  10. #10
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    Default Re: Can I say how much I hate.. ?

    Bob thanks for searching that out. I need to disable the docking again. New larger hard drive with fresh installations of everything.

    Glenn old habits are hard to break. I'd rather edit the registry so I have to hold the Ctrl key down to have it dock, which I never want it to do.
    Soquili
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