Forcing Gimp to behave better with + and - zoom keys?

[Asterra]

In a nutshell: My #1 source of irritation right now when it comes to navigating Gimp is the fact that I have to make the edit window active whenever I want + and - to zoom in/out.  Beyond being a redundant gesture (mouseover should 100% suffice), it's typically a legitimate problem, as I lose keyboard focus on whatever else I happen to be trying to do at the time—effects, punching in values for the selection, picking colors, etc.  And if my selected tool isn't benign, I'll end up making an edit which I must then undo.

Is there a way to either force Gimp to obey mouseovers, or cause - and + to reliably zoom at all times?

[rich2005]

Quote:..Is there a way to either force Gimp to obey mouseovers, or cause - and + to reliably zoom at all times?

In all the time I have used Gimp I can not recall the last time I used the keyboard - and (shift)= to zoom, probably find that having to shift for + inconvenient.

Have you tried using the mouse scroll wheel for zoom ctrl+rotate zooms in and out
Clicking (as wheel= center button) drags around.

...or do you not use a regular mouse? (graphics tablet or other)

[Asterra]

(08-31-2021, 12:33 PM)rich2005 Wrote: In all the time I have used Gimp I can not recall the last time I used the keyboard - and (shift)= to zoom, probably find that having to shift for + inconvenient.

I use the numpad keys.  No need to hold one thing and press another thing.  Just tap one key or the other.  Can even do it while drawing or whatever.

[quote pid='25413' dateline='1630413182']
Have you tried using the mouse scroll wheel for zoom ctrl+rotate zooms in and out
[/quote]

I'm left-handed.  Neither of the ctrl keys are situated conveniently for me.  At least, not compared to tapping buttons right next to where my hand rests naturally.  Still, holding ctrl and pressing a mouse button, while not as relaxed as the numpad keys, is better than struggling with Gimp's lack of awareness of mouseovers.

[rich2005]

I am not a great lover of Microsoft click-n-wish, very old school. However for Gimp the mouse scroll wheel covers a lot of adjustments.

As well as ctrl-scroll for zoom
The tools - scroll through the grouped tool sets.
The tool options - scroll to adjust the sliders, ctrl-scroll for fast
Position and Size in selection tool options again ctrl-scroll for large increments.
The font icon in the tool options, scroll through the fonts to see the change in the on canvas text tool.
Layer Modes - scroll through those to quickly check their effect.
Image tabs - more than one image open, scroll through the tabs
Dock tabs - scroll through those.
--- all sorts ----

[Asterra]

(08-31-2021, 01:56 PM)rich2005 Wrote: However for Gimp the mouse scroll wheel covers a lot of adjustments.

That probably explains why more traditional zooming options that work in e.g. Premiere Pro only exist as half-developed extras.  If ctrl-plus-mouse-wheel can zoom in/out regardless of what window is active, I don't see why the same couldn't have been done for the numpad keys.

[PixLab]

(08-31-2021, 05:14 PM)Asterra Wrote: I don't see why the same couldn't have been done for the numpad keys.

Surely because the numpad is useless for most people, iMacs don't have numpad, and with laptops taking over home PCs, people don't use numpad, I have a numpad on my keyboard, it's the dustiest place on my keyboard, I have never used it, ever, it's just today speaking about it that I got a look at it (Yep, I need to clean my keyboard).