kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[John Beard <john.j.beard@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Fabrizio,

I agree with the principle, and I am happy that we have lost the huge
number of item-specific icons in GAL menus compared to Legacy.

To be honest, I don't care what the metaphor for "board properties"
is. However, I think it is unhelpful to use a generic "properties"
icon in the "global" context (on the menubar), as it is very unclear
what that icon does. Doubly so when the icon is historically and
currently also used for "Preferences".

Ditto for the two icons Jeff requested: the old icons both exist and
mean something totally different elsewhere. For the "T" icon, it's
even on the same screen.

If an icon is used in a specific context (e.g. you're in a text editor
dialog), then the generic icon should be used as that's the simpler
metaphor).

As I said to Andrey, I will generate patches for any proposed SVG
source files, as I am set up to do it, and I know it's a bit of a
fiddle.

Cheers,

John

On Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 2:05 PM, Fabrizio Tappero
<fabrizio.tappero@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Guys,
> I just wold like to remind you that if you decide to personalize kicad
> icons, kicad will end up with a lot of icons to maintain.
>
> Currently kicad is using really a lot of icons and few years ago we
> tried to simplified them so that icons could be reused. This is useful
> when you try to give consistancy to the overall looks of KiCad GUI.
>
> What you guys are doing is maybe going back to what was kicad few
> years ago. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, mine is just a
> very generic comment and might not even apply to these icons in
> particular. I just would like to give you guys a larger overview of
> the icon situation.
>
> The "property" option is (often) defined with a cog wheel. It is not
> unusual for open source projects to quickly develop 25 property icons
> made with a smaller cog wheel overlaid an other icon. How, this visual
> technique might not be the best option. Overlay tiny images to convey
> specific meaning might not lead to a present use of the GUI.
>
> Also, I will not enter into tiny image pixel alignment problem because
> we did it so many time in the last 5 years here but instead I would
> love to propose to begin talking about the use of vector format icons
> and possible the use of script to combine icons.
>
> Just my 2c
>
> Cheers
> Fabrizio
>
> On Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 12:45 PM John Beard <john.j.beard@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Jeff,
>>
>> Sure thing! Here they are.
>>
>> I have modified part_properties (patch 1) and create field_properties
>> and used in the menu and toolbar (patch 2).
>>
>> Attached are the PNGs for reference.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> John
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 8:35 PM, Jeff Young <jeff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > Hi John,
>> >
>> > When you get a chance could you also edit the part_properties_xpm icon to be the op-amp with a gear over it?
>> >
>> > Oh, and a new icon with the op-amp with a little ’T’ in the bottom right corner would be great.
>> >
>> > (Both are for the symbol editor.  They’re currently just a generic gear and a generic ’T’.)
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jeff.
>> >
>> >
>> >> On 24 Jul 2018, at 16:56, Jeff Young <jeff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> I’ve merged your icon, John.  Thanks for your contribution!
>> >>
>> >>> On 24 Jul 2018, at 12:35, John Beard <john.j.beard@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Hi,
>> >>>
>> >>> Here is a new icon for the board setup toolbar and menu item. The
>> >>> generic gear icon is no clear, as it looks like "Preferences" rather
>> >>> than board setup.
>> >>>
>> >>> PNG included for reference only.
>> >>>
>> >>> Cheers,
>> >>>
>> >>> John
>> >>> <0001-Pcbnew-add-new-icon-for-board-setup.patch><options_board.png>_______________________________________________
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