Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:26:08 Z

- Align operation uses the object lowest on the stack as the master to which the higher stacked objects align to (opposite of how it is now). At least make it configurable, leave the default as is to not disrupt existing users.

- Right-click context menus on layers interface and effects interface. Currently if you highlight an object or effect in these interface, right clicking them does nothing. One would expect that right-clicking an object on the layers interface would produce the same context menu as right clicking that object on the artboard area. Sometimes an object is hidden in the artboard and it is difficult to right-click it without re-ording. The same options would be nice as context from the layers interface. Likewise options for effects right-click would be nice. I am sure there are other places in the application where context menus seem to be absent.

- Multiple select drag to layer option. Sometimes I want to highlight multiple objects on a layer, then drag them into a different layer. Currently if I shift-click 3 objects, then try to drag to the other layer, only one of them will move, would be nice if they all moved. For now I have to group them, move them, then ungroup, which is okay, but this *is* a wish list.

Would be nice if there was a master thread to track everyone's wish list items for the next release and allow people to vote on the individual features. When votes stack up, the moderator updates the original post in the thread so its a living feature list.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:17:25 Z

There is a central location for feedback/suggestions.
Main Page: http://connect.microsoft.com/default.aspx?lc=1033
Expression Studio: http://connect.microsoft.com/Expression

You have my 'vote[s]', if you post your comments to MS Connect. Suggest posting each separately; i.e., Align objects, Right-click context, and Mutli-object drag among layers.

FWIW- Aligning objects with Left, Right, Top and Bottom works differently relative to anchor object (not using stack position). It chooses Left-most, Right-most, Top-most and Bottom-most as the anchor. Being able to choose the anchor object would simplify those processes too IMO.

Regards,

~Fred

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:57:29 Z

Thank you for the info, I will put them there!

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:39:16 Z

Okay, I have logged a suggestion for each of those 3, vote if you agree:

Use lowest stacked item as anchor for align centers operations
https://connect.microsoft.com/Expression/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=431406

Need right-click context menu on objects in Layers panel
https://connect.microsoft.com/Expression/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=431409

Multiple object select->drag on layer panel
https://connect.microsoft.com/Expression/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=431410

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:25:40 Z

I am sure I used an app (in beta or otherwise) that elected the first chosen object in a multiple selection as the base XY coord setting.

That, to me and if doable, seems more intuitive and doable and maybe, just might be a pleasant standard?

I suppose developers have to start with some assumption about defining or declaring the XY coord points.

ps - luv (as in LURVE!) the website! Inplace commenting, editing is stunning with no white-out refreshes. Brilliant stuff!

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:36:23 Z

I agree with you BBB about the order of selection. When I first was figuring out what logic was used to determine the anchor, I kept selecting them in different orders because I assumed that must be how it should work. I think that is the more intuitive choice.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:42:24 Z

This is a good thread. I am going to make it sticky for a while and allow others to chime in with suggestions. Serious suggestions only, please.

Will

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:48:57 Z

Cool, as long as we're allowed to reply in here I'll do so (the other suggested page seemed a little daunting in terms of avalanche of information).

In Design 3 I'd love to see a return of some old favourites and a couple of new tools as well...

*Ctrl Shift V for paste in place. Unless Macromedia/Adobe's copyrighted it everyone should have this keyboard shortcut in their software package.

*Fill soften/fringes back. I know we have blurs but that's neither the same nor as useful. (That said I love blurs, but fringes were ace).

*Effect lines back. Being able to draw speed lines from one path to another was ace and opened up a lot more than the manuals manga lines suggestion. It's probably the one thing I miss most in the current iteration.

*A zoomed in colour pallette chooser. The one we have is so small it makes picking bitmap fills very tricksome.

*A return to the scroll up scroll number increaser. Seriously :) I'm amazed this was taken out - it was such an elegant solution (double click to open a choice box, single click drag to increase decrease, single click to change numerical value in place - BRILLIANT!)

