Artstudio 4.1 Some bugs / visual bugs / suggestions

[RHiNO]

Hello,

4.1 is amazing, thanks!

Some bugs / visual bugs / suggestions:

1 - Visual bug/Lack of contrast: Put "Mirror" in one slot of the Quick Menu. Activate the mirror (now the caption of the slot shows a checkmark above the "Mirror" label). If you call the quick menu again and hover over the Mirror slot the font is gray instead of white. The gray font against the blue accent color (the default one) is very hard to read

2 - Suggestion/Clarity: Give us an option to fully hide the undo & redo icons - I know they disappear in full screen, but I like to see the toolbars and menus. I understand those "undo/redo" icons are there for accessibility reasons but, for people who only use gestures, these icons are redundant

3 - Bug/Unexpected interaction: Open "Artstudio - Preferences - Quick Menu". Click any slot to open the "Choose a function" menu. With this menu opened, double-tap the apple pencil. The app closes the file and returns to the gallery

4 - Visual bug/Unconventional position: Open the color wheel panel. The small rectangles at the top indicating the "Old / New Color" are reversed I believe? The ACTUAL color is displayed to the RIGHT of the OLD color, I believe the expected position is this: the ACTUAL color to be the LEFT one rectangle

5 - Visual bug/Distracting behavior: When we use the zoom, the canvas does an abrupt "snap" when we are near 100% zoom (clearly to indicate we are in the 100% scale), however, this makes the zoom operations appear "clunky" with these sudden snaps, it's better to "snap" AFTER the user release the fingers (as the canvas does in the rotation if the angle is below 5 degrees, it snaps to zero with a subtle animation). You can apply the same principle to the scale. For people who are very concerned about the exact level of zoom, you already have the "Show zoom info" option

These abrupt "snaps" detract from the high quality of your engine, and make it feel like it is "laggy" instead of "butter smooth"

...and now a not-so-small suggestion:

6 - Customization: Since we can customize Artstudio in a lot of ways (thank you so much for that!) how about letting us choose a personal icon for some actions we add to the top toolbar?

For proper control and consistency in aesthetics, I know the optimal way is a library of icons embedded in the app to choose from, but I am not asking you to create a gazillion of icons so we can choose from an internal library (since there are A LOT of tools and icons to create)

Maybe a restricted "import icon" that imports a png and converts it to the proper size and strips the colors to maintain a degree of visual consistency?

Since the icon size looks big (64x64 px maybe?) there is a lot of room to play. Maybe we can use Artstudio itself to create those PNGs since Artstudio has a great pixel grid! Anyway, this is just a deluxe option

Thank you again for the update, Artstudio is better than ever!

[icezimy]

6) Download "SF Symbols" app on Appstore, browse any icons you want and simply copy&paste the SF symbol name into Artstudio Pro, by renaming the according tool. It will show up as that icon.

[RHiNO]

Thanks @icezimy, my bad, I never noticed the caption of the popup "Enter title or SF SYMBOL NAME"

Just downloaded the free "SF Symbols Browser" on iPad. My toolbar is beautiful now - Scrap the number 6 request

[SamNArt]

Good suggestions overall

Totally agree on number (5), the snap while zooming gives the impression of lag.
Zoom in/out should feel smooth without any bumpy snaps.
Snapping to 100% after releasing the gesture is the ideal solution.

[Lucky Clan]

Thanks for your suggestions.

1 - Done
2 - Done
3 - Done
4 - Done, i also made current color a bit bigger (screenshot attached)
5 - Done

It will be all released in few days.

Hello,

4.1 is amazing, thanks!

