Features you've wanted within a Raster based Image Editor
For my Advanced Higher Computing course, I'll be tasked with producing a single piece of (usable) software over the year.
I've decided upon a simplistic raster based image editor, geared towards the tools and techniques that are *actually* used, or could use, provided Adobe listen to what people ask for.
It will not be for painting, but for line or sketch work given that I have a limited time in which to complete this project, but I'd definately be expanding it beyond the scope of the initial project should the interest still be there.
It'll be workspace oriented, much like Sketchbook Pro, with a similar focus on Tablet usability and basic, but intuitive tools. The UI will be invisible unless a key is pressed where it will then show. It will not appear around the cursor however, as this obscures the work and doesn't allow for the memorizing of the position of a tool. It'll also have a feature that Sketchbook Pro lacks - assignable hotkeys.
I already have the roughs of the application worked out, I was just wondering what features you'd like to see within it. You can suggest as many as you want, and as unique ideas as you want.
I'll be including a mirror preview, so the work can be previewed in the flipped form whilst a key is held down to ease in the spotting of errors.
The pencil tool will have a certain degree of 'line smoothing' where strokes are automatically smoothed out by a variable amount to decrease jitter.
Also, I'm only slightly aware of the things I'll have to deal with in such a project as this, but, if you think it'll be even more difficult than what I believe it to be then you're welcoming to tell me as I need a good grade for this particular course. Alternatively if you can offer source material which I can read, that'd also be of help.
I've decided upon a simplistic raster based image editor, geared towards the tools and techniques that are *actually* used, or could use, provided Adobe listen to what people ask for.
It will not be for painting, but for line or sketch work given that I have a limited time in which to complete this project, but I'd definately be expanding it beyond the scope of the initial project should the interest still be there.
It'll be workspace oriented, much like Sketchbook Pro, with a similar focus on Tablet usability and basic, but intuitive tools. The UI will be invisible unless a key is pressed where it will then show. It will not appear around the cursor however, as this obscures the work and doesn't allow for the memorizing of the position of a tool. It'll also have a feature that Sketchbook Pro lacks - assignable hotkeys.
I already have the roughs of the application worked out, I was just wondering what features you'd like to see within it. You can suggest as many as you want, and as unique ideas as you want.
I'll be including a mirror preview, so the work can be previewed in the flipped form whilst a key is held down to ease in the spotting of errors.
The pencil tool will have a certain degree of 'line smoothing' where strokes are automatically smoothed out by a variable amount to decrease jitter.
Also, I'm only slightly aware of the things I'll have to deal with in such a project as this, but, if you think it'll be even more difficult than what I believe it to be then you're welcoming to tell me as I need a good grade for this particular course. Alternatively if you can offer source material which I can read, that'd also be of help.
Replies
Quick save-copy options--the ability to toggle layers and save a file out several times (once for normal, once for specularity, once for diffuse) using a 'saving profile', which then could be applied to another image to have it save out similarly. Currently you can use actions to set up togglinglayersandquick saves, but must make or modify a new action for each new file. Batching/droplets also don't seem to be quite have the flexibility I'm looking for.
quick horizontal/vertical flip preview --photoshop's flip can be sloow!
goodluck!
Seems im not the only one who is turned on by that idea
Just as far as usability, make sure the colour selector is very streamlined, and perhaps put in the option to change between a few different colour selectors. Different people like different selectors. Have a look at corel painters selector, thats got to be my favorite one as it makes more sense than the rest. (as in it being a triangle as opposed to a square and the hue selector is a ring instead of a slider.)
Also make sure you use industry standard default shortcuts. (also has to have customisable shortcuts)
alt- colour slector
space- canvas move
and some non standard but awesome ones are-
ctrl-alt-rightclick drag, which allows you to drag out the brush size.
this isnt really in reference to your app as i doubt you want to deal with this, but i wonder why there hasnt been a single good networked drawing program since open canvas 1.1. That was released over a decade ago, yet there is no modern alternative that can deal with connections using routers
Having hotkeys dedicated to mirroring (and not just a mirror preview) both horizontally and vertically would be sweet.
Drachis' idea was a good one. I'd love to be able to be able to have patterns, brushes, images, text or whatever repeat and/or deform along a spline.
EDIT: This was something I was going to mention and forgot. It's an absolutely essential feature in Mudbox, so it'd be great to have in a drawing app. In Mudbox it's simpler, though; you just hold down the brush button and click+drag. It'd be great to have that for any brush-based tool. Holding the brush button down and right-clicking should change the opacity/power.
I'd like to be able to define two lines. As my brush approaches one of them from the left side, there will be a point at when parts of the brush overlap with the line. These parts should then be painted on the right side of the second line.
In photoshop its alt rightclick drag. And alt shift rightclick drag is hardness.
Canvas overdraw/tiling. The option to draw off one edge of the canvas and have it continue on from the same place on the other side.
Although neolith's portals are another far more awesome idea that'd be more flexible than my tiling suggestion. Especially if it could scale the brush proportionally with the portal size as it passed through - would make painting details across seams of different sizes really easy.
I might integrate a normal map maker with pixels being given additional z depth (effectively pixols as is seen in zbrush) to aid in normal map creation with some tools to fix common baking errors (smoothing out wavy cylinders and curvy lines, removing speckle).
Regardless, I'd have to do quiet an amount of work before I could even think of adding such unique features so don't be surprised if this doesn't pick up until after a few months.
Compared to what?
You can do something pretty similar to this in photoshop as well just fyi..
Create a path
Create a layer
Select a brush
Stroke path with brush (under the paths tab)
I suspect paths are pretty well overlooked by game artists. I only recently discovered them after using PS for 15 years.
I would really appreciate a lazy mouse (I'm aware there's a thread on this) and mirrored painting.
The app will be hardware accelerated and thus, if this were to evolve into an image editor specifically for the creation of textures for 3d assets then I'm pretty sure I'd be able to implement a realtime preview so you don't have to Ctrl + S and alt-tab each second.
Some form of lazymouse seems like a good idea but as I'm a tablet user, it wont really be of benefit to myself.
this one
plus, like SAI does it- you can open the mirrored version in a new window so you have the original and mirrored onscreen at once, and either can be edited
Hehe
It's just called lazy mouse ...not just for mice. I use a tablet too. Lazy mouse just smooths a line you draw and drags your brush behind. What this allows you to do is to draw long strokes of say hair a lot smoother.
It's originally a Zbrush brush option you can toggle on and off.
I wish I had a deco brush in PS too.