Enter precise shape Width and height - not just drag

[ColinK]

I add rectangle shapes for nearly every drawing I create.

 

After inserting and dragging the handles to approx size I want to be able to manually type the precise size - dragging handles is very hit and miss and can take many seconds to get precise PX sizes.

 

Ideally I want to click on the sizes in the bottom left of paint.net and manually edit - see attachment

 

These instructions give no instructions on how to precisely resize a shape.  https://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/ShapeTools.html

 

I have searched the forum, can find nothing other than - drag handles.

 

I am not asking how to enter fixed sizes for the rectangle tool.

 

Thanks ColinK

 

 

 

 

[Ego Eram Reputo]

There is no way to define the Shape size the way you want.

 

What I do is click and hold a corner control point, then use the keyboard arrows to fine tune the height and width. Try it & see if that works for you.

[xod]

For the same purpose I use Selection> Fixed Size (Width, Height), then Effect> Selection> Outline Selection.

Sorry I did not read the post until the end...

Edited September 5, 2018 by xod

[NinthDesertDude]

It seems like a useful feature, but I'm not sure how it'd be done without either making surprising UX or doing some work, and I know what time Rick can afford on this project he's spending on higher-priority items.

 

I'm not sure about setting the size by clicking on it, since the size is also displayed for other contexts and unless the click-to-resize behavior is made ubiquitous, it would segment the UX.

 

I like the way Blender would do it, which is to type X or Y for the axis, followed by a number and enter to confirm. It's super-useful, but since that's not an established pattern here, it would be no better and probably worse than setting the size with a button in the tooltip area.

[ColinK]

On 9/4/2018 at 7:53 PM, Ego Eram Reputo said:

There is no way to define the Shape size the way you want.

 

What I do is click and hold a corner control point, then use the keyboard arrows to fine tune the height and width. Try it & see if that works for you.

Thanks for the suggestion, that partially works. Grabbing corners changes height and width. Grabbing top and side markers is a bit fiddly to exactly grab, but I can adjust with arrows as you suggest, but the accuracy seems to be 2 pixels - so not perfect but an improvement.

 

Thanks again

ColinK

[ColinK]

I still find precise sizing of lines or shapes very frustrating.

 

Ego's suggestion to grab corner and use arrows is sometimes useful, but actually lines and shapes change size in increments of up to 3px depending on zoom level. I really want precise sizes to 1px. The only way I can do this is to keep moving the mouse until it is correct. This frequently fails and I have to start again.

 

Any improvements in precise sizing of lines and shapes would be welcome  

 

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by ColinK
adding text

[SuE]

what  I suggest is workaround only

get photofiltre 6.5.3 - it is  old, no longer developed, but free photo editor and it has some awesome functions. To test it,  download  the portable  zipped version

 

- use plugin that other app to open photofiltre with it 

- make rectangle selection  (any size) , right click on the selected area, a menu appears - go to manual setting and enter dimensions, okay it

- right click again and click on first option in the menu and chose color of border and okay it. The selection changes to rectangle

(sorry if my description of photofiltre options is not precise I only have  czech version)

 

Off topic: Photofiltre also has polygonal selection and you can store and reuse selections.

And  I just love the Photomasque function for making frames

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by SuE
typo errors and formatting

[toe_head2001]

4 hours ago, ColinK said:

to grab corner and use arrows is sometimes useful, but actually lines and shapes change size in increments of up to 3px depending on zoom level.

 

Ok, but it takes like 3 seconds to zoom-in, adjust, and zoom-out again. Not even exaggerating here.

 

Not to say that being able to type in the number wouldn't be useful.

[NinthDesertDude]

On 4/19/2019 at 10:40 AM, toe_head2001 said:

Not to say that being able to type in the number wouldn't be useful.

[Snarky comment due to thinking he said it's not useful]

Edited April 25, 2019 by Joshua Lamusga
Misreading comments and being rude

[toe_head2001]

Just now, Joshua Lamusga said:

Not useful to you doesn't mean it's not useful, come on. Surely you can conceive its uses. Agreeing with SuE that it's useful, even though it'll never happen.

 

I think you missed the double negative in my sentence.  I was saying it would be useful.