Some bugs / visual bugs / suggestions:

1 - Visual bug/Lack of contrast: Put "Mirror" in one slot of the Quick Menu. Activate the mirror (now the caption of the slot shows a checkmark above the "Mirror" label). If you call the quick menu again and hover over the Mirror slot the font is gray instead of white. The gray font against the blue accent color (the default one) is very hard to read

2 - Suggestion/Clarity: Give us an option to fully hide the undo & redo icons - I know they disappear in full screen, but I like to see the toolbars and menus. I understand those "undo/redo" icons are there for accessibility reasons but, for people who only use gestures, these icons are redundant

3 - Bug/Unexpected interaction: Open "Artstudio - Preferences - Quick Menu". Click any slot to open the "Choose a function" menu. With this menu opened, double-tap the apple pencil. The app closes the file and returns to the gallery

4 - Visual bug/Unconventional position: Open the color wheel panel. The small rectangles at the top indicating the "Old / New Color" are reversed I believe? The ACTUAL color is displayed to the RIGHT of the OLD color, I believe the expected position is this: the ACTUAL color to be the LEFT one rectangle

5 - Visual bug/Distracting behavior: When we use the zoom, the canvas does an abrupt "snap" when we are near 100% zoom (clearly to indicate we are in the 100% scale), however, this makes the zoom operations appear "clunky" with these sudden snaps, it's better to "snap" AFTER the user release the fingers (as the canvas does in the rotation if the angle is below 5 degrees, it snaps to zero with a subtle animation). You can apply the same principle to the scale. For people who are very concerned about the exact level of zoom, you already have the "Show zoom info" option

These abrupt "snaps" detract from the high quality of your engine, and make it feel like it is "laggy" instead of "butter smooth"

...and now a not-so-small suggestion:

6 - Customization: Since we can customize Artstudio in a lot of ways (thank you so much for that!) how about letting us choose a personal icon for some actions we add to the top toolbar?

For proper control and consistency in aesthetics, I know the optimal way is a library of icons embedded in the app to choose from, but I am not asking you to create a gazillion of icons so we can choose from an internal library (since there are A LOT of tools and icons to create)

Maybe a restricted "import icon" that imports a png and converts it to the proper size and strips the colors to maintain a degree of visual consistency?

Since the icon size looks big (64x64 px maybe?) there is a lot of room to play. Maybe we can use Artstudio itself to create those PNGs since Artstudio has a great pixel grid! Anyway, this is just a deluxe option

Thank you again for the update, Artstudio is better than ever!

[RHiNO]

Wow! Amazing! You guys are really fast!!

I liked the idea of making the rectangles that represent "current color" and "previous color" in different sizes

Can't wait to test the updated version!

[RHiNO]

Hi Lucky Clan,

just downloaded Artstudio 4.1.1, thanks for implementing my small suggestions o/

One tiny visual problem:

Maybe the indicator of "Current color/previous color" can have one small outline (like the one you used in the top toolbar) for clarity

If we use a color similar to or near the color of the interface, these rectangles can unintentionally "blend" or become somewhat difficult to see, check the screenshot to see how the white is barely visible using the light interface

[LCArt]

can the 100% snap be togglable in preferences? being unable to stay at 100% is triggering my OCD really badly

thanks :C

[alfanders]

can the 100% snap be togglable in preferences? being unable to stay at 100% is triggering my OCD really badly

thanks :C

Rather than a snap, how about we use a gesture for this.



Right now, quick pinch in with two fingers shows all the canvas.
How about, quick pinch outwards with two fingers showsh the 100% zoom on the canvas?

I think it would be more usable since you could zoom in detail, but you can just "reverse pinch" if you want to zoom to 100%

[RHiNO]

@LCArt The snap to 100% is still happening, but just happens after you release the gesture. I understand you are not seeing the visual feedback but this feedback makes the zoom looks janky, which triggers a lot of OCD too - Not to mention, the threshold is very tiny, about 5 degrees, which forces you to use very delicate gestures

An option to toggle the real-time snap could indeed be handy, so no one has OCDs

But let's go further about your workflow, maybe you can benefit from the below suggestion. I guess you still want to zoom in sometimes, that's why you don't use the "Lock zoom" in the quick menu, right?

