Pointer Support (general help improvements)

[TEcHNOpls]

What is "Pinter support"? Help does not help here (•Choose whether to enable pointer support.).

There many places where the help is lackluster, to say the least. A general revision of help system would be useful, even if you have books about this, a clearer description, even rudimentary should be available.

[casterle]

On 5/11/2020 at 10:15 AM, TEcHNOpls said:

What is "Pinter support"? Help does not help here (•Choose whether to enable pointer support.).

There many places where the help is lackluster, to say the least. A general revision of help system would be useful, even if you have books about this, a clearer description, even rudimentary should be available.

Good question and good comment. I landed here in search of the same answer.

For many things the docs are useless. No cross references or cross-refs that point to nothing useful such as explanations that consist of parroting the name of the option in question. Some features are very good, like the 'interactive' graphics that demonstrate effects, but much of it serves only to fan frustration.

This needs to be addressed at some point, and I hope that point is version 2.0. Given what Serif gives us for a very small price (which of course limits resources that can be devoted to docs) I find their products a bargain and recommend them to anyone who asks.

[Martin S Taylor]

I agree. I came here looking for help on how the pointer changes depending on what key is held down, and what the different symbols mean.

The Pen Tool, in particular, often changes to have different 'suffixes' (for want of a better term) which don't enlighten me much. Is there anywhere I can see what those suffixes mean?

The Node Tool, on the other hand, doesn't have enough suffixes. Dragging a node's handle with the Node Tool, for instance, maintains the smoothness of the node; but option-dragging a handle does not maintain the smoothness. This is most useful, but it would be helpful if the suffix changed to show the new behaviour.

Quote

While you work a tool's pointer (cursor) provides valuable feedback about the tool that you are currently working with. The pointer will change dynamically to help you to work more effectively.