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Please MAKE TEXT RESIZE WITH OBJECTS.

This glaring flaw is why I don't use OmniGraffle.

Seriously, how can this go unaddressed version after version?

Or has it been addressed?
 
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!
 
Quote: 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.)

The OS lets you tab between buttons in dialogues and pressing the space bar 'clicks' them - this is the default behaviour and not Enter.
 
Fwiw, lines in OmniGraffle have never been graphical shapes and have always been distinct from other OmniGraffle objects in their behaviour. I have no idea what the rationale was/is for the distinction, but it is quite annoying in terms of usability of the app.
 
Quote:

Is it really possible to have them all in view at the same time? The Style palette is tabbed.

Yes. If you command-click the buttons in an inspector's toolbar, you can display more than one of them at once - example film here (~1MB).
 
Quote:

>> 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.


This is the behaviour I observe when doing this:

1. Shift-dragging a re-size handle will cause the shapes dimensions to enlarge with the top left corner as the focal point in a constrained fashion.

2. Alt-dragging a re-size handle will cause the shape to enlarge from its centre in an un-constrained fashion. If I hold shift after initiating the alt-drag, it will re-size from the centre in a constrained fashion.

3. If I alt-drag a shape it will start a copy of the shape.

4. If I alt-shift-drag a shape it will initiate a copy but constrain its position to either being directly horizontal to the original or directly vertical to it. It won't let me position it anywhere else on the canvas.

Example film here (~2MB)
 
I've lost fine control of automatic diagram arrangement in the transition from 4.2.2 Pro to 5.1.1 Pro.

I've been using 4.2.2 Pro to do humongous mind-maps for a dissertation proposal. The mind map contains chunks of 6-pt text ranging from 1 word to 200, in roughly square text boxes, linked by lines with arrowheads.

It is absolutely critical that I be able to see as many text objects in a small, non-overlapping space as possible. I have had great success (indeed, near-perfection) in 4.2.2 using the following Diagram Layout settings:

Force-directed layout
Lay out diagrams after: Any Connection Change
Lay out diagrams using: Current Layer
[check] Animate layout changes

Advanced settings:
Line length (almost zero)
Line tension: (maximum)
Shape repulsion: (10% or less above minimum)
[not check] Randomize starting locations

In switching to 5.1.1 Pro, I am unable to reproduce any similar level of fine control. Setting Line Length to 0 and Shape Repulsion to 0 creates an overlapping mess. Setting Line Length to 0 and Shape Repulsion as small as possible (or vice-versa) scatters my text so that white space exceeds the text. This makes 5.1.1 pro unworkable (for my purposes) as a text-based Mind Mapping tool.

Will "Line tension" be returning?
 
Eric, a lot of our folks are at Apple's developer conference this week, so there are fewer folks browsing the forums than would be the case in other weeks. I don't know the answer to your question, but if you email the support ninjas, you're guaranteed a response from someone that does.
 
(Note to admins: I will also email this to Omnigraffle Support, but I post it here in case other users want to chime in.)

Edited: 2nd paragraph now less whiny.

My previous feature request compendia were on May 2008 and April 2009. Below are 7 new ones, and 17 from before which still exist. Sorted into Priority 1-3, where 1 is the most important.

While I remain a fan of Omnigraffle and use it nearly daily, it is annoying that so many relatively easy to fix user interface issues and bugs are allowed to persist for year upon year. Most of them I've been told have been "added to the existing feature request for this" -- and there they remain.

Top 3 requests: 6. Canvas numbers; 21. Duplicate-constrain, 22. Paste in Place

New feature requests:

1. Bullet lists behave brokenly (Priority: 2)
This is when using the bullet list from the Lists dropdown.

a) Bug: Try pasting a bulleted item in-between other bulleted items. Phantom extra bullets appear, which take a lot of effort to clean up.

b) It appears to be impossible to create new bullet styles, and easily apply them to existing text. (E.g. I prefer a space-saving bullet list style with no tab before the bullet.

2. Why are Guides per-canvas? Is there a way to make them global? (Priority: 2)
Perhaps guides could be per layer, so that you could add guides to a shared layer?

3. When Cmd-F finding, populate the Search field with the selected text (Priority: 2)
Most good text editors do this. It's for the common use case where both the Find and Replace strings are quite long. As you can only have one item on the clipboard, you're forced to type in (rather than paste) one of them. This feature avoids having to do that.

4. Bug: When you change Version (a variable), you can't Undo that change (Priority: 3)

5. Bug: Fit-to-screen zoom "jumps" to slightly different zoom when editing (Priority: 3)
Go to View: Zoom: Fit in Window. Then double-click to edit a text box. The zoom level increases slightly.

This happens for me with a custom canvas size of 55.88 x 86.36 cm. The "Fit in Window" zoom setting, for some reason, has a slight gap between the canvas and the rulers. This gap disappears when the zoom level adjusts.