* 3d transform for created paths. To be able to take a path and push it into the screen between layers would be ace.

* filter on filter deformation. So if I click on a wave filter it'll deform the path then click on it again it'll deform the deform and so on.

*Stroke variable width and opacity.

Lastly, and I know that this is a list of moans (sorry) :) I'd prefer to have floating pallettes rather than fixed, fading pallettes when others are active (check out Pixelmator for good interface design implimentation) and variable brush painting (again, check out Pixelmator's brush menu for excellent malleability :) )

Looking forward to Design 3 though. Hope it's a doozey.

Was that serious enough :)

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:55:45 Z

One other thing I would like to see is more feedback when actions will do nothing.

For example, sometimes you have a object selected and you choose to convert stroke to path and nothing happens. Sometimes its obvious that the stroke pattern is some type of bitmap pattern which cannot be converted, but ED2 doesn't show any messages, it just does nothing. Better feedback about why the conversion cannot happen would be nice.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:19:50 Z

Taking that idea a step further I love Pixelator's hait of showing a small unobtrusive box fade in and out when you use a keyboard shortcut. Were that to be joined with a small tick or cross to say if a tool has been successful if it's a boolean operation or state change or keyboard shortcut that would be very helpful.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:04:13 Z

It would be also helpful if EXD will also support extrude and perspective.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:38:02 Z

Is there any chance that Expression Design will allow you to open and edit .mix files from Photodraw 2000? OR is there
a way to convert these files to keep the layers and to allow them to be
edited in Expression Design?

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:42:49 Z

Another feature:

- Small caps text mode that is in MS Publisher. This is where lowercase letters are all converted to uppercase, except only as high as the normal lower case letter.

Described in more details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_caps

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:00:04 Z

OK, here goes ...

+ I don't mind Ctrl+V (central paste onscreen) CTRL+F (paste in front of selected object(s) and Ctrl+B (paste behind selected object(s) as I think it is sweet and shows that there are deeper considerations about where a copied object is pasted

+ map fills and envelop maps

+ S01 as default vector stroke

+ EGD's stroke engine (was that stunning or what?) along with at least 2-colour strokes

Thinking about it ... some of EGD's betas were brilliant and possibly say it all? soft edge, skeletal strokes et al ...

01a.jpg

01b.jpg

01c.jpg

01d.jpg (this one is ED though)

01e.jpg

01f.jpg

Summary?

EGD was doing fine, working well and going swell. Then an offshoot to ED?

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:09:32 Z

Yes, I consider ED to be tangential to the developments E3 > Acrylic > EGD.

That is not to say EDx are inferior (although from EGDs perspective it probably is) but that they are wholesomely different in character.

I am sure regulars of those heady, halcyon days evoke still to what EGD might have been?

Interim conclusion:

+ restart EGD from December 2006 beta and let the constructive creativity flow in unbridled fashion.

Ooo Ahh! Yes! I forgot...

extrude: there is a sort of way to do it using start path > end path then blend paths. This usually forms a group that can be tweaked and twiddled quite pleasantly.

perspective: is sort of doable but without too much accuracy (or it was last time I tried)

+ there really should be an app or added functionality to ED that allows one to work with any and all Microsoft file types provided one has access rights to edit those files (could be tricky especially DRM stuff and historic files)

There was another on but it is on the tip of my tongue and ...

Ah yes!

Explicit and/or/or both Implicit anchor object on alignment options.

Maybe: Implicit = first selected object is deemed as reference anchor object (Equally X-most (where X = top, bottom, left or right) is implicitly accepted as alignment anchor object)

Explicit = we ain't gonna align anything until you tell the application/procedure what the reference object is with a suitable warning/pointer/indicator

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:15:38 Z

Ok, this ones a little tricksome to explain but onwards:

grunge/weathering/ageing effect lines.

((bear with me, ity's odd but ace)).

