[Bug 162101] Magnifier Tool for a quick overview and spot zoom into a document in Multiple-page view

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=162101

--- Comment #6 from csongor at halmai.hu ---
I think this would be a very useful addition to many programs, not just LO. 

I am thinking of 
- CAD tools (complex drawings with many details), 
- database designer (hundreds of tables with many fields and foreign key
connections)
- video editor with many frames
- ...
Everywhere where you want to see the big picture and the individual details at
the same time, without adjusting the zoom level several times per minute.

@Heiko: imagine a monitor with 1920x1080 pixel and a text in Calc with 1920
characters. If you zoom out to see everything then every character is
represented by 1 pixel. The OS magnifier has no info about the content, just
the pixels, therefore, it magnifies N pixel to N large grey squares.  

An app-specific magnifier, however, can ask the app "what is at pixel (0, 3)".
The app knows that the pixel is coming from a letter "B", so the magnifier can
show the capital B with the appropriate font, color, etc.

I would find it very useful to have a combo magnifier icon on the toolbar.
Sorry if I use wrong naming, by "combo" I mean a button that has an on/off
state and a dropdown as well, for finer adjustments. Similarly to the Underline
button, where you can toggle if the selected text needs to be underlined or
not, you also can adjust with the dropdown what style of underlining you want
to toggle. 

In case of the magnifier, the options could be x2, x4, x8, x16, x32.

For me, a question is the mechanics of the  magnifier. I can imagine two
possible implementations:
- simple: within the circle of the magnifier, use the adjusted zoom uniformly
(straight lines remain straight) 
- realistic: in the very center of the magnifier glass, you see the adjusted
zoom and closer to the perimeter you can see a lower zoom factor (straight
lines become curves)

For me, the more realistic solution seems nicer, even if it is harder to
develop. I would love this tool in many applications.

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