6. Bug: Text reflows sporadically in text boxes, when text goes right against edge (Priority: 3)
If, when editing inside a text box, text abuts the right-hand edge exactly, it will often reflow when you exit the text box.

Related: Positioning a right-alignment tab against right-hand edge also causes the line to wrap. The tab has to be positioned slightly forward of the right-hand edge.

7. Need another doc-switching hotkeys, which toggles rather than cycles
Currently there is a single hotkey: Cmd-(Shift)-\, which cycles through open documents. A few applications are helpful enough to include a second hotkey, which mimicks the behaviour of the OS-level hotkey (Cmd-Tab), which toggles between the current and last one. This is actually what you usually want.

Please consider adding Ctrl-Tab (currently unused) for the new doc-switch behaviour.

From my previous feature request (Apr 2009):

8. Canvas numbers in sidebar: please! (Priority: 1)
First reported here. See my rationale here.

"Existing feature request"

9. Cumbersome 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?

You explained this is because it's possible to show several style palettes at once. What bothers me is that it's possible to *deselect* the swatch in the palette, making a click in the Colors palette have no effect. (Happens constantly.)

How about *always* having a swatch selected? (The last one you used, except if it's on an invisible palette, in which case the last open one you used which is visible.)

This would be a great time-saver over your suggestions that involve dragging swatches to objects.

10. Allow user to set page zoom across multiple canvases simultaneously. (Priority: 1)
Also reported here.

"Existing feature request"

11. Back/Forward Canvas (Priority: 1)
Need keyboard shortcuts (or toolbar buttons) for Back/Forward Canvas - the previous/next one viewed, not the previous/next in the stack. This would save me an enormous amount of scrolling over the sidebar. (Made worse by lack of canvas numbers.)

Follow-up argument here.

12. 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.

Discussed here. The AppleScript mentioned there unfortunately did not help.

13. Working with Guides has several problems (Priority: 2):
Please make Guides work like Photoshop's, where they snap to object edges.

Follow-up argument here.

14. 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).

JKT explained this is default OS behaviour, but would it be so hard to make things a little easier for users?

15. Bug: Search/Replace doesn't include Canvas titles. (Priority: 2)
This is a major oversight and has wasted a lot of my time.

"Added to ticket #23324"

16. After a Search & Replace, confirm somewhere how many replacements were made (Priority: 3)

"Added to ticket #23324"

17. Provide a Thumbnails view of all canvases (Priority: 2)
Like Powerpoint's "slide sorter" view, with configurable thumbnail sizes.

Follow-up argument here: http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...19&postcount=9

16. 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.

Follow-up argument here.

18. Copy Object Style (Ctrl-Alt-C) should not clear the normal clipboard buffer. (Priority: 3)
Also reported here.

Follow-up argument here.

19. 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.

"Added as new request"

20. 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.

Follow-up argument here.

From my first feature request compendium (May 2008):

21. Shift-drag constrains. Alt-drag copies. Why can't I combine them? (Priority: 1)
This is a baffling omission and very frustrating. Support claimed, "Indeed, this does work in OmniGraffle 5." But it doesn't.

Follow-up argument here.

JKT claimed it works here. But I tested again, and weirdly, it works about 1 times in 10. That just makes it buggy as well as useless.

22. Paste in Place makes no sense (Priority: 1)
To paste in place on OG, I have to copy, paste, undo, copy again, and paste again. This is just weird and a huge time-waster.

"Existing feature request"

23. After an undo operation, the previous selection should still be selected so that you don't have to re-select (Priority: 1)
Something Powerpoint does right. It's annoying to have to repeat a complicated selection.

Support claimed, "Most of the time, this is the case, although there are some bugs related to this, particularly with tables."

But it's not mostly the case. For example: select multiple items, duplicate them, and undo. The selection is gone.

24. Home / End with nothing selected should go to first / last canvas (Priority: 3)
*Please* do this one. It's not complicated. At the moment, to get to the title page of my document, it takes a lot of scrolling over the sidebar and a click.

"Existing feature request"

Last edited by fjordaan; 2010-04-30 at 02:30 PM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fjordaan View Post
Most of them I've been told have been "added to the existing feature request for this" -- apparently a euphemism for the rubbish bin.
Sometimes it is helpful (at least for one's blood pressure) to reframe your perspective instead of ascribing malice or stupidity to the people who build your tools. Consider yourself in the forefront, one of those few who have the good sense to care about these issues. Lack of action on these issues is most likely due to a lack of votes in the database from other customers that this is important to them. Sometimes, you've just got to accept that something that really bothers you apparently doesn't have that effect on anyone else. There certainly are some companies where user input is completely disregarded (and you can typically tell from the poor quality of the products), but Omni isn't one of them!

Joel, Ken has published a list of most requested features/changes for OmniWeb on the forum -- how about one for OmniGraffle?
 
 


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