Evaluation Notes - Photo Realistic

Photo Realistic - creating high quality photo realistic

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Icons in the Toolbox

1. it is not easy (=quick) to recognise and identify each icon
2. should have strong contours, be good metaphors, differentiated by colours
3. pen and pencil have almost the same angle and colour, at least the colour should be different
4. better icons wich depict the actual effect, are needed for Dodge/burn tool and Eraser
5. Levels, Curves, Threshold are represented by an icon of their dialog window, not the its meaning & function
6. all the transformation tools look the same, the colour and blobby shape is the same, just the tiny details differ and show the function
7. Ink tool would be better represented by an icon of a nib, which is the essence of the tool;
8. Crop/resize icon is not enough differentiated from the background, and it’s difficult to know what it is; traditional two 'L's (like still used on mouse cursor) is better
9. Measure icon tool is too complicated, too many details; old one was better (look at www.docs.gimp.org )

Open Image Window

1. Disturbingly, it is not a native dialog;
2. Doesn’t show shortcuts/aliases/links to folders (under Windows).
3. favourites is a native dialog feature available (almost) all platforms.
4. a favourite folder should look like a folder
5. Maybe GIMP could remember that during one session within which folder we want to see the files in Open dialog sorted by time.

Conclusions

1. Open and Save dialogs should be implemented natively
2. If you have cross platform projects, adopt them to the platform. Do not compromise, so that one size fits all.

Acquire Scanner/Camera

1. To Scan you need to install SANE plugin. this can be traumatic experience
2. first sub-devide these devices according to device type (camera, scanner, webcam) and only when there are multiple devices of one type connected, differentiate these by device name.

Open Location

1. Technological solution, there is no user interface solution at all.
2. It’s usefulness is very limited to copy and paste of technical addresses.
3. Not acceptable is the fact that one has to type the whole "http://" part
4. Not forgiving. It does the job, but you are not allowed to make any mistake.
5. You should be able to go to a website and browse through the directories your way towards an image.
6. drag-and-drop images works for IE , but not for Firefox.

Conclusions

1. User has to adapt to machine! That’s wrong
2. both dragging and typing should be supported
3. Maybe there should be a small project to find the solution for a mini (ftp like) browser for Open location dialog.

Levels

1. for print-oriented users, it is useful to also show CMYK in Levels.
2. there is room for improvement in showing no only what happens to the extremes, but also make visible the the shift and expansion/compression of the tone ranges.
3. Levels could display all channels at the same time, with different, half transparent colours.

Colour Balance

1. It is good to have 3 different ranges to adjust (shadows, midtones, highlights).
2. Now we can only balance colour of shadows/midtones/highlights separately. We don’t like architecturally that you can’t color balance 2 or 3 different regions simultaneously.
3. idea: Replicate the 2 sliders for all 3 ranges and link the adjustment ranges by default.
4. Taking one of 3 eyedroppers and changing for ex. hue, regardless of value and saturation, should be possible.
5. Two dimensional solutions: specifying a location on the colour wheel with two sliders will deliver simplification of this process.

tool tips

1. Initial time-out for the tool tip should be twice as long. So that the tool tip would not show up when you know what you’re doing. Probable the tool tips should come after 2 sec.
2. There should be tool tips for all the tool parameters.

Healing tool

1. There are many modes, but do we need them? Do we need all of them?
2. Some of the parameters seems not relevant for this tool (hard edge, jitter).
3. Alignment- registered doesn’t work well. In general the tool doesn’t work the way we expected.

Sharpen tool

1. Water drop icon in toolbox is not a good icon for this tool.
2. Should have setting of radius, amount, threshold. aligns this tool with the plug-in.
3. Modes should be hidden, as well as some of the options like Apply jitter.
4. In general it should be possible to apply unsharp mask using all four basic brushes (pencil, ink, airbrush, brush).

Unsharp Mask filter

1. The name should be different, for ex. 'Power sharpen'. Present name makes people understand the work of a filter in a opposite way. Even if there are historic reasons for it.
2. We should get rid of the preview, the whole main window is the preview.
3. Make it more predictable what the parameters do. Maybe by image, other name? (however, people are very used to it)
4. Since radius = (output ppi / 30) * 0.2, we should take the PPI and calculate the default value of radius. Yet the name Radius should stay the same.

Lens Distortion Correction

1. Sliders are very technical. WE should provide relevant sliders.
2. You should be able to set on the picture the point at what your focus was on.
3. With this filter we should be able to correct: Pincusion, Barreling, Vinietting effect.
4. If we really need this xy coordinates, then make it on the image, not in dialog.

Perspective Tool

1. Names should be changed: Forward (Traditional), Backward (Corrective)
2. Clip Result (This option will clip the transformed image to the original image size)should have appropriate name like: keep image size. What more it doesn’t really work well.
3. Why can’t it be simple, and let user draw it in the way that is natural for him.
4. There should be gird, to which you transform, not a grid of transformations.
5. It would be useful to have constrains to keep the same height, like Shift in drawing straight line. Maybe also option for symmetry.
6. No matrix and no apply buttons.The numbers don’t apply the goals. Instead of going to the window and clicking for transform you should be able to click-apply when transforming on the image.
7. No message at the bottom/tool tip. (?)