[NinthDesertDude]

Agreed; my comment has been updated appropriately.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Joshua Lamusga

[Ego Eram Reputo]

We wouldn't want it to exhibit usefulnessless would we? 😎

[Apollo702]

Just speaking for myself and my flow here. I also do tons of resizes to get just the right sizes, ratios, perspectives...and I have found manual resizing(often times while holding Shift) easy and quick.

 

YMMV.

[Reptillian]

This is something that can be done via g'mic plugin. Only problem is that it is a clumsy solution as it requires loading gmic-qt and not to mention coding(I prefer to code other filters). Your other option is to code up a pdn plugin. It's one or the other, either are clumsy.

 

For the OP - You can use this quick solution (not simplified) to type in variable (Untested) for code series under Various in G'MIC Q

 

-----

nrw=$1

nrh=$2

nrxp=$3

nryp=$4

Red=$5

Green=$6

Blue=$7

Alpha=$8

$nrw,$nrh,100%,100%,[$Red,$Green,$Blue,$Alpha]

resize. {w+$nrxp},{h+$nryp},100%,100%,0,0,1,1

blend alpha

-----

Replace $Number with your variables

Edited May 18, 2019 by Reptillian

[CharanoDhwani]

Any updates on this in July 2020?

 

It looks like a simple basic functionality that one should be able to draw shapes of precise shape and position it on the canvas -

through expression where needed, rather than challenging manual labor.

 

Probably through a Properties panel associated with an object (of course it remains as an object does not become pixels).

 

A simple task I started to create a YouTube Channel art  requiring four rectangles of sizes

 

2560 x 1440

2560 x 423

1855 x 423

1546 x 423

 

all centred on the canvas of size 2560 x 1440 has become an incredibly formidable task.

 

I can use Object Align effect for centering, but it is a hit and miss game for rectangle size by dragging using mouse or using keyboard.

I cannot get to precise sizes as it always jumps to by 2/3 pixels on either side.

 

Paint.Net developers -- appreciate your fixing this for everyone with a high priority. 

Given the extensive features and capabilities of Paint.net, such basic missing functionality looks rather intriguing.  

 

Thanks Sri.

 

[TrevorOutlaw]

2 hours ago, CharanoDhwani said:

Any updates on this in July 2020?

 

It looks like a simple basic functionality that one should be able to draw shapes of precise shape and position it on the canvas -

through expression where needed, rather than challenging manual labor.

 

Probably through a Properties panel associated with an object (of course it remains as an object does not become pixels).

 

A simple task I started to create a YouTube Channel art  requiring four rectangles of sizes

 

2560 x 1440

2560 x 423

1855 x 423

1546 x 423

 

all centred on the canvas of size 2560 x 1440 has become an incredibly formidable task.

 

I can use Object Align effect for centering, but it is a hit and miss game for rectangle size by dragging using mouse or using keyboard.

I cannot get to precise sizes as it always jumps to by 2/3 pixels on either side.

 

Paint.Net developers -- appreciate your fixing this for everyone with a high priority. 

Given the extensive features and capabilities of Paint.net, such basic missing functionality looks rather intriguing.  

 

Thanks Sri.

 

 

Use selection mode:

 

 

Fiddle with different setting: Normal, Fixed Size, and Fixed Ratio. Change scale from pixels to inches or MM, and backfill with color of your choice.

 

Another thing to do is enable ruler on and draw a series of line with antialias turn off, 1 pixel size, and create different grid of colors, or to save time, use this plugin, to establish position of grid:

While I would love to have the ability to "snap to grid" similar to Photoshop with alignment lines that shows up on the fly, this is probably the best solution I can think of to work in PDN.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

On 9/5/2018 at 6:53 AM, Ego Eram Reputo said:

There is no way to define the Shape size the way you want.

 

What I do is click and hold a corner control point, then use the keyboard arrows to fine tune the height and width. Try it & see if that works for you.

^ It was worth repeating. In the hands of a power user, a drag to approximate dimensions followed by keyboard fine-tuning is probably going to be faster than typing in exact dimensions.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

3 hours ago, CharanoDhwani said:

I cannot get to precise sizes as it always jumps to by 2/3 pixels on either side.

 

Zoom in when you do adjust the corner nub.