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New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 9:13 am
by ZoNi
I have updated my PDFX from 2.0.57 to latest 2.5.188. All I can say is that I hate new GUI :x

Old one was much preatier, easier on eyes etc.

Any chance to add "classic" GUI option?

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 1:58 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Hello ZoNi,

While we do respect your opinion the majority of comments for the old interface were that it looks a bit outdated, so we needed a refresh.
Using the Edit -> Preferences -> Customize UI you should be able to change the colour scheme to match the one of the older builds, and this will then leave you with just minor changes to e.g. the tab close button which I hope you will get used to fast.

As for a "classic View mode" option - I will ask the dev guys but don't put great hope on that.

Best,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:24 am
by ZoNi
Well... OK, what can I do :(

Old GUI was polished and great, this new is little bit "Spam message posted by BOT engine - ignore - to be deleted by admin-ish" ;) (NHF!) Plus, old tabs were much nicer...

Btw, in pages sidebar - it is is hard to see which part of that thumbnail is viewed in main window. Maybe you can add option to make line stronger or to change color?

Something like this:

Image

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:12 am
by X-Dave
I am quite new to PDF-XC & one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place was the GUI. The new one is OK but I thought the older one was very aesthetically pleasing & professional looking. Oh well ... De gustibus non disputandum est!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:11 am
by Giraffe
Unlike most 'updated' GUIs, this one is quite subtle in the changes. My first impression was simply that something had changed and, having looked at it a bit, I can't be bothered to mod. it at all.
The most important point for me is that the icons are recognisable - they aren't so 'modern' that they're meaningless.

Overall, I like it.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:26 pm
by Chris - Tracker Supp
Actually Version 3 of the Viewer scheduled for release in early 2011 will have the ability to choose the classic look of the GUI as well as custom themes/skins.
So this will be an option available soon.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 1:09 am
by ZoNi
Chris - Tracker Supp wrote:Actually Version 3 of the Viewer scheduled for release in early 2011 will have the ability to choose the classic look of the GUI as well as custom themes/skins.
So this will be an option available soon.
THANK YOU, GUYS! :P That is great news, and I am looking forward to see that version!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:59 am
by mbode
The only thing I really don't like is the toolbar which I would have shadowed the other way round - a light area in the middle and darker towards the edge. What you chose is really more difficult to see and on certain monitors looks kind of smudgy.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:28 pm
by ZoNi
mbode wrote:What you chose is really more difficult to see and on certain monitors looks kind of smudgy.
That's what I'm talking about :) Older GUI was clear and crisp, this new is somehow blurry...

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 3:09 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Thank you for your comments guys!

We will definitely consider them for the new version.

Best,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:41 am
by ZoNi
WOW!

I like new GUI in 2.5.189 :P

Tnx, guys!

***

Just FYI: if someone choose dark (black) background and light text, then there can be some problems:

Image

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:46 am
by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Hi, ZoNi.

Try to change the window color, to gray or dark gray for example.
Look to color-control with "Window" label, below the "Text" color-control...

HTH.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:09 pm
by ZoNi
Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team wrote:Hi, ZoNi.

Try to change the window color, to gray or dark gray for example.
Look to color-control with "Window" label, below the "Text" color-control...

HTH.
Yeah, that is better :)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:39 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
:)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:14 pm
by wrbird
I just updated from 2.0.56 to 2.5.189 and I definitely don't like the new flat button look. Looking forward to the update in early 2011.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:33 pm
by wrbird
Since I wasn't experiencing any issues with the 2.0 version and I'm constantly looking at the interface, I'm going back to the old version:(

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:41 pm
by Paul - Tracker Supp
Hi wrbird

sorry to hear that. Did you know that 2.5 has introduced greater control over how the UI looks? See this post for a screen shot of the Customize UI window.

It may be that you can make have the best of both worlds, the added features of 2.5 and a UI to your liking.
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/ ... 022#p44022

just a thought.. ;-)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 11:25 pm
by wrbird
Thanks Paul for your quick and thoughtful reply. PDFX viewer is an absolutely superb program. The GUI customization doesn't do what I need.
The old GUI:
Image

The new GUI with flat buttons on the top and curved on the bottom:
Image

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:44 pm
by stanblaz
I too have just 'upgraded' to 2.5.189 & wish I hadn't. I came here looking for a solution only to find I am not the only one that doesn't like the new flat look of the toolbars. It now looks like a bunch of icons thrown into a blank space. The old look was much cleaner & defined, hope it comes back soon (or an option to choose).

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 7:38 pm
by Chris - Tracker Supp
We appreciate the feed back and look forward to the release of Version 3 of the Viewer which will support a "Classic UI" option.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:13 am
by ZoNi
I also prefer "3D-toolbars"... Looking forward for v3 (although this v2.5 GUI is not that bad when you have only one-row toolbar).

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:01 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Thanks for the input ZoNi,

As Chris stated, we will need to wait for the release of ver3, to bring back the "classic UI", and until then you can try and customize the colours so that the toolbars do not blend with the background.

Best,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:09 pm
by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Hi, all.

In the new build(190) you will be able to use new options for toolbars customizing. Look to the attached screenshot...

Best
Regards.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:36 pm
by wrbird
Thanks for the update, I'll go and see if build 190 is now available. Thanks for bringing back the original GUI!!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:58 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Build 190 is not yet ready, and it might not happen before Christmas I am afraid.

