Lasso select tool

[rakunavi]

Hello all,

I wish PDF-XChange Editor had Lasso select tool like Drawboard PDF.

Please imagine a situation where there are multiple oval comments inside an L-shaped polyline comment as shown in the figure below (case 1).

figure1.png

When you drag-select the oval comments with the comment select tool, the outer polyline comment is selected together because the oval comments are completely inside the outer frame of the polyline comment. To select only the oval comments, you need to do one of the following:

• Select oval comments one by one with Ctrl+Click
• After selecting all comments, Ctrl+click to deselect only the outer polyline comment.

However, if a polyline comment is converted to multiple line comments (case 2) or a polyline comment is flattened (case 3), you can select only the oval comments by simply dragging them with the Comment Select Tool. Even though they look the same at first glance and are indistinguishable, the user needs to change the operation method. This situation is the same in Acrobat, and the same in Drawboard PDF with the rectangle selection tool, so we can say that the current behavior of PDF-XChange Editor is on par with other PDF software.

figure2.png

The example above shows the difficulty in distinguishing between polylines and multilines, but users who use PDF-XChange Editor and Drawboard PDF together should know the difference for the pencil tool as well. PDF-XChange Editor recognizes a series of strokes as a single comment if the time interval between strokes is short, while Drawboard PDF always recognizes each stroke as a single comment, regardless of stroke speed.

For example, the PDF-XChange Editor recognizes the X-axis and Y-axis as separate comments if they are drawn with a time interval between strokes (Refer to the right figure in the attached file Sample2.pdf), whereas it recognizes them as a single comment if drawn quickly (Refer to the left figure in the attached file Sample2.pdf). This behavior can create a situation where, as before, the user must change the operation method, even though they look exactly the same at first glance and are indistinguishable.

figure3.png

When using PDF software for note-taking purposes, users do not want to be interrupted in the process of interrupting their thinking. No one wants to think about the procedure for selecting only the oval comments while taking notes of what the other person is saying. If you do that, you will miss what the other person is saying. On that note, Drawboard PDF's Lasso select tool solves all of the above problems. With the stylus, all you have to do is press and hold the upper button on the barrel button on the side of the stylus to make your selection, which is extremely intuitive.

A brief verification video is attached. In the first half of the video, the comment select tool of the PDF-XChange Editor tries to select oval comments for three cases mentioned in the above. In the second half of the video, Drawboard PDF's Lasso select tool is used to select only the blue oval comments.

• CapturedVideoWithSampleFiles.zip

I am aware that this is a request with a long-term view, but the usability of the select tool feature greatly affects the overall usability of the PDF application, so I would highly appreciate its future implementation. I could not find an appropriate topic in this forum, but I believe similar requests have already been made to Tracker through other channels, so I will vote in favor of it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message.

Best regards,
rakunavi

- PDF-XChange Editor Plus Version: 9.5 build 366.0
- OS Version: Windows 11 Home 22H2 Build 22621.963
- PC Model: Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL, HP All-in-One 22-c0xx

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following was added on 3/21/2023

The issue I pointed out in the middle of above post about consecutive strokes being grouped together can be resolved by changing the registry settings.

• Disable pencil drawings grouping
  viewtopic.php?p=148833#p148833

I learned about it from Stefan in this post(viewtopic.php?p=168181#p168181).

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello rakunavi,

Thanks for the detailed description. I will pass this for discussion to our devs, but will wait for their initial assessment before making a FR ticket.

update: This has been turned down as too niche/ not very useful for PDF files.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[rakunavi]

Hi Stefan, thank you for replying and updating your comment.
I appreciate you taking your time for the initial assessment.
I hope PDF-XChange Editor to become the best PDF software in the world.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

[MedBooster]

+1 I want this too!

Just because a feature is not requested by many doesn't mean that many wouldn't find it useful.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello MedBooster,

Thanks for adding your vote here. For now this is still a low demand/too niche request, but if we get a few more enquiries - we might review our earlier decision.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[MedBooster]

Hello MedBooster,

Thanks for adding your vote here. For now this is still a low demand/too niche request, but if we get a few more enquiries - we might review our earlier decision.

Kind regards,
Stefan

there are already some "lasso" features if I am not mistaken?
Like enabling text you draw around with the pen tool to be imported into a pop-up comment of the element

So if you ever get to it, maybe consider allowing to switch between rectangle and lasso select by right clicking on select comments/edit comments'-function button for example. Instead of having to make a whole new separate tool

[MedBooster]

Hello MedBooster,

Thanks for adding your vote here. For now this is still a low demand/too niche request, but if we get a few more enquiries - we might review our earlier decision.

Kind regards,
Stefan

there are already some "lasso" features if I am not mistaken?
Like enabling text you draw around with the pen tool to be imported into a pop-up comment of the element

So if you ever get to it, maybe consider allowing to switch between rectangle and lasso select by right clicking on select comments/edit comments'-function button for example. Instead of having to make a whole new separate tool

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Got it MedBooster,

ultimately this is at the discretion of the development team leader, we will just have to wait and see how he feels about this. Time will tell, but I do not see anything happening right now in this regards, there are many many other tasks that take priority at the moment.

cheers