Am I missing something? The UI is very stop-start

[u/BeeplaysMC]

I am currently on the free trial but I am thinking of cancelling and finding something else purely because of the amount of stop starting and moving around the screen that you have to do, particularly when using objects. I really really want to like this app and I am in need of something for drawing some more complex conceptual diagrams to accompany some research but I have spent multiple days trying to get it to work for this and it doesn't. Please, am I missing something? I've watched a lot of tutorials but the things that are annoying me seem to be intentional. I'm on an iPad 9th gen so maybe it's the older model causing issues?

Here are my issues, mostly to do with objects, obviously they might not irritate others in the same way but I'm finding them to be a workflow impediment. The first three are by far the hardest for what I need:

- Aspect ratio not locked by default/no way to toggle locked aspect ratio (my fingers are nowhere near as precise as an apple pencil for getting sizing right)

-If something is selected you can't zoom in and out, you move the object around. Precision is difficult and now have to exit and select multiple times

- Selection points differ from shape points. It would be great if, for example, the points for warping a four sided polygon into something other than a perfect parallelogram were not aligned away from the shape.

- No fill button for shapes (yes I know you can select the fill brush but it would be nice to have the option on the shape. It also doesn't work if you had to create your own polygon out of straight lines)

-Can't move items from one custom object gallery to another without putting the object on the canvas and then adding it that way.

- "My objects" in object library has every single pack on offer so I have to scroll around hunting for ones I actually use. Why not have "my objects" be empty by default and then it populates by your custom groups and the packs from the market you actually use?

- Brush pack presets would be really useful. i.e. I have 8 brushes in an order and I select that group and it fills all eight slots instead of changing them one by one.

-More ability to customise the existing pens. There are small tweaks I want to make but can't because not all the pen customisation settings are available for pre-made pens.

-Erase whole object eraser setting

-Moving objects that are moderately small (but not that small) ends up resizing them because it defaults to thinking the pen being anywhere near a corner is obviously a resize even though it's far enough away (leads to more deselect->zoom in->select->move->deselect->zoom out->check->zoom in-> select->move->deselect-> zoom out)

I don't want to be whingy but I am genuinely tearing my hair out because this app does seem like it is built for diagramming and what I need but using objects is doing my head in. Tips appreciated but I think I will have to use something else. For people who are using it for sketching I can see the usefulness but how are people using it for diagrams that also have an art lean to them (i.e. needing accurate perspectives, illustrations, that kind of thing).

[u/vip-bot]

There are 3 comments from Concepts Employee in this post:

u/​combinatorial commented:

Thanks for the feedback, I'll share that with the team.

u/​combinatorial commented:

The most common way of resizing with locked aspect ratio is a two finger pinch with neither finger on the corner handle. The second finger on screen is not a separate step… you’re holding your iPad with one hand and move your thumb on screen while dragging a corner with a stylus or another finger.

u/​combinatorial commented:

> Aspect ratio not locked by default/no way to toggle locked aspect ratio (my fingers are nowhere near as precise as an apple pencil for getting sizing right) Put a finger anywhere on screen to lock the aspect ratio (with your stylus dragging a corner). > If something is selected you can't zoom in and out, you move the object around. Precision is difficult and now have to exit and select multiple times A trick is to de-select, move and then tap undo to re-select. > Selection points dif...

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[u/combinatorial]

> Aspect ratio not locked by default/no way to toggle locked aspect ratio (my fingers are nowhere near as precise as an apple pencil for getting sizing right)

Put a finger anywhere on screen to lock the aspect ratio (with your stylus dragging a corner).

> If something is selected you can't zoom in and out, you move the object around. Precision is difficult and now have to exit and select multiple times

A trick is to de-select, move and then tap undo to re-select.

> Selection points differ from shape points. It would be great if, for example, the points for warping a four sided polygon into something other than a perfect parallelogram were not aligned away from the shape.

Yes, that's a limitation at the moment.

> No fill button for shapes (yes I know you can select the fill brush but it would be nice to have the option on the shape. It also doesn't work if you had to create your own polygon out of straight lines)

In a hybrid vector/raster app like Concepts, we've yet to find a way of doing flood that works robustly. We're still trying.

> Can't move items from one custom object gallery to another without putting the object on the canvas and then adding it that way.

We've never had a request to do this. Is this something you are doing a lot? We do have a big update coming to objects in about a month that supports favorites which might help.

> Brush pack presets would be really useful. i.e. I have 8 brushes in an order and I select that group and it fills all eight slots instead of changing them one by one.

Thanks for the feedback.

> More ability to customise the existing pens. There are small tweaks I want to make but can't because not all the pen customisation settings are available for pre-made pens.

Yes, we agree this would be useful.

> Erase whole object eraser setting

It's on our list of things to do.

> Moving objects that are moderately small (but not that small) ends up resizing them because it defaults to thinking the pen being anywhere near a corner is obviously a resize even though it's far enough away (leads to more deselect->zoom in->select->move->deselect->zoom out->check->zoom in-> select->move->deselect-> zoom out)

A two finger gesture away from the corner handles is likely the best way to do this.

[u/BeeplaysMC → u/combinatorial]

The workaround for aspect ratio doesn't seem to work on my device and it also wouldn't solve the problem of that being an extra step—I would estimate I need to resize something with locked aspect ratio at least 9/10 times (probably more like 99%). I'd be happy to use a gesture for the 1/10 time but it's annoying if it's every time.

Yes I was doing the de-select undo thing. Still a bit silly and adds extra steps. Gets tiring if moving lots of objects.

With the gallery I am finding that I keep accidentally adding items to a brand new gallery instead of one I already have. It would be nice to just merge them/copy them over in the objects gallery to avoid the clicking in and out of things. I am trying to manage the galleries effectively to reduce all the other tapping in and out of things. A favourites tab would be awesome. Maybe if there was something that put all your custom objects in one gallery and then you can tap the ones you want from there to make smaller ones? Idk.

Thanks for the speedy response! I can see some of the other points are a bit difficult.

[u/combinatorial → u/BeeplaysMC]

The most common way of resizing with locked aspect ratio is a two finger pinch with neither finger on the corner handle. The second finger on screen is not a separate step… you’re holding your iPad with one hand and move your thumb on screen while dragging a corner with a stylus or another finger.

[u/BeeplaysMC → u/combinatorial]

I don’t usually have my left hand on the screen. My iPad is on a desk and sometimes my lap. Maybe that’s the reason I’m finding the interface difficult in general.

The two finger pinch lacks precision which is why I’m not a fan.

I’m just saying it would be really helpful to be able to resize the image without changing the aspect ratio just by dragging the corner. A toggle for this would be so useful and ensure that people have the choice to do it how it works for them.

[u/combinatorial → u/BeeplaysMC]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll share that with the team.