Insufficient Line Width Precision

[gcvrsa]

Using Publisher V2 on iPad, I noticed immediately that there is no way to specify a line width of 0.25 pt. In case you are unaware, this is the default line width in Adobe InDesign, so it’s pretty important for people moving over from InDesign to maintain graphic continuity with previous projects. 0.2 pt, 0.25 pt, and 0.3 pt are easily discernible to the eye, so neither 0.2 nor 0.3 are acceptable substitutes for 0.25. If the software already supports that precision, but the interface does not, please fix the interface.

[Pyanepsion]

For reference:

The threshold of detail perception for the human eye is generally considered to be about 1 arc minute (1/60 degree) of angular distance between two points. This means that if two points are less than 1 arc minute apart, they will be perceived as a single point by the human eye.

The closest the human eye can see depends on a number of factors, such as the vision of each individual, but it is generally estimated to be about 25 cm (10 inches).

To calculate the distance between two points that form an angle of 1/60 of a degree with the eye located 25 cm away, we need to use the similarity relationship between an angle and distance:

distance = (distance to the eye) x (tangent of the angle)

So, using this relationship and substituting the given values, we have :

distance = (0.25m) x (tangent (1/60 degree))
= 0.25 m × 0.00029088821 = 0.0747205 mm ≈ 0.1 mm

However 1 pt = 0.3527777 mm.

So:

0,20 pt = 0.07054 mm ≈ 0.1 mm
0,25 pt = 0.088175 mm ≈ 0.1 mm
0,30 pt = 0.1058331 mm ≈ 0.1 mm

There is therefore very little difference.

Solving the problem

I imagine the iPad should work in much the same way as the Mac and Windows versions.

If so, just go to Preferences and set the precision and then click on the line to determine the thickness. This value is then transferred to the next open file.

 

[fde101]

3 hours ago, gcvrsa said:

If the software already supports that precision, but the interface does not, please fix the interface.

As @Pyanepsion shows above, you can change the displayed precision from the user interface preferences on the desktop versions - but note that this only impacts the display of the point size.  The size actually does support more digits of precision, but the value gets rounded off for display after you enter it.  If you type in 0.25, even with only one digit displaying, it will round off after you enter it (if the default precision of 1 digit is selected) but will still be stored as 0.25 behind the scenes.

 

On the iPad version, there is unfortunately no way to adjust the display precision for these values, so you can't really see past the first digit - even when editing the value after it is entered - but you can enter more precise values and they do stick.

To type in a more precise value, tap on the displayed line width value for an interface to enter the value you want.

 

To test this, I created a new document in Designer on my iPad and created three lines, manually entering the line width of each.  I set one to 0.2, one to 0.25 and one to 0.3 points.

Both the 0.25 and the 0.3 point widths display as 0.3 on the iPad, even in the editor if I tap on them to edit the value I had entered.

When I transfer the document to my Mac and set the display precision to 2 digits, I can easily see that they are actually 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 points in width, as they were entered.

[Pyanepsion]

24 minutes ago, fde101 said:

On the iPad version, there is unfortunately no way to adjust the display precision for these values

Oh well! So you need to ask the Good Fairy Affinity to consider adding this rather important feature to the iPad.

[gcvrsa]

15 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

I imagine the iPad should work in much the same way as the Mac and Windows versions.

It does not. There is no option to set the precision on the iPad version.

[Pyanepsion]

Wow! There is quite a difference with the computer versions! The number of digits of thickness after the decimal point is something important.

[fde101]

2 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

The number of digits of thickness after the decimal point

The desktop versions allow up to 6 digits of precision.  I suspect it would be problematic due to the display size limitations on the iPad and the slight differences in the way things are organized to support that many, so while supporting 2 or maybe even 3 would not be an issue, they may be hesitant to provide the option if not supporting all 6 digits.

Personally I don't think rounding to 1 digit above the slider is much of a problem, but I am much more bothered by the fact that if I tap on the value to open the editor, it still rounds to 1 digit, even though it is a direct typing editor for just that one value and there is no reason why it should be constrained in the amount of available space.  I would like to think the editor should always show all available digits when it is opened.