Best,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:22 pm
by wrbird
That's fine. I'll continue using 2.56 until then. You have a great program, keep up the good work!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:50 pm
by John - Tracker Supp
Many thanks - appreciate the kind words :)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:34 am
by ZoNi
Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team wrote:Hi, all.

In the new build(190) you will be able to use new options for toolbars customizing. Look to the attached screenshot...
That is GREAT, thank you, Trackers! :mrgreen:

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:32 pm
by Paul - Tracker Supp
Pretty nice eh! :D

Thanks Vasyl!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 5:28 am
by xelite
don't like the six gray dots before toolbar icons, wish can have more streamline design. Tabs for document is more intuitive then older version, like it.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:58 pm
by John - Tracker Supp
You will soon have a great deal more control over the UI - including using the old GUI if you prefer.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:17 pm
by gard
Another voice has to be added to the NOT like list

The proposed option to revert to the previous version in future is appreciated.
Not so much for the sake of the changed icons in the latest version; but for the questionable horizontal yellow line across the page at the tabs.
One would think that the content of the image would be paramount.
Having garish elements of the desktop competing with the content is an unfortunate choice;
neutral grey possibly?
Hopefully the proposed desktop option will address this issue.

Regards

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:50 pm
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Hello Gard,

And thank you for your input on the topic.

We will consider your input as well, but the "yellow line" can be controlled by changing the "highlight" colour under Edit -> Preferences -> Customize UI

Cheers,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:05 pm
by bumpkin
Love the new GUI in V2.5 B190.0. Better use of valuable space. Clearer fonts. Excellent work!

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:16 pm
by Paul - Tracker Supp
Hi bumpkin

thanks for the input. I personally concur... ;-)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:47 pm
by Arnold
I really like the new GUI also. Pan and zoom is fixed, form fields are fixed. Great work.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:09 pm
by Paul - Tracker Supp
Thanks Arnold,

I'll make sure Vasyl and the other Viewer team members hear this... ;-)

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:47 pm
by mathog
Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote:Hello Gard,
We will consider your input as well, but the "yellow line" can be controlled by changing the "highlight" colour under Edit -> Preferences -> Customize UI
What if we want to remove it entirely? Near as I can tell its sole purpose is to indicate which of the tabs is active, and that function is already served by the name of the document being placed into the window frame and the color of the tab changing. It would be better if the yellow line along the top of the document simply wasn't there, leaving the tab coloring and name display in the frame.

My main problem with the interface in 2.5 190.0 is the way it wastes space. I'm trying to attach a picture but having some problems doing so. Hopefully it will show up when this is submitted. Anyway, when a document is open Properties comes up on its own line, which is mostly empty. The tab line is mostly empty, and the second toolbar line is half empty. I tried dragging properties up onto the second toolbar line above, which recovered that lost space, but since properties expands and contracts to varying width depending on which tool is open, it was causing an extra toolbar line to be created/removed, which made the document jump up and down uncontrollably. If the properties toolbar could be restricted to a fixed width it could be placed on a line and this wouldn't happen.

The 4 dot drag handles are also a waste of space. Sure, they provide a way to move the toolbars around, but how often is a user going to do that? Once maybe, when setting up the viewer? For ever after they serve no purpose. The same thing could be accomplished in the toolbar selection menu by providing a means to order the toolbars. Currently they can only be turned on or off. If they could be ordered as well the toolbar drag handle could be removed.

Additionally, a tabbed view is created even if only a single document is open. This is a complete waste of space since there is only the one document, so no point in showing the single tab at all! I know this is fairly common in other programs too, but it still isn't good.

Not sure if this is an interface issue per se, but the default blend mode for the Typewriter tool is "Screen" and not "Normal". When set to that mode text that was typed in disappeared as soon as another tool was selected. It took me a while to figure out to set it to normal, and then to save that as the default appearance. What is the "Screen"
blend mode supposed to do in any case? I do not see any point in a typewriter mode which seems to always hide text.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:35 pm
by mathog
I have been moving around toolbars and removing some that I never use to try to get the number of toolbar lines down to two. For more screen space for the actual document. I think it would have worked except the "Download PDF Creation Tools" in the upper right corner eats enough space that neither the "Find" nor the "comments and markup" toolbars will fit on the first line along with "menu", "standard" and "zoom", which are also there. Any chance the "Download PDF creation tools" could be moved to the bottom of the screen, or turned into a toolbar, or placed under Help (it is analogous to "check for updates")? Basically, just moved somewhere else to get it out of the way.

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:16 am
by Tracker Supp-Stefan
Hello mathog,

This button is not quite the same as Check for updates, and if you have a license for the Viewer you can turn it off via Edit -> Preferences -> Registration -> Hide Ad Bar, but otherwise it will stay there I am afraid.

Cheers,
Stefan

Re: New GUI - I do NOT like it!

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:08 am
by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Hi, mathog.
Additionally, a tabbed view is created even if only a single document is open. This is a complete waste of space since there is only the one document, so no point in showing the single tab at all! I know this is fairly common in other programs too, but it still isn't good.
We will add new option "Do not show tab bar for single document" in the near future. Thanks.
Not sure if this is an interface issue per se, but the default blend mode for the Typewriter tool is "Screen" and not "Normal".
We have checked it, but cannot reproduce it. It works correctly - the "Normal" is default blend mode for Typewriter tool... You may reset all* settings to defaults manually by Menu/Edit/Reset All Settings command.

Best
Regards.