First of all we need effect lines back in order to add to it but on top of that effect lines drawn from one area to another than have a variety of embosses, blurs, noises, webs etc to similate ageing and weathering. So if we had a picture of a face we could draw around the eyebrow and the bag under the eyes and add wrinkles using the colour of the skin and a mixture of veining, embossing etc. Similarly we could create randomised effect lines to similate spider webs etc. Patches of dust that collect in a specific area and then blur and randomly spread out etc. Rusts that use a mixture of multiplied flaking and warping textures, the colour below to guide and patches of generated noise etc. To add additional effects to a picture using in built presets would be massively handy and useful and feisible (if not easy :) ).

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:38:39 Z

I think the grunge might just be doable already?

Effect Lines > image fills

Image fill needs to be looked at for sure (ED and XAML didn't seem to like image fills, maps, ... )

Grunge = coloured textures?

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 03 May 2009 20:52:09 Z

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 06 May 2009 18:18:46 Z

I'm new to Design and Graphics in general, but I have a couple anyway (let me know if I can do these already):

1) I'd like to be able to right-click an object, either on the art board or in the Layers panel and have a Create New Layer option. It would create a new layer and move that object to the new layer.

2) Illustrator has something like "Simplify Path" which would be very useful.

3) A smoothing operation for paths.

4) A rounded end point line style.

-- Joel Cochran - http://www.developingfor.net

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Wed, 06 May 2009 22:18:34 Z

Potential warning regarding http://www.developingfor.net

See

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Aak9NOhMpxJXgxDkON5n0lEp7S2tj0

and

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1y0o3Iq2vRZOmWtRp5tx0rhkBO5HYr

for details

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:48:48 Z

BBB,

Those images you sent do NOT reflect my server's IP address. Ping it and you can confirm that the IP is 209.145.93.105, not 74.222.134.170. I have never heard of the other domains listed on that image, and this is a private server hosted on my company's network. The images you sent do not show the domain name of the site either. In addition, the two images you posted above do not even reflect the same IP address (though they are on the same subnet).

I Googled this IP address and find warnings for it all over, in relation to some IFrame injection. I will pass the information on to my server guy. Oh, and the 74.222.134.170 IP address from above won't ping. I checked my HTML and the IFrame code is there, so it must have been injected somehow. I have removed it if you'd like to check again.

What does the Red outline around my post above mean? Am I flagged or something? I can assure everyone here that http://www.developingfor.net is a real site, run by a real person.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

-- Joel Cochran - http://www.developingfor.net

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 07 May 2009 20:20:24 Z

Hi Joel

I think I am responsible for the red box outline based on the warnings I received when accessing developingfor.net as i chose to flag the post as possible abuse.

That is not to say that the content of the post is abusive but merely some warnings that I thought it better to share.

The website opens fine now with no warnings at all.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 08 May 2009 09:05:10 Z

I'd go further. I want ALL of Creature house Expression 3 back and I want to be able to buy it as a stand alone. Maybe this could be a different product aimed at the illustrator/artist community leaving EDG as MS version of fireworks.
I have not migrated to Expression Graphic Design because it seems like a gutted version of the original.

When I think about what it could have been after all these Years...sniff

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 08 May 2009 12:48:53 Z

Stunning idea Squeaky!

To develop from E3.3 seems wholesome.

I must admit to limiting my comments to functionality of the application but! a lot has happened since E3.3 (Carbon, Cocoa, ... C#, C##, ... , VS2005, VS2008, ... ).

Then there is that animations based app from Creature House that has somehow dissolved into obscurity?

Developing these from what they were using newer languages (and maintaining Mac doable equivalents?) is definitely worthy of serious consideration (I don't vote too much for a price on E3.3 though - making it free is a good catchall/intro to what MS could build from).

(ED is, to me, really a much limited app with incomplete XAML aspirations of too compromising a nature)

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:26:27 Z

Thanks BBB, I just don't want people getting the wrong idea. :-)

-- Joel Cochran - http://www.developingfor.net

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:32:49 Z

S'ok. No judgement made, no judgement given. just a "whhooo-arr! I didn't expect that! Heck, what to do now?"

