[0.91] snapping to grid is not working anymore

[Joachim]

Grid knots are not catched to place objects, even enabled in document settings. In 0.4X version was fully functional.

OS: Windows 7, x64

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Please always include information about OS/platform when filing new reports, thx.

This particular issue is not a bug - it's a change of how snapping works in 0.91:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1406750/comments/1

See also earlier reports:
- Bug #1419124 “Node snapping non-functional [Win 0.91]”
- Bug #1406750 “path nodes not snapping to grid while editing”
- Bug #1216308 “Snap to grid not working for shapes”
- Bug #1161807 “Snap to guides not working”
- Bug #1142946 “Snapping failure despite trying all kinds of setti...”
- Bug #1093739 “Snap to grid and guide not working right (0.48.4)”
- Bug #1094787 “snapping doesn't work anymore with inkscape-0.48.4...”

Proposing to link as duplicate to bug #1406750.

@Diederik - this is a recurring issue (Inkscape 0.48.4 had triggered the same user questions about "broken" snapping because it shipped with the changed feature as is now present in 0.91), and now we get repeated reports by users of Inkscape 0.91 about apparently "broken" snapping. Any idea what could be done to communicate this changed behavior to users?

[Diederik van Lierop (mail-diedenrezi)]

The easiest thing to do would be to change the defaults; I don't see any other way than that really. But that will only become visible when we release 0.92, so that doesn't solve anything on the short term.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

On 2015-02-16 11:26 (+0100), Diederik van Lierop wrote:
> The easiest thing to do would be to change the defaults; I don't see
> any other way than that really. But that will only become visible
> when we release 0.92, so that doesn't solve anything on the short
> term.

... and just changing the snap settings in the default template(s) won't help when editing files created with older Inkscape versions (except 0.48.4), either.

What should we do for the moment - keeping this report open (confirmed) so that bug searches will show it (I assume this will get reported again)?

@Diederik - maybe you could update/expand the release notes about snapping and describe this changed behavior there?
http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Release_notes/0.91#Snapping

[Brynn (brynn4inks-deactivatedaccount)]

If it would help to have an FAQ item for this, I'll be glad to add one :-)

[Joachim (joachim-2)]

Actualy as a user, which uses this tool not often, I was suprised by that behaviour. During the work on a grafic, I normally switch between grid on/off and snap on /off. In my oppinion therefore it is not a good choice to place the snap behaviour somewhere in the document settings. But may be I understood more things wrong.

Also a small "what's new wizard" on the first start of a new version may be a solution, if something important changes, which effects the user work processes directly. But I know, that most users (propably including my self) are closing those dialogs without reading it. So only really important messages should be shown there.

[Diederik van Lierop (mail-diedenrezi)]

Hi Brynn,

It's a good idea to add a question about snapping to the FAQ:

Q: How do I enable snapping?
A: On the snapping toolbar (usually the right most vertical toolbar), enable these buttons:
        - "Enable snapping", the topmost button
        - "Snap nodes, paths, and handles", the 7th button
        - "Snap cusp nodes", the 10th button
        - "Snap to grids", and "Snap to guides", which are the lowest two buttons
Now Inkscape should snap in most cases, but you can always enable more specific buttons to allow snapping of for example text objects, intersections, etc. For more details, please read the chapter about snapping in Tavmjong's manual (http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Snapping.html)

Feel free to improve on this ;-). I will now go and edit the release notes and add a line about the snapping there too

[Diederik van Lierop (mail-diedenrezi)]

Joachim, you're right about this not being very intuitive; IMHO should have used different defaults, that would have saved a lot of people some headaches!

[Diederik van Lierop (mail-diedenrezi)]

This has been fixed in 0.91.1 (rev. 13781) as well as in trunk (rev. 14061)

[Soren (soerendip)]

Nope, snapping is not working right.
The old behavior was much better.
Now, it seems to be impossible to activate
snapping to grid. Lots of headaches.

[Soren (soerendip)]

PS: using Inkscape 0.91 r13725

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

@Kliment Balev - Reverting the status. The issue is fixed in the branch, but not released yet (planned for 0.91.1).

[peterennis (peterennis)]

Windows 10, Inkscape 0.91
I spent an hour trying various snap combos and researching the manual.
Finally came across this.
It is a real pain trying to use visual alignment with snap broken.
Also, when adding guides with snap on I was expecting the guides
to snap between the set ruler divisions and that did not work.
Not sure it is the same bug or a feature request but adding
the observation here.
Is there an ETA on 0.91.1 windows installer or where do I find it?

Thanks,

Peter

[Julian Foad (julianfoad)]

I too thought it was broken until I found this explanation of how it works. The real problem is that the snapping control UI (toolbar) is confusing. Let me explain in detail.

1. It's not clear enough that enabling the "Snap nodes, paths and handles" button doesn't in itself enable snapping nodes, paths and handles, but merely enables the other buttons which are sub-categories (cusp nodes, smooth nodes, etc.). Or maybe it doesn't *merely* do that, maybe it also does enable some kind of snapping; I don't know and it's not clear.

2. It's not clear that some buttons only control snapping *to* something ("Snap to paths", "Snap to path intersections"), while the tool tips of some other buttons don't contain the word "to" which might imply they are enabling only the snapping *of* that kind of object, or might imply they control both snapping *of* that kind of object and snapping *to* that kind of object. Going to the help, I find it's all described; it just isn't obvious enough without going to the help.

I had seen the button labelled "Snap cusp nodes" but I hadn't enabled it because it is right below the button "Snap to grid intersections" and uses exactly the same styling in its icon (a green node indicator on a black line) and so I assumed it meant "snap *to* cusp nodes", which I didn't need so I left it turned off.

The notes in the FAQ and change log didn't help me. I read them in the past but after not using Inkscape for a few months I'd forgotten. The UI controls need to be simpler by default: the user should not have to learn about the very fine grained controls unless they want to.

[Julian Foad (julianfoad)]

Oh, and the third and most important source of confusion:

3. Let's say I draw a series of straight line segments using the Bezier (Pen) tool, snapping these *nodes* to the grid. Then I immediately switch to the "Edit paths by nodes" tool and try moving one of those same *nodes* ... I find they no longer snap to the grid. The problem here? The user interface has quietly reclassified my input from one category to another: while drawing the lines, snapping was active under the plain "snap nodes, paths and handles" control, but then while editing the nodes, that control was no longer sufficient and there was no snapping unless "Snap cusp nodes" is also turned on.

It may be quite challenging to redesign this part of the user interface to be more intuitive, but it surely would be an improvement that I for one would appreciate.

[Hachmann (marenhachmann)]

While there's no FAQ item, here's a quick guide:
https://inkscape.org/en/~Moini/%E2%98%85snapping-guide-091
(for those looking for a fast explanation of how it works)