Is there a way to make custom Shape sections instead of all custom shapes being jumbled in the custom section?

[he6llsp6awn6]

I want to organize the shapes folder but I do not know how to do it, I tried looking for the original shapes folder but it was nowhere to be found so I am taking that it is built into the code and would be a pain to alter or modify.

 

So I was wondering if it would be possible for someone to create a shapes 2 area that can be customized by separating shapes by folders and add a drop down arrow to it so only the folder titles will appear unless you hit the arrow next to it?

 

Example: You create star shapes and place them in the folder "Stars" you also make Cog shapes and place them in the folder "Cogs", then place both folders in "Paint.net>Shapes2" folder, then in Paint.net when you select the Shapes2 Icon you would see something like this:

 

>Cogs

>Stars

 

Then if you select the arrows to the left of the names it would look something like this:

 

VCogs

         Cog shape 1

         Cog shape 2

VStars

        Star shape 1

        Star shape 2

 

This way the shapes do not clutter our screens and will reduce load times since the shapes will not load unless the arrow is selected, hit the arrow again to close the folder.

 

As for shapes original folder, it can still be used for basic simple shapes or as a spot for favorite/most used shapes.

 

Is this possible?

[toe_head2001]

Sorry, there is not a way to define custom groups. All user shapes are clumped together.

 

You can, at least, change the sort order. It's based on the full file path of the xaml files.

[AndrewDavid]

12 hours ago, he6llsp6awn6 said:

I tried looking for the original shapes folder but it was nowhere to be found

C:\Program Files\paint.net\Shapes

[he6llsp6awn6]

2 hours ago, AndrewDavid said:

C:\Program Files\paint.net\Shapes

I meant I was searching for the area/folder that contained the original shapes that came with an original install of Paint.net before any plugins and added shapes.

I do use the shapes folder, but I have to keep a Shortcut to the shapes folder on my desktop next to a folder I made for placing shapes I am currently not using so I do not clutter or have a hard time locating the shape I want in Paint.net.

 

Since I could not find the location of the original shape files in any folder, I concluded that it must mean the original shapes were coded into the Paint.net program itself and not in an actually folder that we can access, meaning one cannot edit the shape directory without developer access. and that would be a pain at this point to have a developer go in and change up the shape directory since it could cause bugs in the Paint.net program and cause problems for its users.

 

so that is why I brought up that the Dev's could make a shapes2 folder that could be customized since it would be new code and not mess with the original program much since if there is a problem they could remove it easy.

 

Some may say that making a shapes2 directory and make it customizable would make the original shape directory useless if everyone could organize their shapes in Shapes2, but that is why I also said that the original shapes folder could be used for simple shapes or as a favorites/most used shapes area so they do not have to click shapes2 and go through a huge list to find the shape they want.

 

The reason I want to organize my shapes and create my own sections is because I create shapes for personal games and mods I create, an example is making a texture for a mesh, I will UV unwrap a Mesh and export the texture, I will then open it in paint.net and use shapes I have created to give the texture details and when happy, save the altered texture and go back to my 3d editor and wrap the mesh with the new texture.

 

But the thing is I also use the same shapes over and over again when creating other things inside a game or mod, like stickers, patches and so on and each has to be a different size and it would be a pain to always remake the image by hand.

 

Here is a shape I made for a Skyrim mod and colored it in using only paint.net:

This is one of many shapes I use

I have literally hundreds of shapes, I have recreated letters, symbols, Icons and more from many games, along with original Ideas based on the games like maps, star charts and so on.

 

with all these shapes, I would love to be able to organize them for easier use without having to constantly add and remove shapes from the shapes folder, and to be able to select what I want more easily.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

11 hours ago, he6llsp6awn6 said:

Since I could not find the location of the original shape files in any folder, I concluded that it must mean the original shapes were coded into the Paint.net program itself and not in an actually folder that we can access, meaning one cannot edit the shape directory without developer access.

 

Correct. You can't edit the default Shapes.

 

11 hours ago, he6llsp6awn6 said:

so that is why I brought up that the Dev's could make a shapes2 folder that could be customized since it would be new code and not mess with the original program much since if there is a problem they could remove it easy.

 

Every new shape you add is included in the Shapes menu below the Custom title. So the default Shapes are never moved in the menu.

 

 

As mentioned above, you can customize the order by renaming the Xml files. @BoltBait uses this technique to have the order of his Shapes present in a particular way (he uses numbers).

 

If you need to find the location of a custom Shape, hover over it in the mune. The Tool Tip will show the path to the file.

 

 

[Ego Eram Reputo]

PS Those are really nice Skyrim & Oblivion shapes. I'd like to add the Skyrim one to my copy of PDN if you're willing to share it.

[he6llsp6awn6]

9 hours ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

PS Those are really nice Skyrim & Oblivion shapes. I'd like to add the Skyrim one to my copy of PDN if you're willing to share it.

I have made them in order by name for the most part in the shapes folder like Skyrim_GoldCoin, Skyrim_EmpireSymbol, Fallout_Vaultboy and so on, it would just be a lot easier if the custom shapes folder allowed us to at least allow us to have folders listed instead of the shapes in them and then by selecting the folder we access the shapes, since like I said, I have hundreds from various games like The Elder scrolls, Fallout, Gears of War, World of Warcraft, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Star Wars, Star Trek and so on, so clicking the shapes Icon and then selecting a folder for the shapes would be so much easier than having to read through a list of shape names until I found the one I am looking for.

I have created a zip containing the 3 shapes you see in the image above, since your an admin that has asked, I placed them here, In the future I will make a post with all the shapes in the correct forum "Plugins - Publishing ONLY" for everyone to use if they like.

 

Recreating the shapes of images really does help out when Modding and when creating assets for a game or animation, this way you do not have to redraw the image for different Items, like using the same image for Posters, stickers, pins, banners, flags and so on, each item usually is not a one size fits all and so a .png to be used over and over again would not really work, I mean you have to think about the thickness of the outline and the scale and so on, so having a shape file is best, may be tedious work to recreate, but for someone who makes assets, it eventually becomes a timesaver in the end

 

Hope you enjoy the shapes 3TESShapes.zip

[midora]

I'm supporting the request of subfolders.

Dropdownitems in the custom area with the subfolder name as item name would be nice but maybe just a separation title showing the subfolder name would be enough.

[lynxster4]

1 hour ago, midora said:

I'm supporting the request of subfolders.

 

This is already supported. I have five subfolders of shapes under the main 'Shapes' folder.  They present in the order of the subfolders, though there is no 'line' separating the contents of each folder.  🙂

[he6llsp6awn6]

1 hour ago, lynxster4 said:

 

This is already supported. I have five subfolders of shapes under the main 'Shapes' folder.  They present in the order of the subfolders, though there is no 'line' separating the contents of each folder.  🙂

I have many folders in the Shapes folder as well to separate my shapes more easily so that they will stay in their group but when you hit the Shapes tool and go to select a shape to use, you still have a mountain of shapes to go through in order to find the shape you want.

 

midora and I would like there to be sub folders that have a drop menu effect so you see the folders name and by clicking it, it will open the desired shapes, I mean a separation bar the the Folders name would be nice if the Dropdown menu cant work at least you can easily identify the groups without having to read a ton of shape names to find the one your looking for.

 

[Ego Eram Reputo]

On 8/19/2021 at 3:40 AM, he6llsp6awn6 said:

 

Hope you enjoy the shapes

Thank you!

[he6llsp6awn6]

1 hour ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

Thank you!

Your Welcome