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:28:52 Z

As long as you want LivingCels back together with EGD, you should really hope for an development of Acrylic. All the animation code from CH was included into this software, even if it´s not visible in the interface.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:20:05 Z

My suggestion in 3.0 is to have a product that will install and startup on the first try. Not have to go through hoops of fire to get the application to start up, instead of getting Application failed to initialize properly.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:14:55 Z

1. I'd like to be able to select and erase a background from an image format of JPG, PNG, GIF, etc by selecting a color.

2. The ability to make set a swatch as the favorites or as a subsection of the favorites so I don't have to keep opening up the drop down to get the colors I want.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:09:30 Z

Well, I've been doing some stuff with E3.3 and still cannot believe how easy it is to change RGB values and how to handle color swatches. Incredible!

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:09:35 Z

I've just started using the Expression suite and I've got a couple wishes concerning stroke:

1. The ability/an easier way to outline stroke. It's sometimes very limiting to work with pure strokes, especially when I want to get into width variation and more advanced manipulation.

2. Control over the stroke's position in relation to the underlying path. In Illustrator I can choose to make the stroke align to the center, inside or outside of the path. I was recently working on a mock-up and was told to add strokes to some boxes to help separate them. So I added the strokes, but then had to adjust everything else surrounding the boxes to accomodate. If I had the ability to add stroke to the inside of the box, it would have taken 5 seconds to fix the mock-up instead of 15 minutes.

Just a few suggestions to improve efficiency. Probably more to come.

Thanks.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:21:04 Z

didnt see this thread before, but just like i said before. I think ed3 should have the magic wand tool, lasso tool.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:37:01 Z

And also add some features to control text rendering quality such normal, clear-type (maybe by hintClearType property of WPF 4). Техt in Blend and in Silverlight looks more clear then it is in Design in small font sizes.

Rex regum...

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:08:29 Z

OK since the release is... Hmmm when is the release anyhow? But since the release is sorted and ready to roll this won't be a ED3 suggestion but the more I think about it the more I think it would be an amazing feature:

3d perspective vector points. Basically the way I visualise it is three linked layers - background, mid point and foreground. You can swap to a 45 degree angled window to see where the vector points of your image are and then move them to distances shown by each layer - sort of like Little Big Planet. The three areas of distance would stop if from becoming unwieldy and the thought of having strokes grow as they come towards you, casting shadows on themselves etc would be ace.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:31:11 Z

Strangely enough I have been think of some similar things but more for the desktop than a graphics app.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:05:34 Z

... Been playing with the demo for the past day, except for when kid duty calls... Is it me or are some parts not activated? Can't find the bitmap and vector fills are, for example. And no fringes, fills or verctor/manga lines either. Sad about that... Also, is there something new I should be looking at? I'm not seeing anything new to get me going so far (although I have only had a day to play with it.)

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:49:48 Z

The same thing!
I do not see new features, just docking interface and better psd export. It has not become good tool for web design.

Rex regum...

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:39:40 Z

The same,

That's quite strange, because I throught I saw new features in the blend 3 presentation video (such as non-squared slices, & so on ).

Even the AI import hasn't been update with the features of one in the Blend 3.

As Design is the key piece of our integration workflow, we're quite disappointed.

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:02:38 Z

I think Expression design is a filleted version of Expression/microsoft Expression graphic design 3.3 (Which you can still get free from Microsoft) A lot of the groovy/useful (to illustrators) stuff was taken out of it to fit in to the Expression suite world. Expression Design seems to me to be microsofts version of Fireworks. It may be worth trying the original version to see if any of the features you need are in that. I for one have found no reason at all to buy the expression suite (And many reasons not to) but then I'm an Illustrator

Huge Regards Dave www.squeakypics.co.uk/blog

Expression Design x.y Wish List

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:30:02 Z

Thank you for the info, I will put them there!