Photoshop: Free Transform - ability to set Maintain Aspect Ratio as default

Hallelujah!  Thank you for making this change!  I'm on my way to China on business--will download the update as soon as it becomes available.  Just in time for our new catalog!  Thank you Adobe!

Brilliant! Took a while but it'll be a nice fix for an annoying little issue. Thanks Adobe.

Meh, I preferred it the other way. I've been using photoshop for 20 years, I don't think changing default behaviors at version 20 is making your software easier to use.

Some behaviours they were not bugs that were present for so long shouldn't be changed from release to release so drastically ie. without giving choise the method we want to use them - the more we were used to do that other that after end could be more convinient for us.

Personally that one change doesn't matter for me, it's even better, however I have to see it in practise, so maybe not... but there are some other that annoyed me we have nothing to say about:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/digital-imaging-october-max-2018-release-note...

I can't stand it, myself. Holding "Shift" while something is selected has always been the universal way to "constrain proportions." It's even how you continue to constrain proportions in other parts of photoshop, like cropping. Now we have to "unlearn" this skill for one item—free transform. Because holding "Shift" there does the OPPOSITE of what it does everywhere else. It "un sets" constrain proportion. Isn't there a way to set this default for Free Transform back to what it was before for those of us who use graphics software as pros and know to hold down "Shift?"

Then you'd have the opposite problem.

Look. This isn't a problem. The problem is that the user is forgetful or too lazy to click the lock.

Look, this is a problem. The problem is not that the user is lazy or forgetful, but that the UI forces the user to repeatedly select the same action again and again. That's the problem, and simply put: that's poor UI design.

We're asking the UI accomodate a user preference, not force a predetermined setting. If you would never use it, it would not affect you and you probably don't get why it would be useful. But if you have been feeling the pain, like myself and others who have commented on this thread, then having a preference setting (whether global or sticky) would be a huge relief.

Use the shift+alt key!

Read the past thread as to why this won't work!

Dear Mister Smarty Pants, first of all, shift+alt key doesn't even work. Whenever you try to do a free transform, the percentage at the top is never equal to each other even using shift+alt. It's always off by either a 1% and sometimes that's can distort logos and icons that are very small. The only way to resolve that problem is by clicking the chain.

I ask you to try this yourself and if by miracle you can get the H & W the same exact percentage without hitting the chain, I will come to your house and lick your fingers for magical essence. Because there's zero way you are helping this forum by commenting silly known solutions, than understanding the problem.

The OP referred to a »Numeric Free Transform«, what good is the shift-key there?

If you are dragging, then you can use the shift key to maintain the aspect ratio. The button is mostly needed when entering the transform sizes numerically.

And many transformation do not preserve the aspect ratio of the original object.

Since you have a CS background, you know the difference between implementation semantics and usability. That is, you can build something a number of difference ways, all of which provide the same functionality. But, some implementations are inherently more user-friendly than others.

By the same token, highlighting additional steps to access a feature is an argument based on pure semantic equivalence and ignores usability. The request in this thread is to eliminate these additional steps. Adding a global preference would significantly improve usability, especially for those of us that are asking for it.

Also, given that the cost of implementation should be minimal, there's really no good argument against this.

I was responding to specific points by Suzanne.

You may also notice that at no point did I say "no", or "that's not a good idea", or any other phrase that might in any way indicate that I don't agree with the request. I simply responded to a few issues in Suzanne's post.

Also, you really don't know my background. So setting up a straw man argument based on bad assumptions of my background really doesn't help.

(also, your prior assumptions on the complexity of code needed to implement this - are pretty far off)

It would be far more helpful to describe why you need such a feature, and how it would save time/effort. That would make it much easier for me to justify to the product managers while I'm trying to figure out how to implement it with appropriate UI and without a lot of hassle.

Dear Chris,

I'm not trying to be belligerent, but I think the reasons for why we are asking for this feature are adequately documented in this thread already. Just look at Suzanne's post, the essence of which is repeated throughout the thread. While it is true that you did not deliberately call it a bad idea, your response of using the shift-modifier has been offered a few times in the thread already. It gets a little frustrating when the nature of the request keeps getting ignored.

Since you ask for detail, I will offer you how it affects me... I use Photoshop a lot for layout tasks, and that frequently involves placing all sorts of elements (pictures, text, etc) and resizing them. 100% of the time, "resizing" means "maintain aspect ratio." My pictures are product images, which I've photographed. But the photographs typically have one item and usually are done at different times (as new product is released), so the camera setup is always different. That means I have to size-correct my images as part of doing layout, so all the items in one series that are 10" tall are actually the same final size. Similarly, other items on the page that are smaller/larger need to be proportionally adjusted. The free-transform drag to resize just doesn't work for me--I need the precision of pixels. And, yes, it is a pain to always have to check the same "maintain aspect ratio" box every time I select one of the 30-40 images on my page (multiply this by 30+ pages in my case). I can only imagine that the other commentators in this thread also find themselves constantly going back to check this box, hence their frustration.

My request is for a global preference, but you say that this is significant work. You're right that I don't know the Photoshop code base. Another poster suggested just keeping this box checked once selected, similar to how one can change the scaling from "%" to "px" and this is retained between selecting other layers. Both of these suggestions would solve the problem, which is that I have to check this same box repeatedly and often. If you can find another solution, that would be great, but let's leave shift-drag aside as it just won't do.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Thx.

-ml

Suzanne's post is similar to others here that are lacking in the needed details. I responded to start a conversation in order to get details.

Thank you for providing more details about your work. Yes, a photo layout workflow would involve more aspect ratio preservation than, say, a web or phone design workflow (which is more about arbitrary sized rectangles and rounded rectangles). And if you don't have preset grids/guides to follow, you would need to use numeric entry to scale the photos to all match in size.

Having the aspect ratio button sticky (like units and other items) might work - but I actually do have to take all the common workflows into consideration before making such a change. So the more we know about the workflows, the better.

The reference point is a different issue, not directly related to this topic.

That's ok, most people don't include that sort of info we need to justify features to management. I think I understand the needs, but don't know for sure - so try to get some conversation going to get the info and make sure we do understand everyone's needs.

Hmm, yeah, packaging design with signature logos, photos, and product shots is something that really, really needs to preserve aspect ratio most of the time. Yep, makes perfect sense.

No, not MOST of the time but ALL of the time. When have you ever had a client ask you to distort their logo or product?!? This is the MOST frustrating issue with Photoshop and would make me the most happy if it changed. Please make it STICKY!