size picture frames with keyboard

[TaW]

How can we change the size of objects, especially of picture frames with the keyboard, best with the cursor keys. I am used to move objects with the arrow key but to resize them by additionally pressing shift.  This would be very handy to complemnt the precise movement we already have.

Of course Shift will speed up the movement but any other modifier would do as well..

Unfortunately turning off the magnet still makes objects snap to their neighbour, which makes it really hard to create and controll small gaps between photos in a photobook.

 

Edited January 10, 2024 by TaW

[Hangman]

Hi @TaW and welcome to the forums,

If you mouse click in either the Width and/or Height text entry boxes in the Transform Panel when you have a Picture Frame or Object selected you can use the arrow keys to increase/decrease the Width and Height or both...

The increments per click are determined by the number of decimal places you have set for the Unit of Measurement which you can adjust in the Settings/Preferences Panel under User Interface...

[TaW]

Hi Hangman,

thanks for the hint. Never occured to me.. - It works but out of the box not really well. The normal workflow would be to move and to size the frames. Unfortunately the distances do not match: If I go 5 steps in one direction and then resize by 5 steps the edges will not match. This really should not happen, right? At least I can go back but what I really need is to have moving and sizing complement each other, ie to go by the same number of pixels. I guess there is some inner (developer) logic but as a user I consider this a bug..

Also thanks for the hint about turning off decimal places for the Transfom panel. This pretty much solves the issue of the drifting numbers but when starting with decimal places and moving or sizing say up and down, I never get back to the original value. I start with 10.5 move up to 11 and when going back it goes to 10.

Also:..keeping my eyes and mouse to the object I work on, would be so much easier than having to work with the Transform panel.

And of course we loose the precision.

A different but related issue is the lack of Buttons to adjust sizes. These three (Make same size vertically, horizontally and both) are quite common and imo about as important as the alignment buttons.. Yes I can use the Transform panel again, but it is not as smooth as having buttons. Compare: Select the first object, Copy the width and/or height, then click the other objects and finally paste the one or two numbers.

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2024 by TaW

[Hangman]

Hi @TaW,

Could you provide a quick overview of what it is you are looking to achieve overall in terms of your layout, are you looking to create picture frames and/or objects of a specific size with a specific space between said picture frames or objects...

Knowing exactly what you're trying to achieve will allow us to provide solutions for you as this should be very straightforward either using a mathematical approach, a grid approach, a snapping approach or a combination of these options.

23 minutes ago, TaW said:

A different but related issue is the lack of Buttons to adjust sizes. These three (Make same size vertically, horizontally and both) are quite common and imo about as important as the alignment buttons.

This feature has been added to the new v2.4 Beta which you may be interested in checking out...

[thomaso]

56 minutes ago, TaW said:

A different but related issue is the lack of Buttons to adjust sizes. These three (Make same size vertically, horizontally and both)

They exist for image size, unfortunately hidden in a parent button "Properties", maybe for the sake of permanent tooltips.
Plus one button to adjust the frame size to full current image size (w & h).

[TaW]

thomaso: Yes I know about these but they are neither really the same option nor are they helping when placing and laying out picture frames.  I also am in doubt whether they work properly in my merge where I always think that the merged images get cut off. But this may be my fault..

But the new beta will really solve this one. Hooray!!

Hangman: At the moment I work on two projects. One is a music catalogue and the other is re-creating all of our photo books. For the latter I need to place the frames to closely match the old books and for this I need to tweak the positions and sizes to create gutters/gaps between them, just like the original book look. So trimming a frame down by a certain number of pixels and maybe moving it by the same number of pixels is an important part of the fine tuning.

At the moment I work around like so: I move the frame in one direction with the arrow keys to go over a anchoring line and the resize it with the mouse by snapping it back to that line. A hack but at least it works.. Sizing with th emouse alone is neither precise enough nor can it be repeated for other objects..

Here is another issue: When zooming images with the zoom handle I can't move that handle smoothly. It always jumps in rather big steps. It does display the percentage but I can't eithermake it zoom smoothly or enter the percentage number. Both would be useful..

 

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, TaW said:

Here is another issue: When zooming images with the zoom handle I can't move that handle smoothly. It always jumps in rather big steps. It does display the percentage but I can't eithermake it zoom smoothly or enter the percentage number. Both would be useful..

When using the slider for sizing the image snaps below 100% in steps of 10%, above in steps of 50%. You can avoid snapping by holding the option key while moving the slider.

A more flexible way to adjust size and position is to select the image layer inside the Picture Frame, either by clicking it in the Layers panel or by double-click on the image (but not the centred symbol). This enables you to size the image with any of its handles and to move it with the Move cursor positioned anywhere on the image. With shift-double-click on the image inside the frame you get back to the Picture Frame selection (and its slider).