I've had a response from OG Support on all the points I raised. Thanks very much! I'll post here, along with my responses. (Also emailed to Support.)
>> 1. Canvas numbers in sidebar: please! (Priority: 1)
>
> I’ve added your comments to the existing request we have on this;
Thanks.
>> 2. Please also put the Canvas Name and Number in the status area below
>> the main workspace. (Priority: 2)
>
> The current canvas name is in the title bar at the top of the window.
Thanks for pointing that out.
>> 3. The new OG5 keyboard zoom shortcuts are unusable. (Priority: 1)
>
> It looks like someone on the forum has mentioned this, but you can re-assign the keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences, under the Keyboard and Mouse panel.
Thanks very much. Assigned
Ctrl-Cmd-+/- and now it's perfect.
Don't quite understand why it had to be disabled by default, but I assume it's down to MacOS not OG.
>> 4. Cumbersome and confusing to select colours (Priority: 1)
>>
>> Why is it necessary to click the swatch in a Style inspector first,
>> before clicking on a colour in the Colors palette? Why not just let a
>> click on a colour take effect on the currently-active Style of the
>> selected object?
>
> The Color palette may also change the color of other attributes of a shape (stroke, shadow, text color) and it's possible to have them all in view. You can drag a chosen color from the upper portion of the color picker directly into a shape, if that's easier.
Is it really possible to have them all in view at the same time? The Style palette is tabbed.
I'll try and get used to dragging swatches, but that strikes me as unnecessarily cumbersome if in 99% of cases the meaning of a click on a swatch would be intuitive to the user.
>> 5. Allow user to set page zoom across multiple canvases simultaneously.
>> (Priority: 2)
>
> Again, I've added your feedback to the feature request we have open on this.
Thank you.
>> 6. Provide a keyboard shortcut for "Fit in Window" zoom level. (Priority: 2)
I've assigned
Ctrl-Cmd-0 to this and now I'm happy.
>> 7. Back/Forward Canvas (Priority: 1)
>>
>> Need keyboard shortcuts (or toolbar buttons) for Back/Forward Canvas
>> (the previous/next one viewed). This would save me an enormous amount of
>> scrolling over the sidebar. (Made worse by lack of canvas numbers.)
>
> This is actually available in OmniGraffle 5, under View > Display Canvas (Command-< or Command->)
You misunderstood me. Not next/previous in the document (PgUp/PgDn), next/previous VIEWED (in the browse history).
This would be extremely useful since I'm always jumping around documents with dozens of canvases.
>> 8. The behaviour of Locked elements is confusing and counter-intuitive
>> (Priority: 3)
>>
>> They can't be moved or deleted, but they can still be selected and
>> copied and pasted. I don't see the rationale for this.
>
> Well, if you can't select it, you can't unlock it. :-) Locking is useful for making sure you don't accidentally change something you have set up just right. It doesn't mean you don't want another instance of it somewhere else.
Sorry, I don't buy this rationale. Unlocking should be the *only* thing you can do with locked objects. If you want to do anything else with it, you should unlock it. (I'm sure that's what most users would expect.)
>> 9. Copy Style (Ctrl-Shift-C) should not clear the normal clipboard
>> buffer. (Priority: 3)
>>
>> Reported here:
>> http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...82&postcount=5
>
> Actually, it appears to work appropriately on my end. Not sure where you're
Try it again. Copy something to the clipboard (some text, or an object). Then use Ctrl-Alt-C to copy an object's style. Then press Cmd-V. Nothing happens. The clipboard is cleared. For me, anyway.
>> 10. Working with bitmap images has several problems:
>>
>> 10a. It's bizarre that Copy/Paste Style on a bitmap also changes the
>> bitmap itself. (Priority: 2)
>>
> An image is considered a style element. If you're looking to copy only selected style elements, you can use the style brush tool to selectively copy styles.
Thanks for the tip re style brush. I've deselected Image from the styles it affects as I don't expect to ever need it.
>> 10b. The system for cropping a bitmap image in OG is unusable. (Priority: 1)
>>
>> The intuitive way would be a mode where you crop an image by dragging
>> its edges.
>
> We do have a feature request for proper cropping; I’ve added your request to it.
>
> Essentially, the image is contained within an object, and any manipulation in the main window is manipulating the object, not the image within it. We do have a request for a proper image crop tool in our feature request database, I’ve added your comments to it.
>
> In the meantime, one of our folks, Bill, our User Experience lead, has written an AppleScript you might find useful. ( Crop Image script: <http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=10240>)
This is great -- thanks very much.
I've put a lot of effort into understanding image cropping via the style palette, but it remains so cumbersome that I hardly ever use it.
>> 11. Working with Guides has several problems (Priority: 2):
>>
>> 11a. Please make Guides work like Photoshop's, where they snap to object
>> edges.
>
> Manually created guides do indeed snap to object edges.
I just tested, and they don't. Objects snap to other object edges, but Guides don't. Preferably, I'd like them to snap to
selected object edges only, not all objects (there are often too many things to snap to.)
Discovered
another (minor) annoyance: To delete a guide, you have to drag it onto its parallel ruler (e.g. vertical guide to vertical ruler.) Photoshop is sensible enough to let you drag guides onto whichever ruler is the nearest. You can also create either vertical or horizontal guides, regardless of which ruler you drag it from, by holding down Alt while dragging.
