UI/UX QoL features request (User profile, Info Bar position, Rulers display, Tools square grouping)

What features would you like to see in Pixelmator Pro?
User avatar

2021-12-03 22:30:22

Good day,
I'd like to submit small quality of life features request for your consideration:

1. User profile

- An ability to export and import Pixelmator Pro settings in a form of some configuration file. Specifically - Workspace arrangements.

I'm always using custom Workspace layouts, with custom Tools set. Would be great if it was possible just to export these settings in a form of a configuration file, so that it could be quickly applied to a brand new machine or a fresh installation of Pixelmator. And something that is stored and easily transferred locally would be perfectly fine to get the job done - so that it could be not only used by a same user (if implemented as a 'cloud' stored settings), but also, for example, I could just quickly share my configs with friends and colleagues via any means of communication (E-mail, for example). And for that config file not only to include Workspaces, but all Pixelmator Pro preferences.

2. Info Bar position

- Info Bar is not movable, as far as I can tell. Would be great to be able to move it to the bottom of the window.

I'm mostly comfortable using Tools pinned at the top of my window, and I prefer to always have Info Bar turned on, as it is the fastest way to get some crucial data (RGB values, cursor position etc). But with this setup when Tools are at the top, and specially when you also have some Tabs sitting there, the window looks kinda weird, you know, when big portion of your screen is occupied by panels at the top, and the bottom is empty. Would be really great to be able just to pick Info Bar position: top or bottom. Maybe, this could be included into Workspace layout editor.

And just, generally, the Info Bar is pretty much like a Status Bar - it's kinda common thing to have status bars at the bottom of the window. Feels more natural, as well.

3. Rulers display

- Option Show Rulers is not persistent over program restarts.

Again, as someone who does use rulers all the time, it's like a some sort of a small "annoyance" to toggle it every single time I start new instance of Pixelmator. Would be really great if this setting would be just persistent over program restarts until user manually turns it off again.

4. Tools square grouping

- Option to move and pin Tool above Layers panel.

Layers are taking quite a lot of vertical space, and Tools are also taking that vertical space. So, maybe consider an optional ability to combine them together? Just to have tools optionally sitting in a same vertical panel as Layers with automatically adjusting proportional size of Tools section, depending on how many Tools user have pinned for quick access.

I know that it can be pinned to the side of the window, or to the side of the Layers panel, but then it will be again consuming extra screen space, while Layers panel would still remain unreasonably tall with some vertical spaces actually being "wasted".

I think this would generally greatly benefit laptop users, as it would allow retain a lot of features quickly accessible by the user, while preserving as much screen space as possible for the most important thing there is - for the content :blush:

Thanks for your consideration :wink:
User avatar

2021-12-06 16:48:46

I second the rulers one! I thought the program was broken when they disappear after the program restarting. I was just about to post a thread asking if you could keep the on after you close the app, I guess not.

That wouldn't be difficult to implement and it would make many Pixelmator Pro users happy. Hopefully that gets added! Maybe something similar to Final Cut Pro's "Workspaces" would work for Pixelmator.
User avatar

2021-12-06 17:18:55

+1 on Infobar tweak. Infobar = Status Bar, used for secondary (less important) info, therefore should be allowed to be moved to the bottom of the screen. Arrangement Customization of Infos displayed on that bar (i.e. Bit Depth goes first, Color Profile second etc.) would be great.
User avatar

2021-12-09 09:59:19

Thanks for the suggestions, Niko, and for the +1s! We've actually thought about making Pixelmator Pro workspaces sharable but it didn't seem like it would be a very widely used functionality at that time. But Pixelmator Pro preferences, in general, can actually be shared. You can learn how to retrieve them here.

Next, Rulers. Right now, if the last document you worked on had rulers — the next document you create should have rulers activated, too. This behavior essentially mimics Keynote. It does only work like this within the same editing session, though, so there might be something we could improve here. Finally, making the Info bar customizable is also a fair suggestion, though probably a bit less likely one to happen. We'll see what we can do!
User avatar

2022-02-12 19:22:51

These features are needed indeed! But you know, it's easier to ask than to do it. This features request is very complex and would indeed make the platform more interactive and appealing to the customers. All at once, I believe they've already incorporated some of your suggestions. Either way, I have to say that the rulers one is very annoying for me as well. I don't think they've fixed that problem yet. Every time I'd learn designs that were new and re-open the program, the ruler would disappear. I thought the problem was my PC, but seeing the comments... Hopefully, that's one thing they'd fix!
User avatar

2022-08-02 13:45:20

Rulers, again please! I would like to see them everywhere all the time.
You could do this as a hidden default thing using Terminal command? Then publish a list for those so inclined to do so? I have seen this in a number of other apps for a variety of purposes and it is very handy. :smiley: