Looking for a plugin to preset "rectangle select" sizes

[jilllorraine]

Hi awesome developers,

 

I need to select 1000's of areas from illustrations and art in preset sizes. I've been using the "fixed size" option while using "rectangle select", but would like to save each "fixed size" so I don't have to re-enter the 20 or so I use every time. I'm looking for a drop-down menu or tool add-on to automatically choose, i.e., 3000 x 3000 pixels, 1000 x 1800 pixels, etc., without entering the width and size I need. Suggestions? Is this currently available as a plug in?

 

Thanks!!! Cheers!

 

Jill

[BoltBait]

Sorry, this is not something a plugin can do.

[toe_head2001]

As an alternative, you could use a macro recorder.

I like a simple one called TinyTask.

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by toe_head2001
update to new url

[MJW]

Perhaps there's some other way of achieving your objective that could be done with a plugin. What do you do with the regions after you've selected them?

[jilllorraine]

Thanks to all! I will look into the macro recorder, Tiny Task. To MJW: once I've made my selection, I either Crop to Selection and Save As, or Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste into New Layer (Ctrl+Shift+V) in a New (Ctrl+N) image. It would be great to have a plugin shortcut, thanks for asking...

[BoltBait]

1 minute ago, jilllorraine said:

To MJW: once I've made my selection, I either Crop to Selection and Save As, or Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste into New Layer (Ctrl+Shift+V) in a New (Ctrl+N) image. It would be great to have a plugin shortcut, thanks for asking...

 

These are not the sort of things plugins can do.

[jilllorraine]

Thanks BoltBait, I went with that info yesterday, and made myself a shortcut document to copy/paste the sizes from more quickly. I think with the right music and a good amount of coffee, it'll do fine...

[MJW]

Off hand I don't know how to copy portions of images to the clipboard with a plugin, but if it could be done, I think it would go a long way to solving jilllorraine's problem. The clipboard image could be pasted as a new image or into a layer.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Would be useful to have a modifier key for the selection tools which snapped the mouse to 10px boundaries? They way the Shift modifier for rotations snaps to 15 degrees increments.

[MJW]

jilllorraine,If you can wait a few weeks, I'll try to write a plugin to help. I'm somewhat busy at the moment, and the plugin would require doing some things I believe are doable, but which I currently don't know how to do, so it won't be done right away.

 

The plugin I have in mind would allow you to select a rectangle size from a list. The rectangle would be displayed on the image as an outline, or perhaps as a transparent rectangle surrounded by a darker region (like the View Framer). The  rectangle could be positioned within the image. Once the region was selected, you'd click a "Copy to Clipboard" button, at which time the image within the rectangle would be copied into the clipboard, and the selection rectangle would disappear (to let you know the copy was completed, and so that when you exited the plugin, the original image would be unmodified). The clipboard image could then be pasted as a new image or into a layer.

 

If other plugin writers wish to offer advice, the two special things I'd need to do are:

- Within OnCreateConfigUI, read a file with a fixed name, from a fixed folder in the the Paint.NET User File folder to populate the rectangle size list.

- Copy an image to the clipboard.

I believe I can adapt the file-reading routines from CodeLab, and I know Hawkynt's 2D-ImageFilter Library writes the clipboard. I'm not absolutely sure there isn't a problem reading a file inside OnCreateConfigUI, though I can't see any obvious reason it wouldn't be okay.

[toe_head2001]

Last night I came across an interesting article about automation in relation to paint.net.

http://blog.functionalfun.net/2009/06/introduction-to-ui-automation-with.html

I played with the code a little bit this morning.

While not a plugin or anything that integrates into paint.net itself, it does give a more precision and control vs. a keyboard/mouse macro recorder.