>> 11b. Can't find a "Clear Guides" option
>
> You can find that under Arrange > Guides > Clear Guides
Thank you.
>> 11c. Can't easily hide Guides (annoying to accidentally click on
>> rulers). Needs a keyboard shortcut.
>
> You can find that under View > Extras:Guides, so you ought to be able to add a keyboard shortcut to it.
Thank you. Assigned to
Cmd-'
>> 11d. Would like a "generate Guides according to a grid" tool. (It
>> generates guides according to measurement increments you provide.)
>
> The grid inspector has a "snap to grid" checkbox to that will allow for that.
You mean using the Grid instead of Guides. That may be sufficient in many cases, but doesn't entirely remove the need for a guide generator. See e.g. a guide system like this:
http://konigi.s3.amazonaws.com/tools...ame-Guides.png
This way, your guides don't have to start at the canvas edge the way the grid does, and can be restricted just to a certain area on your canvas.
Anyway, it would be reasonably easy to create guide systems like this manually if item 11 (guides snapping to selected objects) is implemented.
>> 12. In the Line Spacing dialog box, let Enter submit. (Priority: 2)
>>
>> Allow user to accept changes and dismiss dialog using Enter key (not
>> just OK button).
>
> I can add that request, although it appears that's standard OS X Text behavior (as seen in TextEdit.)
If you can change it, please do, since it's clearly deficient behaviour in that dialog. Weirdly, you can Tab onto the OK button, but still Enter won't submit it. (Esc dismisses it, however.)
>> 13. Search/Replace doesn't include Canvas titles. (Priority: 2)
>>
>> 14. After a Search & Replace, confirm somewhere how many replacements
>> were made (Priority: 3)
>
> I’ve added both above items to ticket #23324 in our tracker on Find pane enhancements.
Thank you.
>> 15. Printing has several problems, to the extent that I never print from
>> OG, only from Preview: (Priority: 2)
>>
>> 15a. Lacks "Fit on paper" option
>
> You can check the "Print canvas on one printer sheet" checkbox in the Canvas Size inspector for this.
>
>> 15b. Lacks live print preview (inside the dialog box)
>
> Hmm... I see it on my end. Perhaps the widget to expand the print dialog box needs to be checked.
Ah, thanks. I didn't realise that it showed a live preview.
>> 15c. Lacks "current page" option
>
> There is an File > Print Canvas command available.
Thanks.
>> 15d. Lacks ability to print discontiguous pages (e.g. 1, 3, 5-10)
>
> You can select the canvases you'd like to print in the Canvases sidebar, then use the aforementioned command.
This helps. You have to admit that it's more cumbersome to use than a text entry field like the above, especially on a long document and lacking canvas numbers in the sidebar. (Page range printing like this is one of the few superior features of MS Office apps.)
>> 16. Would like a "Regroup" command (Priority: 3)
>>
>> This is a useful feature found in Powerpoint. An object remembers what's
>> the last group it was part of.
>
> I’ve added that to the tracker as a new request
Thanks.
>> 17. Can't duplicate a line using Cmd-Alt-arrow (Priority: 3)
>>
>> For some reason you can't duplicate lines like you can duplicate every
>> other kind of object.
>
> Lines indicate logical associations between objects. They connect shapes. If you want to duplicate a relationship, you can use the outlining commands to generate new objects with lines connecting them. Note that Command-D will duplicate a line.
Don't quite follow that explanation, or why it means lines can't be duplicated using Cmd-Alt-arrow!
Lines sometimes indicate logical associations between objects, but sometimes (often) they're just graphical shapes.
Anyway, I'll use Cmd-D.
>> 18. Please copy Photoshop's ability to hide all palettes using Tab
>> (Priority: 2)
>
> While you can't use tab for this, we have Workspaces. (See Window > Workspaces) which allow you to create custom pallette/inspector arrangements.
Thanks. This helps.
>> And also F to cycle through view modes, from windowed to full-screen
>
> You can toggle presentation mode via Command-Option-P.
Presentation mode is great, but that's not what I'm asking for. I want view modes that give me more screen real estate
while editing. (Great once you know all the keyboard shortcuts.)
Try pressing F in Photoshop to see what I mean -- with a single key you gain all the wasted space on toolbars, window chrome and even the Dock.
>> 19. Provide a thumbnails view of all canvases (Priority: 2)
>>
>> Like Powerpoint's "slide sorter" view, with configurable thumbnail sizes.
>
> We do indeed have a request for a "Coverflow view" for canvases.
Please, anything but Coverflow! A grid of thumbnails would be fine. Coverflow is just to impress teenagers in Apple stores.
>> I would like to reiterate the following items from my previous feature
>> request compendium 11 months ago [OG #297187]:
>>
>> > > *Shift-drag constrains. Alt-drag copies. Why can't I combine them?
>> > > (priority: 1)*
>> > > This is a baffling omission and very frustrating.
>>
>> > Indeed, this does work in OmniGraffle 5.
>>
>> No, it doesn't.
>
> You'll need to apply the Shift key late, after beginning the drag.
Nope, definitely doesn't work for me. I Alt-drag an object (green plus appears), but adding Shift at any point does not constrain it horizontally or vertically.
>> [Rest of message]
>
> And, we've got your requests filed on these already.
Thanks for the helpful responses!