[Digikam-users] Getting rid of button bars

[Jakob Oestergaard]

Dotan Cohen wrote:
...
> I didn't even realize that we were arguing: I thought that we were
> discussing the subject. I suppose the tone I intend when writing an
> email is not the tone that the reader perceives. Sorry for appearing
> argumentive.

Ok no problem - I'll try and give my view on what you wrote.

> B is not affected by the drawbacks of vertical photo display because
> they are not interested in seeing the photos on the screen anyway,
> rather they are interested in seeing the photos on paper.

I take RAW photos both landscape and portrait.
I import everything into DigiKam.
I then use DigiKam's excellent 16-bit/channel editing to:
1) Sometimes adjust white balance
2) Sometimes adjust exposure
3) Crop
Finally, some of these images are sent to print, some become computer 
desktop wallpapers, etc. etc.

For the print images, landscape and portrait alike, it is essential that 
I can inspect the image on the monitor. Both to see composition (for 
cropping), to inspect details (for exposure) and everything in between 
for white balance adjustments, gamma, ...

So, I am with you 100% as far as "Making good use of the screen area is 
important". Screen navigation and flexible display is very important, 
and certainly something that is worth improving wherever possible.

I disagree with you that only 4:3 landscape matters on screen - my 
laptop is 1280x800, so even for strict computer-use-only images that 
argument doesn't hold.

In conclusion; I think the side tabs are intuitive (even my mother finds 
them easy to use!), and while they certainly do take up space on the 
screen, they do not take up "a lot" of space. The tradeoff is between 
accessiblity+intuitiveness against space. Personally, and I don't speak 
for anyone but myself here, I think the current solution is a good 
tradeoff. I'm sure it can be improved, but I think that moving the tabs 
into a menu is a worse tradeoff than the current, not a better one.

I could be wrong of course  :)

-- 
Best regards,
    Jakob Oestergaard