[SOLVED] Gnome Problem - Can't move dialogs inside Krita to see my canvas

Tech Support General Questions
1

Hey y’all, I’d like to know if this is a bug, if it’s intended to work like that or if I’m doing something wrong. Hopefully this is the correct category to ask.

The problem:

When I try to create a Filter Layer/Mask directly through the Layers Dock, I’m unable to move the window that appears to see the changes in real time on the canvas, it keeps in front of the canvas. In fact, the window will move everything with it when I try to move it.
In order to see the effects take place in real time, I have to move the canvas to the side, since the window appear in the middle of the screen, and then add the Filter Layer/Mask.

The same thing also happens when I open the Settings, can’t move the window and when I try it will move everything. I think Krita doesn’t recognize these as a separate windows inside the program and thus acts as if it’s fixed and moves everything together.

I don’t think it’s a Qt limitation, because when I try to create a Filter Mask/Layer through the top menu “Filter”, it works just fine and I can move the windows freely, even to my other monitor, to see the preview in real time. So it’s definitely possible to “fix” it.

I recorded this video to show exactly what I mean here.

(Plase tell me if you need more videos or if there’s any problems with this one).

What I’ve tried:

I’ve already tried deleting my config files and resetting Krita, thinking that I’ve messed with something, but nope. Still the same.

I also tried changing the windows mode to Subwindows in the Settings (Settings > Configure Krita > General > Window) and messed around with the settings, but no good, the same thing happens.

My best “solution” so far is to detach the Layers Dock and let it floating then, when I add a Filter Mask/Layer, it behaves normally and I can move it to see the changes on the canvas. The only downside is that I’d rather have the Layer Dock fixed like in PS, since I don’t like my stuff floating around.
Anyway, I can definitely work like that since I have two monitors, but the people with only one monitor may find it annoying.

My Config:

OS: Ubuntu 20.10 (Kernel 5.8.0-29)
Krita Version: 4.4.1 (AppImage)
My hardware is an Asus Laptop from 2013. Most things run smoothly and I don’t think it’s a Hardware/Drivers problem.

Lastly, thanks for the amazing software you are developing here.
Cheers!

2

Hello and welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

I don’t have this problem with a two monitor system on Linux or Windows 10.

I assume that your second monitor is connected to your laptop as part of an extended desktop arrangement?
I also assume that your laptop is set to be the primary monitor.
As an experiment can you try setting the external monitor to be the primary monitor to see if that makes a difference?

As a matter of interest, with my usual personal workspace, my second monitor is full of carefully arranged floating dockers because that really helps to free up space on the other monitor that has the main window.

3

Hello and welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

Thank you!

I assume that your second monitor is connected to your laptop as part of an extended desktop arrangement?

Yep, it’s connected with VGA. I also tried connecting it to an HDMI display (Samsung TV) to test it, but still no luck.

I also assume that your laptop is set to be the primary monitor. As an experiment can you try setting the external monitor to be the primary monitor to see if that makes a difference?

No, the external monitor is set as the primary display and the laptop monitor is secondary, but I did tried the other way around, now that you mentioned it, and messed with display settings on Ubuntu, still no good.

As a matter of interest, with my usual personal workspace, my second monitor is full of carefully arranged floating dockers because that really helps to free up space on the other monitor that has the main window.

Yeah, maybe I should get used to this setup. My concern right now is that setting drawing tablets on linux is already a pain in the behind so I don’t know how I would go on about doing it, like mapping the monitors and stuff. In any case, this has nothing to do with Krita and this thread haha.

I am trying to read more into it but still no luck in finding someone with the same problem yet. I will later try to reinstall it from the PPA, the Ubuntu repository, the AppImage (again) and etc. and then see if it has the same behavior on my Windows 7 boot too (that should test whether it’s a hardware/display issue or with the software itself).

Anyway, I greatly appreciate your reply. Thanks!

4

This may be an issue with your window manager. The dialog that opens to add the filter mask/layer is modal (doesn’t allow to interact with the parent window, which is blocked), and the dialog that opens to apply a filter to the image is non-modal (doesn’t block the parent window), and it looks like your window manager is treating the main window and the modal dialog as a whole.
I’m just guessing, but you could try look for that behavior in the configuration.

5

And… it’s solved, thank you Deif. Apparently, it’s a Gnome thing and it was reported a few other times as a bug in other applications. Turns out you have to install Gnome Tweak Tool (which I had), and uncheck the “Attach Modal Dialogs” option under the Windows section. Letting it here for anyone with the same problem in the future.

From what I’ve read, it seems to be strictly a GNOME problem, so yeah that’s that.

Before closing the thread and marking solved, could you tell me if it’s normal not being able to edit the canvas (add strokes, etc.) when the Filter or Settings (or any dialog box for that matter) are open?
It’s not really a problem, and rather silly to ask considering that it makes no sense to do that, but I just want to make sure that everything is 100%.

Again, thank you for your reply :grin:

6

Yes, that’s completely normal. Applications have behaved like that since the eighties.

7

Yep, I knew it was silly, thanks boud. Everything is good now.

Thanks everyone :smile:.