GIMP Version: 2.8.2
Operating System: Linux
OS Version: xubuntu 12.04LTS
GIMP Experience: Intermediate Level

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Still kinda new to single window mode, but I haven't been able to figure out how to navigate between utility and canvas windows intuitively yet. I'm afraid I'm missing something obvious.

In multi-window mode, I could work in the layers window for instance, and when I wanted to return to my image I could just put the mouse over it and it had the focus. Now I am constantly renaming layers when I hit the space bar to pan an image. It's frustrating as I have to click somewhere in the image for it to regain focus. This can be a pain with many of the tools as I will have to perform an undo afterwards. I can't even change tools with a shortcut without first setting the focus.

I've tried clicking on the tab at the top to set focus but this doesn't work either. Please tell me I'm missing something simple and give me a head slap. I love single window mode and have been trying to get used to it, but it really buggers my work flow.

I thought this might be a window manager thing as it is set to "click to focus", but the focus still follows the mouse perfectly in multi-window mode. <Ctl+Mouse Wheel> to zoom in single window mode still works as expected in the canvas window, even though the utility window still has focus.

Anyway, I searched around and couldn't find any reference to this problem so I'm hoping it's just me.
Any thoughts?

I'm not sure if any of this will help you but it's good to know; for navigation you can use keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl + arrow keys. In the lower right corner of the Image Window (4 corner arrow) will pop-up a small navigation window. Windows menu, Dockable Dialogs, Navigation or View menu, Navigation Window will open a Window in the Layers dock and finally View Menu, New View will open a new static (in size) instance of the image your working on that updates in real-time.

I think it's a bug, since Enter key's supposed to do just that (and it does but also does the Spacebar).
I've looked it up in Preferences and don't think it's configurable.
I would recommend hitting Tab key to return focus back to canvas.
Click on layer>rename>Enter>Tab>Spacebar>pan
But then again, if you are reluctant to adapt your workflow you can always switch to multiple window mode in 2.8.

Thanks Odinbc,
I am familiar with that window but it's never been much use to me. I do a lot of renders and I'm always zooming in and out with a lot of panning using the keyboard shortcuts. Same with the new view in single window mode as it just opens in another tab.


I tend to agree that it could be a bug, but was hesitant to say so since I haven't found anyone else bothered by it.

I was using the rename example to show what happens after I do anything in the layers panel and then hover back over the image to pan with the space bar. Usually I am reordering a layer or changing visibility and I end up hitting the space bar or a tool shortcut while hovering over the image like I used to but it never loses focus in the layers panel.

I tried your suggestion but it doesn't seem to work for me. Tab just tabs through the controls on the layers dialog. I even went through renaming a layer to follow your example exactly, but still no joy.

It's not that I'm reluctant or unwilling to change my workflow at all. I just want to find a new one that works. If I have my image zoomed out, I can click around the canvas to bring back focus, but of course some tools work there too and I have to Ctl-z if it's something like the path tool. I could select a new tool via mouse, but that defeats the purpose of shortcuts. I was just curious if I had overlooked something, or if someone had a better way. (or it is indeed a bug.)

Thank you both for the replies. If I come up with anything, I'll post back.

Edit: I guess I was using the wrong search terms when investigating this before. It has been talked about and it seems that there is no real solution other than to make as many shortcuts as possible to never have to give focus to the layers panel. I already have too many shortcuts to remember so I'm gonna search for another solution.

Hi, Akovia.

This is getting interesting. When I suggested you to use the Tab key, I actually did that and, needless to say, it worked.
Turns out we are both right.
Let me tell you why.
Here's the workflow:
Double-click on layer name>Rename>Enter>mouse cursor over canvas>Tab>Space bar>pan
To pan with Space bar you need your mouse cursor to be right over canvas anyway, right?

But if you left mouse cursor over layers window before you hit the Tab key, it will tab through the controls.
I think my suggested method does not change your workflow much and, hopefully, would be easy to adapt to.

P.S. I usually scroll mouse wheel with mouse cursor over the row of tabs in layers, channels, image window etc. to go through the controls,
so this kind of behavior was a discovery to me.

Interesting indeed.

Even with your new instructions, it still isn't working for me. Must have something to do with my window manager I suppose.

In any case, I found a ham-handed solution that seems to be working for now. I detached the Layers tab, and basically made it a duplicate of the docked version with all my tabs and made it the same size. Then I made it "always on top". This is working perfectly again for workflow and such but there are a few drawbacks.

The obvious is having an "always on top" window on the desktop. No biggie really as it's a small window and I turned it from a utility window to a normal window which gives me the minimize button on the window frame.

There seems to be no way to assign this window as the default so any new tabs that get opened, like a gradient editor, always opens into the docked version behind my new window. Again, not a huge deal but would be nice if I could set my new window as the default.

The biggest reason I wanted single window mode was having a tabbed interface for multiple drawings. I wish they would have added an option to multi window mode to allow it to work same as always except the main canvas window would be tabbed. Then it would be the best of both worlds. =P Anyway, this seems to work for now. I might try to garner support for a change in a future release to address this in some way. Maybe more people will speak up when 2.8 is released to the masses as the default version.

Thanks for trying to help.