Somehow disappointed...

[Lojza]

Guys,

respect for the great work you do, but I feel disappointed with how current versions of AD and AP perform on Mac. I admit I've not been in touch for some... well years now, and I also admit that I'm a casual user (i.e. not using AD or AP on daily basis), but I've been one of the first users of the first betas and I count myself as one of the ultimately supportive users... Alas, current state of things makes me feel somehow sad.

Not only there are small issues here and there across the apps, but also it seems that there are reintroduced issues in fuctions, which were already working in previous versions, but are broken in current versions.

Here are some of my sad complaints:

1. I'm not able to look through all the 100+ tutorials available, but I'm sure that it was possible to restrict live gaussian blur layer to a rectangle. Now it's not possible. Or at least I'm not able to do it intuitively. How in the hell am I able to blur a defined rectangle area of my image? I guess this does not apply to gaussian blur only, but also to other live filter layers.
2. As far as I remember, several years ago, I was one of the first users who suggested that there should be a switch in Settings, which would allow to change dimensions of selected items either with or without preserving size ratio. This is now functioning improperly. I'm not sure whether it's in Designer or in Photo, but whenever I select a text layer or an image layer (or multiple layers), it's behaving inconsistently. Sometimes, resizing preserves size ratio with Shift, sometimes it works quite the opposite. I reckon the options should be clear:
   1. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Automatic (based on selection) => do whatever you want
   2. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Constrain by default => preserve aspect ratio no matter what unless Shift is pressed
   3. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Do not constrain by default => sizes of selection must be adjustable freely, unless Shift is pressed
3. Export to SVG actually brokes some curves - especially those with adjusted stroke width. I mean, how many times this was addressed? See the example attachment - comparison of PDF export nd SVG export. The blue parts should not be there...

Also, I don't see any major shift in functionalities through the years. I know it's been and are difficult times for us here, but still... Will you introduce some breakthroughs or killer features? I mean AI for various filters or functions like resizing, noise reduction, etc. Or vectorizing functions for bitmaps? Or some UX revamping for common adjustments and filters which are somehow hard to geat a grasp on? Or making Liquify / Develop / Tone Mapping personas adjustable even after applying..?

I'm sorry if it feels like an emotional flush or something. But even so, I hope it'll resonate somehow.

However, cheers & keep up!

 

 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, Lojza said:

Sometimes, resizing preserves size ratio with Shift, sometimes it works quite the opposite. I reckon the options should be clear:

1. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Automatic (based on selection) => do whatever you want
2. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Constrain by default => preserve aspect ratio no matter what unless Shift is pressed
3. Move Tool Aspect Constrain = Do not constrain by default => sizes of selection must be adjustable freely, unless Shift is pressed

 

The options work correctly, and as expected, for me.

It sounds like you would be happier with option 2 or 3, though, as they are the ones that will give you consistent results without you having to figure out how option 1 works. It is not "do whatever you want". It is:

• constrain if the selection has an inherent aspect ratio, do not constrain if it doesn't, except
• if you press Shift, reverse this behavior.

So, if you choose option 1 (which is, I think, the default), then you need to understand which selections have inherent aspect ratios, and which don't, in order to know whether you want to press Shift or not.

If you're getting inconsistent behavior and you have that option chosen, then you probably don't understand the logic. But it's there, and in my experience it does work.

But rather than fighting with it, just pick option 2 or 3 instead.