Text Rendering System.

[danee...@gmail.com]

Hello All, I've been watching Seashore for awhile and decided that I
would like to get involved. My apologies upfront for what will surely
be a long post.

One of the ways that seems like a good place to get involved with in
the project is the text rendering system. As I understand it, there
isn't a specific person assigned to this aspect, however it is an
important feature to get nailed down. I've been using GIMP and
Photoshop for several years and understand what works and what does
not with text.

First off, using the Apple Font's panel, the way fonts are selected
currently, is probably ideal for consistency with other applications.

Secondly, type ought to be handled with separate layers to maintain
edit-ability and to allow easier positioning. I'm not sure where
everyone stands on the dialogue box for inputting type, but this seems
less than ideal, whereas being more direct (ala Pages or Keynote) with
type input feels more intuitive.

Thirdly, little tweaks need to be made to the options palette for the
text tool with regards to iconography, layout, and terminology.

Right now, I'm working my way through the existing code to understand
how it is working and I'm reading through the Apple HIG and the Text
System documentation.