Sounds like bug 90045 asking for brush tool. It would be kind of post-processing of lines similar to the lately introduced effects.

First problem is to save/export and load/import in other applications. You need a specification at the file format.

If this all is about kind of a true line style (the term is used for the appearance ie. dotted, dashed, solid etc.), see bug 132568 and bug 136224 in this case - the same applies for the file format. But function-wise it just combines all available attributes and allows to set it at once.

Please keep in mind that we have drawing styles in Draw/Impress where you can define the line attributes right now. Would be nice to have it in Writer and Calc too, see bug 89369. This would be my preferred solution if I don't misunderstand your proposal.

What I always dislike on MSO's features is the missing use case. Just to present a bunch of predefined colors with varying width would be totally boring. We strive for freedom and a few options but full ease to configure, store, share etc. See [1] how it should work.

You questions address all developers. Pasting it here (it's annoying to download and open a document when text can easily be read here):

So what are some things that would need to be known in order to start developing?

 • How to add new toolbar in LibreOffice by default
   ◦ How to dynamically add/remove buttons to toolbars
   ◦ Way to make icon color match the user’s settings (similar to highlighter or font color button)
   ◦ Way to read/write to user settings so that LibreOffice knows what kinds of pens to populate in the toolbar
   ◦ Add context menu with Delete or Edit buttons when triangle is selected next to icon

 • How to include mini Pen Settings UI and make it save the data to user settings
 • Make each respective pen button automatically apply the styles and invoke the freeform or straight line function

[1] https://design.blog.documentfoundation.org/2015/12/22/area-fill-options-made-consistent/

Yes, I believe it is similar to https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=132568

Can you provide more information about file format changes? At this time, one of the goals of my prototype is to make it so there does not need to be any file format change. Just to make some things clear:
1. We are not creating new types of lines
2. We are utilizing already existing functionality that can already be saved in files
3. We are simply saving the user's style so they don't have to manually do it themselves

Example: User draws a line in Draw. They set it to yellow, make it thick, and set it to be transparent. This looks like a highlighter. Already can be saved in the file. Next time user wants to draw this line, they must repeat the process all over again. Goal is to create custom button that automatically applies such styles when selected. Since we are not creating a new type of object and simply applying existing properties, I see no need to change file format.

This is very similar to the Inking functionality in MS Office. Therefore, the goal is to market this as Inking functionality, not merely saving styles.

(In reply to Lucas J from comment #2)
> Example: User draws a line in Draw. They set it to yellow, make it thick,
> and set it to be transparent. ... Next time user wants to draw this line, 
> they must repeat the process all over again.

No, you can create a drawing style in Draw/Impress. Use the Stylist (sidebar deck for styles), find the button with the tooltip "New Style from Selection" at the top-right corner. This button takes all attributes into a style that can be applied to drawing objects. Changing the style will affect all objects using it.

I see. I didn't know such feature existed! Excellent. This is a great step in the right direction. This is a powerful feature to apply styles.

However, as bug 132568 describes:
"new line reverts to blue colour with a standard thickness, 0 degree angle and no arrows.  free-form and straight line drawing is almost a necessity for drawing lines between images and text across the page or on top of images and when doing this regularly becomes cumbersome when having to edit all properties of each line individually."

My goal is essentially to solve this problem, as described in the attached document, by creating line drawing buttons for each of the styles. This way, the user doesn't have to manually edit each property individually. So instead of creating a new line, then manually selecting the appropriate style, the user can select a button to create a line with the appropriate style **already applied**. In the document, you see an image of a toolbar with a green background and rainbow colored pens. This is what I was thinking of. This is similar to the Inking functionality in OneNote, thus I think it would be appropriate to market it as such to draw in new customers.

In addition, the style selection has too many options that don't apply to lines (see new attached image for the ones we need). There would need to be a way to exclude all of these options that are not needed for creating such lines.

Created attachment 177765 [details]
the items in the red box are the ones that can apply to a line

(In reply to Lucas J from comment #4)
> My goal is ... creating line drawing buttons for each of the styles.

You define a couple of presets and implement it hard-coded. I dislike this Microsoft-way where users pick an item from a fix set of more or less randomly defined options. Some users may like it, others will ask for a different attributes, want to add own styles etc. How can we judge on whether your liking is the same as of the majority? Rhetorical question, sorry.

I would prefer some kind of tagging as favorite, which makes this style listed on some variable menu/toolbar. It gives all freedom to predefine and ship what you imagine with the full power of user configuration.

As for the implementation you may check how the commands for the styles menu work in Writer.

In my prototype UI I put certain colors as default templates. However on the right there is an "Add pen" button where the user can put any other style they want. It is just an example. I don't want to do it the Microsoft way either. Similar to how Impress has some default templates, I simply put the colors in the prototype as default templates. The user can add whatever style they want. The user could make it dashed, transparent, etc.

Looking forward to review your patch.

Created attachment 177784 [details]
two potential UIs for creating new pens

Great to hear! :) This will probably take me a long time since I am new to LibreOffice development and I am a student who is learning more about c++ as the days go on.

I have added a new attachment with 2 possible UI ideas.

Which one do you prefer - the one on the left or the right?

(In reply to Lucas J from comment #10)
> Which one do you prefer - the one on the left or the right?

If this is about the sidebar I prefer cleaner UIs with less options, the right one. Only the most often changed attributes should be listed there - with full access in the property dialog. But some might prefer the left option anyway. We had this discussion repeatedly in the past.

Hi Lucas,

Thanks for your mockup and ideas!

(In reply to Lucas J from comment #10)

> I have added a new attachment with 2 possible UI ideas.
> 
> Which one do you prefer - the one on the left or the right?

There is a notable functional difference, it seems?
Left one is direct formatting.
Right one asks to create a style for different formatting.

And while I do appreciate the use of styles, also in drawings, it is also practice to offer the possibility for direct formatting.
Combine the two .. hmm

How is that done in the sidebar for other objects?

NEEDINFO for c12

Also have a look at bug 127348 and the attached mockup. Might go into the same direction. The META ticket bug 148534 on arrow styles could be relevant too.

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