[Qgis-developer] [QGIS-UX] Opinions on "best" implementation of color picker dialog?

[Larry Shaffer]

Hi Nyall,

On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 6:22 AM, Nyall Dawson <nyall.dawson at gmail.com>
wrote:

> On 28 July 2014 21:49, Olivier Dalang <olivier.dalang at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Don't all OSes have their own native color picker ?
> > Isn't it a good idea to use them, so that it's consistent with other
> software too ?
> >
> > IMO, that consistency makes up for some missing features / ease of use.
> Plus you get features like cross-software presets, etc...
> >
> > The same argument applies to save/open dialogs, where custom
> implementations are always a terrible choice...
> >
>
> In general I strongly agree - especially with regards to file dialogs.
> However, I think color pickers are an exception, as there is NO
> platform with a decent native picker. ...


Not so on Mac. The core simple color picker is excellent and *extensible*
[0, etc.]. The user can install many types of color pickers that become
part of the core color picker's dialog.

This is why everyone implements
> their own - for instance, even Microsoft Office doesn't use the
> standard Windows color picker dialog.
>
> The fact is we need to roll our own if we ever want to support CMYK
> colors, so sticking with native pickers isn't going to work in the
> long term anyway.
>

This is only true for platforms that don't natively support CMYK picking,
but true nonetheless.

So, +1 from me for crafting a custom color, swatch and color palette/scheme
picker. Since QGIS has to deal with multiple platform inadequacies in this
area, it is good to bring all user's functionality up to the same level,
all while integrating better with the app. Qt certainly has the facilities
to make almost any type of picker that's needed.

However, a very big -1 for such a custom picker *replacing* access to the
system picker.

For example, the very first option in user Preferences in the latest
Photoshop is allowing the user to choose the default color picker (between
Apple's or Adobe's) [1]. I think having such an app-wide setting, with the
custom picker as initial default, and the ability to pop up the system
color picker from within the custom picker's dialog, is critical for
cross-platform user experience. Otherwise, we risk really annoying existing
users by forcing their color workflow to ours.

[0]
https://medium.com/mac-osx-toolbelt/things-you-might-not-know-about-mac-color-picker-b538e12a608d
[1] http://drive.dakotacarto.com/qgis/ps-picker-choice.png

Regards,

Larry


>
> Nyall
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