Clicking on text frame border should trigger the move tool/mode

[huangcq]

@GarryP Thanks for the replies, but all in all the discussion has been a time waster.

[GarryP]

If what has been discussed in this thread causes someone reading this to pause and consider their own suggestion(s) further, before making them, than I don’t consider my time to have been wasted.

[huangcq]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

If what has been discussed in this thread causes someone reading this to pause and consider their own suggestion(s) further, before making them, than I don’t consider my time to have been wasted.

Great. Whatever floats your boat.

[Wosven]

14 hours ago, R C-R said:

isn't the text cursor enough of a visual reminder of that?

Sometimes it can be quite discret... (That's why I added a request to a highlight mode, to help about this and because since QXD, I always missed this feature in the layout apps.) On Windows, it's only a fine black line blinking, you can easily miss it if you're not focused on the text.

By security, you can click out of the text frame to avoid adding further text if you're interrupted, and return to your layout later (this and saving the file).

[MikeTO]

I hadn't read this thread until now so I missed the fun. Publisher allows objects to be selected with any tool which is super convenient and reduces the need to switch tools as much as apps without this approach but it introduces UI inconsistency. For example - I can select an inline picture frame with almost any tool, even the Triangle tool, but not with the Frame Text tool. Sadly, selecting inline picture frames while editing text is a common use case so there's a bit of a UI gap.

When I first started using Publisher after not using a page layout app for eons, muscle memory kicked in and I tried to press Esc twice to switch from editing text to the Move tool and I was confused when it didn't work. It's because Publisher has the concept of selecting objects with any tool. Great idea, but I still wish we could press Esc when nothing is selected to switch to the Move tool. So my request is that if no objects are selected and the user presses Esc, which is currently unassigned to any action, that this would change to the Move tool.

I keep Tools hidden to save horizontal real estate. I know I can press Esc and then V and I do this but I have to think a bit each time I do it while hammering on Esc is something my primitive brain understands. 🙂

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, Wosven said:

On Windows, it's only a fine black line blinking, you can easily miss it if you're not focused on the text.

At least in the context of this topic, assuming the request is to switch to the Move Tool with the text layer still selected by clicking on the text frame, I think it is safe to assume we would be focused on the text & aware that initially we are in text entry mode.

5 hours ago, Wosven said:

... you can click out of the text frame to avoid adding further text ,,,

That does not leave the text layer selected, which I think is the reason for the request to trigger the Move Tool when clicking on the frame border.

[dominik]

On 8/31/2021 at 3:56 PM, MikeTO said:

So my request is that if no objects are selected and the user presses Esc, which is currently unassigned to any action, that this would change to the Move tool.

'V' does that already.

As to the OP's request to automatically switch to the move tool:
You can hit ESC in a text frame and instantly move the text frame with the cursor keys. To continue editing text you click once in the text frame again.

d.

[MikeTO]

5 hours ago, dominik said:

'V' does that already.

I know, my request was that Esc do this, too. Some of us have muscle memory from previous apps that allowed easier switching to the Move (aka Select or Object) tool by pressing Esc once or twice, depending on the app. It's a lot easier than pressing Esc and then V.

Allowing objects to be selected and manipulated with any tool has huge advantages so it's great that the Affinity apps offer this. But it introduces modality which is usually avoided because it increases cognitive load. e.g., you can press V if the Rectangle tool is selected but you must press Esc and then V if the Frame Text tool is selected. I'm not saying Serif shouldn't have taken this approach, I think it's great, but the Move tool is the most basic tool and deserves the easiest possible way to select it that doesn't require the user to be conscious of the mode.

[dominik]

2 hours ago, MikeTO said:

but the Move tool is the most basic tool and deserves the easiest possible way to select it that doesn't require the user to be conscious of the mode.

I cannot deny this, especially in regard to frame text.

OTOH, muscle memory is better if trained in different ways (but that is my way of thinking about it). ESC is not that universal that it works everywhere the same.

I know that Serif is monitoring these forums and maybe they come to the conclusion that there is room for improvement.

d.