Author Topic: zoom box ? Why so weird ?  (Read 6113 times)

3034

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zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« on: November 26, 2009, 08:02:24 AM »
Why cant it be like every program I've ever used for the past 25 years?
pick a corner,
hold button down
release on other corner ??

I'm sure there must be a reason for this. But
how about an option for a normal zoom box ?

Been using the program for a while but now that I can export
the maps to my garmin oregon a precise zoom box is needed.

ScottMorris

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2009, 10:14:12 AM »
I guess there are some advantages of the other method, I really haven't thought too much about it since implementing the zoom box some years ago.

The problem with choosing two corners is the aspect ratio of the TF window will not be the same, so you will never get exactly what you click on (I think most programs simply give you more than what you covered).

TF's zoom box stays the same as the aspect ratio of the window, but I suppose it is a non-standard way of doing it.  Anyone like it better?

An option for both would make sense.

In the meantime, try holding down CTRL and using the +/- (or pgup/pgdown) keys.  With CTRL down you get a very subtle change in zoom level -- very handy for getting what you want out of the export feature.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Scott Morris - founder and co-author of TopoFusion
email: smorris@topofusion.com

3034

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2009, 03:33:51 PM »
Please add the old style box as an option in configuration.
I will use your suggestion for the CTRL +- for now
Thank you

KenF

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2009, 10:00:42 PM »
I guess there are some advantages of the other method, I really haven't thought too much about it since implementing the zoom box some years ago.

The problem with choosing two corners is the aspect ratio of the TF window will not be the same, so you will never get exactly what you click on (I think most programs simply give you more than what you covered).

TF's zoom box stays the same as the aspect ratio of the window, but I suppose it is a non-standard way of doing it.  Anyone like it better?

An option for both would make sense.

In the meantime, try holding down CTRL and using the +/- (or pgup/pgdown) keys.  With CTRL down you get a very subtle change in zoom level -- very handy for getting what you want out of the export feature.

I think I am inclined to agree with the OP, although most of my zooming is controlled by the combination of the mouse scroll wheel  in conjunction with the pan tool. But having accurate control over the placement of a beginning corner of a zoom rectangle would be good. Photoshop is a good example of where a selected rectangular area (for zoom or any other function) is defined by an initial corner, yet the zoom rectangle can be normal (free form), fixed aspect  ratio, or fixed size.  And once "drawn" the defined box can be dragged around.

I suspect that the details of this feature will become more of an issue as folks may be wanting to select and export areas (especially KMZ uploads)  that do not correspond to screen aspect ratio. I hope to playing with this more soon.  

In any case, being able to make an export selection visually rather than by specifying X by Y figures would be a treat. I know in the past I have run into situations where I  struggled to get an export to accurately cover the area I wanted when the content of the export was intended to match a printed page. Sure, as a kludge one can export a larger area and then, for example,  crop in Photoshop, but it would be great to have all the functionality in one location.  

    
« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 07:02:31 PM by KenF »

KenF

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2009, 01:48:29 PM »
I suspect that the details of this feature will become more of an issue as folks may be wanting to select and export areas (especially KMZ uploads)  that do not correspond to screen aspect ratio. I hope to playing with this more soon.      

Yup.  I am starting to work with uploading KMZ files to an Oregon and would very much like to be able to accurately select  the imagery to be uploaded with a user-drawn box on the screen.

The KMZ upload capability of TF is impressive and relatively seamless to use.

On the other hand, Garmin seems to have crippled the usefulness by (1) imposing severe limitations on the amount of raster imagery that can be uploaded and  (2) preventing the user selectable choice of  two different tilesets that cover the same area (like topo and aerial imagery).

For example the limit is 100 "tiles."  I uploaded the 2M Topo imagery for a local area of roughly 10 x 7 miles. That was only 15 MB worth of data but used up 54 tiles.

In the space remaining I can upload some corresponding aerial imagery, but, as far as I am aware, it is not presently possible (on an Oregon 300) to switch between topo and aerial imagery covering the same area.




« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 07:06:18 PM by KenF »

sarlabs

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2009, 06:41:50 AM »
KenF:
This is more an Oregon issue, but why use Custom Maps foir topos? Assuming you live in the US, you could check www.GPSFileDepot.com for 24K topos of your area. And those will store as maps. THis will free the space for more  aerial kmz files.

Amir K9CHP
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KenF

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2009, 08:21:19 AM »
... but why use Custom Maps foir topos? Assuming you live in the US, you could check www.GPSFileDepot.com for 24K topos of your area. And those will store as maps. THis will free the space for more  aerial kmz files.

Noted. In essence I'm just starting to learn my way around this new device and while I have downloaded files from GPSFileDepot, I have not yet had them working.  My use of KMZ topos was just a matter of grabbing something, anything from TF to experiment with.   

It's good to know the GPSFileDepot files will not take up space which could be used for KMZ's.

But the limitation on loadable KMZ's is a huge downside (a Garmin problem, not a TF problem) as far as I can see. I would have hoped to store and use at least a few hundred megabytes worth of aerial imagery.  As it stands now, that ain't gonna' happen.

KenF

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Re: zoom box ? Why so weird ?
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2009, 07:06:58 PM »
Why cant it be like every program I've ever used for the past 25 years?
pick a corner,
hold button down
release on other corner ??

And there is the issue of interface consistency - The "select points" tool and the "batch download" both work in the  manner described by the OP. 

 KenF