Full screen woes: Any help or is C1's behaviour flawed?
So as a laptop user (15" rMBP), full screen is pretty much the only way to go and I imagine even most desktop users devote at least one full screen to C1 exclusively. Full screen use is important, yet I'm having problems with the current behaviour of Capture One.
In OS X, the traditional method of zooming to full screen has been to press the green zoom plus (+) button on the application's title bar, which (depending on the software) either zooms to the maximum extent needed by the content or, for apps like C1, to the maximum extent possible within the desktop. In recent versions of OS X, a separate full screen mode has been added so the former window zoom behaviour now requires pressing the option key to access the green plus button (more on that later).
This traditional method mostly works for my needs but not entirely. In fact, this method would've been even less use until the latest version of OS X that added the ability to hide the menu bar so that zooming in this manner approximates a full screen behaviour.
The problem however is it leaves unsightly parts of the background desktop visible in the corners and particularly under the window at the bottom of the screen. This is most noticeable with a bright desktop background (wallpaper) image which potentially biases the editing process. This problem isn't exclusive to C1 but occurs for all OS X apps, which is part of the reason Apple developed a separate full screen mode that can improve immersion when working with apps usually run full screen.
As alluded to earlier, the default behaviour of the green title bar (traffic light) button is actually this new full screen mode. This solves the problem of the partially transparent desktop background but introduces a raft of other issues with the way C1 functions in this mode.
Firstly, all the tool panes switch to an auto-hidden state, and though this can be changed they don't seem to retain or save the changed state when relaunching the program, or perhaps even after switching out of this mode (my laptop is getting serviced currently but that's what I remember). But the biggest problem is there seems to be no way to get the top toolbar stay visible when in full screen mode.
It seems Capture One wants the full screen mode to be something other than a viable, regular production environment (at least in its current form) and that it's essentially just a preview mode with some quick access functionality. I don't think this should be the case. I feel there should be (and probably is) another way to preview images and catalogues full screen without UI elements and that this should be accessed by a keyboard shortcut and menu item rather than taking over and relegating the OS X full screen mode for this purpose.
I also don't think a paired back and less functional view is what the OS X full screen mode is designed to be. The full screen mode works seamlessly with multiple (virtual) desktops such that when you press the full screen button it automatically moves the window to its own, new Space (virtual desktop). It should be possible to use full screen mode as a regular view and production environment, especially for an app with as many functions and controls as an advanced photo cataloging and processing software that's designed to be run full screen.
I'm relatively new to Capture One and I know the application is highly customisable but I'm yet to figure out how to make C1's full screen mode replicate its normal window view (with top toolbar) and to stay that way after subsequent relaunches. If it's possible I apologise for such a wordy post asking how and I hope there are some kindly, helpful users that can point me in the right direction, but if not I think this will be the basis of some feedback or a support request from Phase One.
When I first switched to C1 it struck me as odd that that the full screen mode turned the interface into an image preview only, but then perhaps C1 has a Windows focus where they haven't had to deal with full screen issues and changes like Mac users have in recent years. Full screen mode has been more inherent and ingrained in the Windows environment for decades.
Otherwise it's terrific software and I wouldn't trust a DNG to any other processor.
In OS X, the traditional method of zooming to full screen has been to press the green zoom plus (+) button on the application's title bar, which (depending on the software) either zooms to the maximum extent needed by the content or, for apps like C1, to the maximum extent possible within the desktop. In recent versions of OS X, a separate full screen mode has been added so the former window zoom behaviour now requires pressing the option key to access the green plus button (more on that later).
This traditional method mostly works for my needs but not entirely. In fact, this method would've been even less use until the latest version of OS X that added the ability to hide the menu bar so that zooming in this manner approximates a full screen behaviour.
The problem however is it leaves unsightly parts of the background desktop visible in the corners and particularly under the window at the bottom of the screen. This is most noticeable with a bright desktop background (wallpaper) image which potentially biases the editing process. This problem isn't exclusive to C1 but occurs for all OS X apps, which is part of the reason Apple developed a separate full screen mode that can improve immersion when working with apps usually run full screen.
As alluded to earlier, the default behaviour of the green title bar (traffic light) button is actually this new full screen mode. This solves the problem of the partially transparent desktop background but introduces a raft of other issues with the way C1 functions in this mode.
Firstly, all the tool panes switch to an auto-hidden state, and though this can be changed they don't seem to retain or save the changed state when relaunching the program, or perhaps even after switching out of this mode (my laptop is getting serviced currently but that's what I remember). But the biggest problem is there seems to be no way to get the top toolbar stay visible when in full screen mode.
It seems Capture One wants the full screen mode to be something other than a viable, regular production environment (at least in its current form) and that it's essentially just a preview mode with some quick access functionality. I don't think this should be the case. I feel there should be (and probably is) another way to preview images and catalogues full screen without UI elements and that this should be accessed by a keyboard shortcut and menu item rather than taking over and relegating the OS X full screen mode for this purpose.
I also don't think a paired back and less functional view is what the OS X full screen mode is designed to be. The full screen mode works seamlessly with multiple (virtual) desktops such that when you press the full screen button it automatically moves the window to its own, new Space (virtual desktop). It should be possible to use full screen mode as a regular view and production environment, especially for an app with as many functions and controls as an advanced photo cataloging and processing software that's designed to be run full screen.
