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Well... The following seems really dumb. 
1. Insert a picture in a document
2. Select the picture, rt. click and select "Picture" from the popup box
3. Click the Type tab, and check "Keep ratio".
Leave the dialogue box open or close it, your choice.
Grab a corner handle, adjust the size, but the ratio is NOT retained.
Surely, this is not right.
The ratio is kept if you manually change the size in the dialogue box.
This is just off the top of my head, I haven't actually experimented
with this, but isn't the "keep ratio" checkbox in the dialog window
just for resizing by way of the width and height values in the dialog
window itself, and has nothing to do with drag operations? Dragging to
resize has its own way of keeping ratio, by holding down shift or some
such, doesn't it?
That's the way I understand it, at least, and it seems correct to me.
Works that way in lots of software, I think.
Paul
Hi Ken,
Ken Springer schrieb:
Well... The following seems really dumb.
1. Insert a picture in a document
2. Select the picture, rt. click and select "Picture" from the
popup box
3. Click the Type tab, and check "Keep ratio".Leave the dialogue box open or close it, your choice.
Grab a corner handle, adjust the size, but the ratio is NOT retained.
Surely, this is not right.
The ratio is kept if you manually change the size in the dialogue box.
And exact that is the purpose of the check box, to bind the entered values to ratio. It is _not_ a lock ratio property of the image. Such property does not exists. To keep ratio while dragging with the mouse, hold down the Shift-key.
Kind regards
Regina
This is just off the top of my head, I haven't actually experimented
with this, but isn't the "keep ratio" checkbox in the dialog window
just for resizing by way of the width and height values in the dialog
window itself, and has nothing to do with drag operations? Dragging to
resize has its own way of keeping ratio, by holding down shift or some
such, doesn't it?
You're right, it does.
Is that Picture dialogue box supposed to set the properties of the image? If so, then when you exit the dialogue box, that's one "property" that is not retained.
Certainly not intuitive IMO. If you check a box that says "Keep ratio" or similar, logically it should do that when the box is closed. And, if it's checked, only the corner handles should display and be selectable.
That's the way I understand it, at least, and it seems correct to me.
Works that way in lots of software, I think.
I've used old software in the past that did that, probably DTP or a graphics program like Corel Draw. But I can't remember any current software that has one way of operating in a dialogue, and another in the document/graphic/frame/whatever.
Hi Ken,
Ken Springer schrieb:
Well... The following seems really dumb.
1. Insert a picture in a document
2. Select the picture, rt. click and select "Picture" from the
popup box
3. Click the Type tab, and check "Keep ratio".Leave the dialogue box open or close it, your choice.
Grab a corner handle, adjust the size, but the ratio is NOT retained.
Surely, this is not right.
The ratio is kept if you manually change the size in the dialogue box.
And exact that is the purpose of the check box, to bind the entered
values to ratio. It is _not_ a lock ratio property of the image. Such
property does not exists. To keep ratio while dragging with the mouse,
hold down the Shift-key.
Just discovered this reading Paul's message, and experimenting.
I actually find the dialog box more useful, since I'm usually trying to set an exact width for an image.
I'd been frustrated with the mouse resizing because I didn't know about having to shift to maintain the ratio. In my experience, most software keeps the ratio if you click and drag the lower right corner; shift is not necessary. You learn something new every day!
Dave
Is that Picture dialogue box supposed to set the properties of the
image? If so, then when you exit the dialogue box, that's one
"property" that is not retained.
"Keep ratio" isn't a property of an image.
Certainly not intuitive IMO. If you check a box that says "Keep
ratio" or similar, logically it should do that when the box is
closed. And, if it's checked, only the corner handles should display
and be selectable.
I guess it would also make sense for it to work that way (and then
the ratio would be a property of the image), and if all software did it
that way it would be intuitive, but as software doesn't (in my
experience), and instead does it the way LO does it, that makes the LO
way intuitive for me.
I've used old software in the past that did that, probably DTP or a
graphics program like Corel Draw. But I can't remember any current
software that has one way of operating in a dialogue, and another in
the document/graphic/frame/whatever.
I'm fairly sure the MS products do it this way too, but I don't have
any lying around to check with. I could check with Gimp, Scribus and
others, but as they are all open source, they are more likely to follow
the same principles. Ideally one should check against as disparate a
set of products as possible. My feeling is they all work the same way,
but I could be wrong.
Paul
Is that Picture dialogue box supposed to set the properties of the
image? If so, then when you exit the dialogue box, that's one
"property" that is not retained."Keep ratio" isn't a property of an image.
Not of the image itself, but of the image in the document. I suspect the image is in a "frame" or similar object, so technically it's a property of the "frame".
Certainly not intuitive IMO. If you check a box that says "Keep
ratio" or similar, logically it should do that when the box is
closed. And, if it's checked, only the corner handles should display
and be selectable.I guess it would also make sense for it to work that way (and then
the ratio would be a property of the image), and if all software did it
that way it would be intuitive, but as software doesn't (in my
experience), and instead does it the way LO does it, that makes the LO
way intuitive for me.
It does seem to depend on the software as well as the OS. Regardless of which way it's done, any text needs to make it clear what it does and does not do. Since everything else in the tab effects what happens to the image in the document, simply basic English makes me think the Keep Ratio also applies when manipulating the picture directly in the document. IE, grab a handle, make the change and it's accurately reflected in the dialogue box. All except the Keep ratio option.
I've used old software in the past that did that, probably DTP or a
graphics program like Corel Draw. But I can't remember any current
software that has one way of operating in a dialogue, and another in
the document/graphic/frame/whatever.I'm fairly sure the MS products do it this way too, but I don't have
any lying around to check with. I could check with Gimp, Scribus and
others, but as they are all open source, they are more likely to follow
the same principles. Ideally one should check against as disparate a
set of products as possible. My feeling is they all work the same way,
but I could be wrong.
I just checked Word 2003 and 2007 (geez, I hate that ribbon!!! LOL), Kingsoft Office Free 2012, and they work as I expected. Word and King
soft call it Lock Aspect Ratio, and if checked, grabbing the corner handles keeps the aspect ratio constant. I doubt any other version of Word does it differently.
I tried this in Apple's Pages, you don't have the option of anything but a locked aspect ratio there. I was not impressed with Pages when I bought this Mac in 2009, but every time I tinker with Pages, I'm more and more impressed with what you can do with such a simple interface. I think, if I found a free Windows equivalent, I might end up recommending it for someone that wants a free writing program.
I'm not sure that using a graphics program would be a valid example of what we are discussing, since they manipulate the graphic itself, not the "container" (for lack of a better word) that is holding the image in a word processor. In many programs, when using a freeform cursor, holding a modifier key like Shift lets you draw a straight line.