I have a suggestion for devs to maybe accommodate @LCArt workflow and similar ones, I will call it Suggestion 7 in this thread:

7 - Let the user specify the minimum zoom level and the maximum zoom level at preferences

In all examples below the user can pan as usual of course

Example A (the user can fully zoom in for details and zoom out too, but never below 100%)
Minimum zoom level: 100%
Maximum zoom level "max"

Example B (the user is unable to zoom in or out, the canvas is locked at 100% all the time)
Minimum zoom level: 100%
Maximum zoom level 100%

Example C (Can be useful if the user is doing pixel art)
Minimum zoom level: 3000%
maximum zoom level 2000%

Example D (The default zoom limits as they are right now)
Minimum zoom level: "min"
Maximum zoom level "max"

If the user is concerned about a precise zoom level, the already present panel in Artstudio / Preferences / Interface / Show Zoom info can be very useful

One small complication for devs: "Zoom to Fit", "Zoom to Fill", "Zoom 100%" and "Print Size" will need to comply with the limits - or be "ghosted" (disabled) if they "break the rules" of the user established threshold

By the way, another small suggestion to help those concerned about the zoom level:

8 - If Artstudio / Preferences / Interface / "Show Zoom info" is enabled when the user uses a gesture (or menu) to, let's say, Zoom to 100%, Zoom to Fit, or Zoom to Fill, I believe they need to see, for one second maybe, the "zoom info popup" to check the actual zoom level - again, only if "Show Zoom info" is enabled

The reason is this: Those options (like Zoom to 100%) are "reversible", meaning, if we are in 250% zoom and press "Zoom to 100%" we go to 100%, if we press "Zoom to 100%" again, we return to the previous zoom level (250%) - This feature is great! - But if the user is concerned about the exact zoom level, they may need a quick glimpse at the "Zoom info panel" to be sure where they are

[LCArt]

can the 100% snap be togglable in preferences? being unable to stay at 100% is triggering my OCD really badly

thanks :C

Rather than a snap, how about we use a gesture for this.



Right now, quick pinch in with two fingers shows all the canvas.
How about, quick pinch outwards with two fingers showsh the 100% zoom on the canvas?

I think it would be more usable since you could zoom in detail, but you can just "reverse pinch" if you want to zoom to 100%

sadly i had to disable most gestures since some of them get triggered randomly due to the ipad detecting em wrong (i even use a glove to avoid that but oh well). Im not sure if its pinch but im pretty sure there is one that resets the canvas zoom and angle

[LCArt]

@LCArt The snap to 100% is still happening, but just happens after you release the gesture. I understand you are not seeing the visual feedback but this feedback makes the zoom looks janky, which triggers a lot of OCD too - Not to mention, the threshold is very tiny, about 5 degrees, which forces you to use very delicate gestures

An option to toggle the real-time snap could indeed be handy, so no one has OCDs

But let's go further about your workflow, maybe you can benefit from the below suggestion. I guess you still want to zoom in sometimes, that's why you don't use the "Lock zoom" in the quick menu, right?

I have a suggestion for devs to maybe accommodate @LCArt workflow and similar ones, I will call it Suggestion 7 in this thread:

7 - Let the user specify the minimum zoom level and the maximum zoom level at preferences

In all examples below the user can pan as usual of course

Example A (the user can fully zoom in for details and zoom out too, but never below 100%)
Minimum zoom level: 100%
Maximum zoom level "max"

Example B (the user is unable to zoom in or out, the canvas is locked at 100% all the time)
Minimum zoom level: 100%
Maximum zoom level 100%

Example C (Can be useful if the user is doing pixel art)
Minimum zoom level: 3000%
maximum zoom level 2000%

Example D (The default zoom limits as they are right now)
Minimum zoom level: "min"
Maximum zoom level "max"

If the user is concerned about a precise zoom level, the already present panel in Artstudio / Preferences / Interface / Show Zoom info can be very useful

One small complication for devs: "Zoom to Fit", "Zoom to Fill", "Zoom 100%" and "Print Size" will need to comply with the limits - or be "ghosted" (disabled) if they "break the rules" of the user established threshold

By the way, another small suggestion to help those concerned about the zoom level:

8 - If Artstudio / Preferences / Interface / "Show Zoom info" is enabled when the user uses a gesture (or menu) to, let's say, Zoom to 100%, Zoom to Fit, or Zoom to Fill, I believe they need to see, for one second maybe, the "zoom info popup" to check the actual zoom level - again, only if "Show Zoom info" is enabled

