71 lines
8.3 KiB
Markdown
71 lines
8.3 KiB
Markdown
# Overview
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## Key concepts
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TODO
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## Glossary of terminology
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TODO: Add more to make a comprehensive list, finish writing definitions, separate into categories, alphabetize
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- ## Document
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A design source file created and edited in the Graphite editor. Saved to disk as a Graphite Design Document in a *GDD file*. Documents can be included as *layers* inside other documents, and in doing so they take the form of *groups*. The *layer graph* contents of a *group* actually belong to the *embedded* document's *subgraph*. Because a document is a *group* which is a *layer* in the *layer graph*, documents have *properties* such as the *frames* in the *canvas*. Documents are composed of a layer graph, a defined set of properties of set *data types* that are *imported* and *exported*, and the *properties* of the *root layer*.
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- ## Asset
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A portable mechanism for distributing a "compiled" Graphite *document* in a format that is immediately ready for rendering. Saved to disk as a Graphite Digital Asset in a *GDA file*. Assets are created by "flattening" a *document's* complex, nested *layer graph* structure into a single, simple directed acyclic graph (DAG). The Graphite editor internally maintains an asset version of any open *document* in order to draw the *canvas* live in the *viewport*. An asset also includes certain exposed *properties* of specified *data types* that are *imported* and *exported*, as defined by the asset's author in the source *document's* *layer graph*. They can be shared and *embedded* in another *layer graph* as a black box (meaning it can't be expanded to reveal or edit its interior graph), as compared to *embedded* *documents* from *GDD files* which are white boxes (they can be expanded to reveal their *subgraph* which can be edited). Assets are helpful for defining custom *nodes* that perform some useful functionality. Tangible examples include custom procedural effects, shape generators, and image filters. Many of the Graphite editor's own built-in *nodes* are actually assets rather than being implemented directly in code. The *Asset Manager* panel helps maintain these assets from various sources. The *Asset Store* can be used to share and sell assets for easy inclusion in other projects.
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- ## GDD file
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Graphite Design Document. A binary serialization of a *document* source file. The format includes a chain of *operations* that describe changes to the *layer graph* and the *properties* of *layers* throughout the history of the document since its creation. It also stores certain metadata and the raw data of *embedded* files. Because GDD files are editable (unlike *GDA files*), the *layers* of GDD files imported into another *document* may be expanded in its *layer graph* to reveal and modify their contents using a copy-on-write scheme stored to the *asset's* *layer*.
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- ## GDA file
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Graphite Digital Asset. A binary serialization of an *asset* file. Because GDA files are read-only and can't be edited (unlike *GDD files*), the *layers* created from *assets* do not offer an ability to be expanded in the *layer graph* of a *document* that *embeds* them. GDA files are useful for sharing *assets* when their authors do not wish to provide the source *documents* to author them. *DGA files* are also the input format included in games that utilize the *Graphite Renderer Core Library* to render graphical content at runtime, as well as similar applications like headless renderers on web servers and image processing pipelines.
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- ## Window
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- ## Main window
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- ## Popout window
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- ## Title bar
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- ## Status bar
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- ## Workspace
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The part of the Graphite editor's UI that houses the *panels* in a *window*. The workspace occupies the large space below the *title bar* and above the *status bar* of the *main window*. It occupies the entirety of *popout windows* (window buttons are added in the *tab bar*).
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- ## Workspace layout
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The specific configuration of panels in the *main window* and any *popout windows*. Workspace layout presets are provided by the Graphite editor and users may customize and save their own.
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- ## Tab bar
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The bar at the top of a *panel group* which includes a clickable tab for each panel that is docked there. Each tab bar has at least one tab and one active tab.
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- ## Active tab
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The one tab in a *tab bar* that is currently active. The user can click any inactive tab to make it become the active tab. The active tab shows the *panel content* beneath it unless it is a *folded panel*.
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- ## Folded panel
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A shrunken *panel* showing only the *tab bar*. A *panel* consists of the *tab bar* and *panel body* except when the latter is folded away. The user may click the *active tab* to fold and restore a panel, however a panel cannot be folded if there are no other unfolded panels in its column.
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- ## Panel
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- ## Panel body
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- ## Options bar
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The bar that spans horizontally across the top of a *panel* (located under the *tab bar*) which displays options related to the *panel*.
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- ## Viewport
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The area that takes up the main space in a *panel* (located beneath the *options bar*) which displays the primary content of the *panel*.
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- ## Shelf
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The bar that spans vertically along the left side of some *panels* (located left of the *viewport*) which displays a catalog of available items, such as document editing *tools* or common *nodes*.
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- ## Tool
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An instrument for interactively editing *documents* through a collection of related behavior. Each tool puts the editor into a mode that provides the ability to perform certain *operations* on the document interactively. Each *operation* is run based on the current context of mouse and modifier buttons, key presses, tool options, selected layers, editor state, and document state. The *operations* that get run are appended to the document history and update the underlying *layer graph* in real time.
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- ## Canvas
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The infinite coordinate system that shows the visual output of an open *document* at the current zoom level and pan position. It is drawn in the document panel's *viewport* within the area inside the scroll bars on the bottom/right edges and the *rulers* on the top/left edges. The canvas can be panned and zoomed in order to display all or part of the artwork in any *frames*. A canvas has a coordinate system spanning infinitely in all directions with an origin always located at the top left of the primary *frame*. The purpose of an infinite canvas is to offer a convenient editing experience when there is no logical edge to the artwork, for example a loosely-arranged board of logo design concepts, a mood board, or whiteboard-style notes.
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- ## Frame
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An area inside a *canvas* that provides rectangular bounds to the artwork contained within, as well as default bounds for an exported image. This is also called an "artboard" in some other software. The *crop tool* adjusts the bounds and placement of frames in the *document* and each frame is stored in a "frame list" property of the *root layer*. When there is at least one frame, the infinite *canvas* area outside any frame displays a configurable background color. Artwork can be placed outside of a frame but it will appear mostly transparent. The purpose of using one frame is to provide convenient cropping to the edges of the artwork, such as a single digital painting or photograph. The purpose of using multiple frames is to work on related artwork with separate bounds, such as the layout for a book.
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- ## Layer graph
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A (directed acyclic) graph structure composed of *layers* with *connections* between their input and output *ports*. This is commonly referred to as a "node graph" in other software, but Graphite's layer graph is more suited towards layer-based compositing compared to traditional compositor node graphs.
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- ## Node
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A definition of a *layer*. A node is a graph "operation" or "function" that receives input and generates deterministic output.
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- ## Layer
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Any instance of a *node* that lives in the *layer graph*. Layers (usually) take input data, then they transform it or synthesize new data, then they provide it as output. Layers have *properties* as well as exposed input and output *ports* for sending and receiving data.
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- ## Root layer
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- ## Group
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- ## Raster
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- ## Vector
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- ## Mask
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- ## Data type
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- ## Subgraph
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- ## Port
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- ## Connection
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- ## Core Libraries
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- ## Graphite Editor (Frontend)
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- ## Graphite Editor (Backend)
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- ## Graphene (Document Graph Engine)
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- ## Charcoal (Asset Render Engine)
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- ## Trace
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- ## Path
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- ## Shape
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