I'm relatively new to Capture One and I know the application is highly customisable but I'm yet to figure out how to make C1's full screen mode replicate its normal window view (with top toolbar) and to stay that way after subsequent relaunches. If it's possible I apologise for such a wordy post asking how and I hope there are some kindly, helpful users that can point me in the right direction, but if not I think this will be the basis of some feedback or a support request from Phase One.
When I first switched to C1 it struck me as odd that that the full screen mode turned the interface into an image preview only, but then perhaps C1 has a Windows focus where they haven't had to deal with full screen issues and changes like Mac users have in recent years. Full screen mode has been more inherent and ingrained in the Windows environment for decades.
Otherwise it's terrific software and I wouldn't trust a DNG to any other processor.
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Why don't you move the mouse cursor to the edges of CO9 and stretch the program to fill the screen?
The current green button seems more for slideshow viewing than working so I never use it and just extend the edges myself.
Go to View and hide/show the viewer, browser, and tools as you see fit.
Go to Window -> Workspace to save your current customization.0 -
Even worse: when you open a new viewer window and put this on your second screen with the main window on your other, you can not get rid of the window borders on the top after putting the application into full screen mode. There's always a small one pixel border visible.
C1 does not follow ANY of the OS X standard UI guidelines. It's a proprietary non-compliant interface. This would be ok if the interface as a whole would behave faster this way, but unfortunately the opposite is the case.
But at least you can adapt your workspace to a certain extent. If you want to really learn how to mess up an interface, check Lightroom.0 -
Hehe, that's a low blow EnderWilliams! I haven't seen Lightroom for 10 years so maybe it's improved in that time. Regardless, I'm committed to Capture One and won't ever switch to Adobe. I love the results and some of the power features (and customisability) and my concerns are relatively minor in the scheme of things.
It does seem however that full screen mode is a wasted opportunity in OS X and needs to be improved, so I'm definitely going to provide feedback and some specific requests along these lines.0 -
[quote="NNN635756420976730022" wrote:
I haven't seen Lightroom for 10 years so maybe it's improved in that time.
Yes, Lightroom has improved significantly since the beta-releases you were playing with, if indeed it was 10 years ago.0 -
NNN63575642097673002 Kinda got lost in that long post but is the main issue that you can't find the top toolbar of C1 when in fullscreen mode? If you move your mouse all the way to the top, the top toolbar, including the OS menubar, will drop down.
While C1 has a lot of workflow flaws, I think the fullscreen mode is actually alright. It follows the OS X notion of getting rid of any distractions. Granted, the opened tool tabs or browser could be remembered, but to me the fullscreen mode is all about working efficiently and that's where keyboard shortcuts come in. Very quickly can you then bring back the tabs or browser and I have my most used tools from the top toolbar memorized, so I don't have to bother moving the mouse to the top of the screen.
Maybe not quite the solution you're looking for but give keyboard shortcuts a try, especially when in fullscreen mode. After all, it's meant to be distraction-free, so covering everything back up again with tools and tabs is kind of defeating its purpose.0 -
Yes, the toolbar does show when mousing to the top of the screen, but I don't like this behaviour at all. It's much slower to find and select items than on a permanently visible toolbar and there's no option to turn the auto-hiding off as there is for the other sections.
Further, even for the other sections of the interface where you can turn auto-hiding off, C1 doesn't remember this behaviour...ever. Not when you relaunch the program and not even if you exit full screen mode and re-enter it without even quitting the application. In other words, to be able to use full screen mode in Mac I have to painstakingly customise the interface each and every time I launch the program and even then I can't get the top toolbar to remain visible at all times. I can't see how this can be deemed acceptable behaviour by anybody.
Phase One need only fix two relatively minor options to fix full screen mode on the Mac; add an option to disable auto-hide for the top toolbar in full screen mode and allow saving of full screen display preferences just like you can for the regular (non-full screen) interface. Not such a big deal I would've thought and for professional software that prides itself on its customisability I would really like to see this added.
It wouldn't hurt anyone that likes the behaviour just the way it is, only add options to enable ease of use and customisation for those that like it different.0 -
[quote="Wesley" wrote:
Why don't you move the mouse cursor to the edges of CO9 and stretch the program to fill the screen?
The current green button seems more for slideshow viewing than working so I never use it and just extend the edges myself.
Go to View and hide/show the viewer, browser, and tools as you see fit.
Go to Window -> Workspace to save your current customization.
I've tried but this isn't working for me. It limits the size of the window when dragging to just above the bottom of the screen to allow for a useless transparency/shadow effect. Nor would this fix the spots on the top left and right corners (or bottom for that matter) that occur because Apple likes very slightly rounded window corners.
The full screen mode in OS X was developed to address exactly these annoyances (and turn off the menu bar before menu-bar hiding was added as an option in OS X).0 -
[quote="NNN635756420976730022" wrote:
Phase One need only fix two relatively minor options to fix full screen mode on the Mac; add an option to disable auto-hide for the top toolbar in full screen mode and allow saving of full screen display preferences just like you can for the regular (non-full screen) interface. Not such a big deal I would've thought and for professional software that prides itself on its customisability I would really like to see this added.
It wouldn't hurt anyone that likes the behaviour just the way it is, only add options to enable ease of use and customisation for those that like it different.
Did you submit a feature request via technical support? It's the only way Phase One can officially take your requests into account, as this is only a user-to-user forum.0
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