The reason is this: Those options (like Zoom to 100%) are "reversible", meaning, if we are in 250% zoom and press "Zoom to 100%" we go to 100%, if we press "Zoom to 100%" again, we return to the previous zoom level (250%) - This feature is great! - But if the user is concerned about the exact zoom level, they may need a quick glimpse at the "Zoom info panel" to be sure where they are

Just checked and yeah, after the gesture it snaps, but feels really wrong. Snapping should happen as you interact with the canvas to get what you saw/set and the sudden jump that you said it feels like lag still happens anyways, but with 0 control over it since you already stoped interacting with the canvas. Before the last update we had a “what you see is what you get” and now we have a “what you see might or might not be what you get, gamble time” (plus incorrect numbers in the zoom popup since those are changed AFTER you stop interacting), just my opinion tho. A toggle would make everyone happy “snap zoom & angle before/after interacting” kind of toggle, and probably a  “dont snap” option i guess.

About snapping feeling abrupt or like “lag”… snapping is literally, and by definition, a sudden move that sets something in place, not sure why it should be smooth or have a mini animation, thats way more distracting than working the way it works in 99% of other apps/programs. I mean, as long as its optional like they did with “mirror animation” (that animation is uber distracting xd)

Anyways setting min and max zoom is handy and a navigation panel would be nice too, with a slider similar to the new brush size one that lets you add snapping points, for zooming and setting the angle, maybe a mirror button and the buttons to reset canvas, zoom fill, etc. A preview of the canvas would be nice too, to move faster while zoomed and if ppl dont need it just hide it to save on panel size.

[RHiNO]

I support your suggestion for a toggle, so anyone can have the desired behavior from the UI. To be honest I should be asked for a toggle for this snap instead of a change - My mistake

As a designer, I fully understand how difficult is to accommodate the UI for every user. To me, the approach from Artstudio is the best one, they give us plenty of options instead of a rigid interface, so we can "shape" the UI for different workflows

I believe the ultimate goal can be total modularity, empty panels/toolbars where we can put tools, literally any tool. If we desire a panel with the color wheel on top and below it the layers, so be it - But I know this is not so simple to implement

The problem with the snap during the zoom is that the entire screen is updating, so it feels "abrupt" and visually similar to a laggy screen update, something that happens sometimes in less strong devices - If it was a slider snapping to a value, will be way less OCD inducing

And about snaps, I like them I asked about that 4 years ago ("Brush sizes in pixels + steps in slider") in a forum of another iPad art app

To me, Artstudio is better every day, growing fast and strong, with a superior brush engine, tools aimed at artists and graphics designers, customizable UI, and devs that are lightning fast! Amazing app o/

[LCArt]

I support your suggestion for a toggle, so anyone can have the desired behavior from the UI. To be honest I should be asked for a toggle for this snap instead of a change - My mistake

As a designer, I fully understand how difficult is to accommodate the UI for every user. To me, the approach from Artstudio is the best one, they give us plenty of options instead of a rigid interface, so we can "shape" the UI for different workflows

I believe the ultimate goal can be total modularity, empty panels/toolbars where we can put tools, literally any tool. If we desire a panel with the color wheel on top and below it the layers, so be it - But I know this is not so simple to implement

The problem with the snap during the zoom is that the entire screen is updating, so it feels "abrupt" and visually similar to a laggy screen update, something that happens sometimes in less strong devices - If it was a slider snapping to a value, will be way less OCD inducing

And about snaps, I like them I asked about that 4 years ago ("Brush sizes in pixels + steps in slider") in a forum of another iPad art app

To me, Artstudio is better every day, growing fast and strong, with a superior brush engine, tools aimed at artists and graphics designers, customizable UI, and devs that are lightning fast! Amazing app o/

yeh totally agree, dev is awesome and his app shows

[Lucky Clan]

I think we can do it asap.

Hi Lucky Clan,

just downloaded Artstudio 4.1.1, thanks for implementing my small suggestions o/

One tiny visual problem:

Maybe the indicator of "Current color/previous color" can have one small outline (like the one you used in the top toolbar) for clarity

If we use a color similar to or near the color of the interface, these rectangles can unintentionally "blend" or become somewhat difficult to see, check the screenshot to see how the white is barely visible using the light interface