4. Image Management Related Dialogs

4. Image Management Related Dialogs
	Chapter 14. Dialogs

4.1. Buffers Dialog

Figure 14.61. The Buffers dialog (as a list)

Buffers are temporary repositories for image data, created when you cut or copy part of a drawable (a layer, layer mask, etc.). You can save a document in this buffer in two ways: Edit ? Buffer ? Copy Named or Edit ? Buffer ? Cut Named A dialog pops up asking you to name a buffer to store the data in. There is no hard limit on the number of named buffers you can create, although, of course, each one consumes a share of memory.

The “Buffers” dialog shows you the contents of all existing named buffers, and allows you to operate on them in several ways. It also shows you, at the top, the contents of the Global Buffer, but this is merely a display: you can't do anything with it.

	Caution
	Named buffers are not saved across sessions. The only way to save their contents is to paste them into images.

4.1.1. Activating the Dialog

This dialog is a dockable dialog; see the section Section 2.3, “Dialogs and Docking” for help on manipulating it.

You can access it:

from an image menu: Windows ? Dockable Dialogs ? Buffers;
from the Tab menu in any dockable dialog by clicking on and selecting Add Tab ? Buffers.

In the Windows menu, there is a list of detached windows which exists only if at least one dialog remains open. In this case, you can raise the “Buffers” dialog from the image-menu: Windows ? Buffers.

4.1.2. Using the Buffers dialog

Figure 14.62. The Buffers Menu

Clicking on a buffer in the display area makes it the active buffer, i. e., the one that will be used for paste commands executed with the Buffers Menu or the buttons at the bottom of the dialog. Double-clicking on a buffer causes its contents to be pasted to the active image as a floating selection; this is a quick way of executing the “Paste Buffer” command.

At the bottom of the dialog are four buttons. The operations they perform can also be accessed from the Buffers Menu that you get by right clicking on the active buffer.

Figure 14.63. The Buffers dialog (Grid View)

In the Tab menu for the “Buffers” dialog, you can choose between View as Grid and View as List. In Grid mode, the buffers are laid out in a rectangular array. In List mode, they are lined up vertically, with each row showing a thumbnail of the contents of the buffer, its name, and its pixel dimensions.

	Tip
	Ctrl+F opens a search field. See View as List; View as Grid

You can change the size of the buffer previews in the dialog using the “Preview Size” submenu of the dialog's Tab menu.

4.1.2.1. Buttons at the bottom

At the bottom of the dialog you find a couple of buttons:

Paste Buffer: This command pastes the contents of the selected buffer into the active image, as a floating selection. The only difference between this and the ordinary Paste command is that it uses the selected buffer rather than the global clipboard buffer.
Paste Buffer Into: This command pastes the contents of the selected buffer into the active image's selection, as a floating selection. The only difference between this and the ordinary Paste Into command is that it uses the selected buffer rather than the global clipboard buffer.
Paste Buffer as New: This command creates a new single-layer image out of the contents of the selected buffer. The only difference between this and the ordinary Paste as New command is that it uses the selected buffer rather than the content of the global clipboard buffer.
Delete Buffer: This command deletes the selected named buffer, no questions asked. You cannot delete the Global Buffer.

4.1.2.2. Context menu

Figure 14.64. The “Buffers” context menu

These commands are explained above with Buttons.