Dear Jean-Pierre, my apologies for the late answer, I was busy at work. Thank you for taking the time to write this lengthy e-mail.
I just would like to clarify that I never expressed any intention of using non-svg format. I just mentioned that simply converting svg to any raster format does not always lead to acceptable results. SVG icons need to be made for a specific bmp format (26px in out case). As you propose, I will work on gradually improve the current icons, I'll do my best to maintain the current look and maximize the beauty of all icons ;-) Best regards Fabrizio On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 9:46 AM, jp charras <jp.char...@wanadoo.fr> wrote: > Le 25/10/2013 14:08, Fabrizio Tappero a écrit : >> Dear Jean-Pierre, >> I agree, updating documentation is such a pain when icons change and I >> actually remember spending a long time on it. That is why I actually >> let 2 years pass. I think 26px icons changed and improved a lot how >> KiCad looks. >> >> The thing is that from a graphical point of view the current KiCad >> icons are a little bit a mishmash of colors and styles, I think it >> would be good to make them belong to the same theme. More or less the >> same thing was done with Tango icons for Linux. >> >> Original Icons are vector-based SVG icons but unfortunately that does >> not mean that they can be resized on any resolution. when you do a svg >> to 26px png conversion and the svg icon has a vertical line that is >> larger than 1/26 the width of the svg icon the result is a fuzzy >> vertical line. This is a very well known problem in the graphic design >> world and re-touching manually the PNG is always a must. > > I know that. > However I am still thinking using vector-based SVG icons is better than > using fixed bitmap icons. > > Most of time we have to choose between disadvantages, not advantages. > > And for me, to be able to easily change the icon size is a bigger > advantage than having good vertical lines. > (In fact, SVG icons are not so bad) > And sometimes you have to create a set of 16,32,64 ... bitmaps of the > same icon. > I also am thinking modifying SVG icons with inkscape is (by far) more > easier than modifying bitmaps icons > > I am also pretty sure many icons used in Linux world are most of time > created in svg format (see > http://openiconlibrary.sourceforge.net/downloads.html, full package) > Using only bitmap icons come from Windows world, not from Unix world > >> >> In the work for KiCad I did adjust each of the 460 icons but I have >> not really done a great job because of the limited time (=large number >> of icons). So some icons need to be fixed. However, what I cannot >> really do is to maintain 460 icons, that is why I proposed to drop the >> drop down menu ones. > > I fully understand 460 icons to maintain is a lot of work. > Thanks you for the great work you did. > > But like you said only some icons need to be fixed, not 460!. > Most of them are quite good, therefore no need to recreate all icons: > Recreating *all* icons, when most of them are good is just wasting you time. > > Of course, enhancing some icons (the bad ones) is good. > >> >> So here we have two problems: 1) some icons are fuzzy, 2) many icons >> are a mishmash of styles. Fixing both is hard but possible and would >> give to KiCad was it is often perceived as a professional looking >> software tool (like gEDA for instance) > > I agree: I would like to see these fuzzy icons, and mismatch style fixed. > > But I really thinking most of icons are quite good. > > Still believe me: > A professional looking software tool needs to have some icons in dialogs > which explains the purpose or the effect of some options > (in dialog zone for instance to show thermal reliefs, and many other > dialogs). > Have a look to Pcb Calculator and its Transline dialog: > without icons, it is not usable. > > A professional looking software tool needs this kind of icons: > This is more important than recreate all icons in toolbars. > >> >> To ease this transition I am offering to update some of the English >> documentation too. I would ask the people who appear as maintainers of >> the various non English docs to take care of their portion. > Thanks. > > For icons which are enhanced, if the new look is not very different from > the old one, doc does not always require to be updated. > Update is needed when icons are fully different. > >> >> Regarding the icons in the drop-down menus, I of course see the >> advantage of having additional info next to the menu item. I am a >> great fan of it but if you like it to be done, it is necessary to do >> it as it is normally done, for instance, in inkscape, see attachment. >> icons in the drop down menues are smaller. > > I am fan of icons in menus. In many case they help (see mirror/rotate > commands for instance). > > But I do not understand the meaning of "it is necessary to do > it as it is normally done". > Smaller icon sizes in menus is only a convenient way to have smaller > menus (16x16 icon is roughly the size of a letter and its margins). > Until now I never read anything about the best icon size in menus, there > is also not a better size for fonts: the better size is the size you > like and it depends on you screen size, and how old you are (believe me, > this is not a joke). > >> >> Some of the icons that Konstantin has made are much better than what we have. > > Yes, they could be used to replace some icons. >> >> In my opinion we could start by slowly update 5 or 10 icons each time >> beginning from the most critical ones (e.g. Pcbnew left side) >> >> Cheers >> Fabrizio > > I do not know if you want to recreate icons using SVG format (Inkscape) > or a bitmap format to avoid fuzzy icons. > > I am thinking using a bitmap format is a very bad idea: > I experimented the 2 methods, and I can say SVG format + Inkscape is by > far the best way to create and maintain icons. > And yes, sometimes SVG icons converted in bitmaps are slightly fuzzy, > but this is the price we should pay to have easy to maintain and easy to > use icons. > > Thanks for you involvement. > > -- > Jean-Pierre CHARRAS _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers Post to : kicad-developers@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
