What is being displayed, is it that these are not automatically aligned (and is there a suggested change)? I.e. is it notifying that for example, in the first line dotbelowcomb.cap was transformed (-282,0) and thus not automatically aligned. It’s confusing because in the file they are automatically aligned? See this image while opening it in a previous version of Glyphs app:
Wouldn’t it be better to have a visual comparison of the existing and suggested change, side by side? A long list of names of unfamiliar glyphs is going to be hard to figure out.
The list shows the changes applied to the components. So in the first line it says that the dot was moved 282 units to the left.
If you do not check any boxes, the changes will be applied.
The list shows the changes applied to the components. So in the first line it says that the dot was moved 282 units to the left.
So to be clear it is the suggested change Glyphs App wants to do to make it automatically aligned? Or is it the change that I applied manually. That’s strange then since I have a file that’s already automatically aligned but it still suggests to do this, will send it over.
Yes, the language is confusing. And the button talks about a non-action (‘keeping’ meaning not changing the selected glyphs). Perhaps better the other way around:
window title: ‘Update Auto-Alignment’
‘The following changes will be made to aligned components:’
ticked = apply change, unticked = leave as is
text below: ‘Component positions will be updated in selected glyphs.’
Even after searching for the text of the message and finding this thread, I have no idea what to make of it.
Compared to the first screenshot on this thread, the dialog is now missing any hint that this has to do with automatic alignment.
The message doesn’t tell me why it wants to change my glyphs.
It doesn’t tell me what the numbers mean – new positions maybe, or deltas between old and new positions? If the former, how do they relate to the old positions? If the latter, why are such big changes necessary?
The lines don’t wrap, so some of them are truncated.
What’s the difference between red and greenish?
What are the consequences of declining the changes?
I am also unhappy with the wording. How about this:
This file was last edited in an older app version and contains compounds with unspecified alignment. Automatic alignment will apply the component shifts listed below (green, yellow, red = small, medium, large shift). Select glyphs you want to keep unchanged, and automatic alignment will be disabled for their components.
Your proposed wording makes a lot more sense. Adding a reference to the section on Automatic Alignment in the manual (8.1.7) would help too – it’s one of those pieces of magic in Glyphs that I never thought about until it broke with this inscrutable dialog.
Shouldn’t the app opt NOT to change anything by default and not the other way around?
Boxes should be ticked by default.
Why are the changes happening btw?
The other day I let this dialogue open a Tab. I saw a lot of glyphs which didn’t look like they included the last changes I did to them (I’m not talking about the alignment in this case). Since it was a collaborative project, it was already hard to keep track of such. I was really shocked and immediately started to fix those missing changes, just to realise later that all those glyphs where opened with the affected layers (in this case all just backup layers from days ago). I think it would be good to somehow warn or note the user, that this “Show in Tab” shows the affected layers and not necessarily the most recent master layers.
Oh, and maybe for reasons of the wording (also what Norbert put the finger on) I am still afraid to use/apply this dialogue to older fonts that I want to keep working on now.
