Indigo 6.1 Control Page Design

When we shipped Indigo Touch 2.0 we also shipped Indigo 6.1, which included a bunch of new graphics that can be used to design great looking pages. Our Demo Server has several great examples. Here's one example:

All of the images on that page are included with Indigo, so you can use them as well. In this article, we'll discuss the various images and how best to use them. Along the way we'll give you a few tips for using the control page editor more effectively.

Another addition to the control page editor are the following page size presets:

  • iPad Portrait
  • iPad Portrait Retina
  • iPad Landscape
  • iPad Landscape Retina
  • iPhone 6 Plus Portrait
  • iPhone 6 Plus Portrait Retina
  • iPhone 6 Plus Landscape
  • iPhone 6 Plus Landscape Retina
  • iPhone 6 Portrait
  • iPhone 6 Portrait Retina
  • iPhone 6 Landscape
  • iPhone 6 Landscape Retina
  • iPhone 5 Portrait
  • iPhone 5 Portrait Retina
  • iPhone 5 Landscape
  • iPhone 5 Landscape Retina
  • iPhone 4 Portrait
  • iPhone 4 Portrait Retina
  • iPhone 4 Landscape
  • iPhone 4 Landscape Retina
  • Full HD Portrait
  • Full HD Landscape
  • Quad HD Portrait
  • Quad HD Landscape

Each of these presets represent the exact size that a control page needs to be such that when Indigo renders it in Indigo Touch for iOS (with the tab bar hidden), the page will not need to scroll and the maximum visible screen will be available to you.

The final addition to the control page editor (and Indigo Touch for Web and iOS) is a new font called Lato. It's a beautiful font that's reminiscent of Helvetia Neue (the default iOS font since iOS 7). We've included 3 weights and the italic version of each. This will give you much more design flexibility.

Pick the Right Size

You'll notice there are both retina and non-retina versions of the presets listed above. We supply both (even though all the supported iPhones have retina displays) because if you use some of your own images, and those images are not retina images, they will show up on a retina sized page at one-half the size and that may not be desirable. We supply all images in both 1x and 2x (retina) versions.

In general, using a retina page size will result in a better looking design. The downside is that it's a bit more difficult to design one since, on the Mac in the control page editor, the page is likely to be quite large and you'll need to scroll the editor window around a bit. However, the end result will look much better.

While you may not want to design a different set of pages for all the different iOS devices you use, we recommend that you design at least one iPhone page and one iPad page (assuming you have both types of devices) since the iPad screens tend to give you much more real estate to work with.

Device Status Images

We've included two sets of device images: one set is specifically meant to show status and is exactly the images used in the Indigo Touch for iOS device lists and in the Mac Client. Here's a list of those images (these are the 1x variety, but they all also come in 2x):

Image Name Off Variation On Variation Notes
Ambient Light Sensor.png The image is the same for on and off until we determine that there's a need for a different on variation.
Dimmable Light.png Use with a device that supports on/off states.
Fan.png Useful for an on/off device that controls a fan.
Green Dot.png Useful for an on/off device when on represents something good/positive.
Humidity Sensor.png The image is the same for on and off until we determine that there's a need for a different on variation.
Motion Sensor.png
Power Meter.png The image is the same for on and off until we determine that there's a need for a different on variation.
Red Dot.png Useful for an on/off device when on represents something bad/negative.
Sprinkler.png Useful to represent a single sprinkler zone's on/off state.
Switch.png Use with a device that supports on/off states.
Temperature Sensor.png Use with a device that detects temperatures.

There are a few images that are used for devices that have multiple states:

Media Play State+.png
used when the play state of the media device is “paused”
used when the play state of the media device is “playing”
used when the play state of the media device is “stopped”
These images are useful for any device that is capable of playing any kind of media (audio, video, discs, etc). The built-in iTunes Plugin is one example.
Timer+.png
shows when the timer is active (running)
shows when the timer is paused (same as active for the moment)
shows when the timer is inactive
These images are useful to represent the state of timers from the Timers and Pesters Plugin.

Device Control Images

We've also included a set of light-colored device control images (don't worry, when placed against a dark background, these images look great - just check out the example at the top of this page). These images are specially designed to both reflect status and mimic the iOS built-in controls. This way you can create pages that contain controls for as many devices as you like that operate similarly to the controls for a device in the Devices tab. The files are all prepended with “Light” to indicate their color - we may include a “Dark” themed set in a future release. All images come in both 1x and 2x (retina) varieties.

Light Fan Control+.png
used when the fan state is “off”
used when the fan state is “low”
used when the fan state is “medium”
used when the fan state is “high”
These images are useful for any speed/motor control device that has 4 states, primarily ceiling fans. Because control pages don't implement segmented buttons, you can't have a tap in each individual cell react differently - only taps on the whole image will be registered. However, we've implemented a special action that will cycle through the fan speeds - on the action for the page element, select the Device Actions→Fan Speed Controls→Cycle Through Speed Control (FanLinc) States menu item. This will cause the fan speed to cycle each time the page element is tapped/clicked in the following way: Off→High→Medium→Low→Off. This works the same way the pull chain on a ceiling fan traditionally operates.
Light Garage Door Control.png
used when the door state is “off”
used when the door state is “on”
These images are useful for garage door controllers - for instance, the Insteon I/O Linc with a garage door kit. The action for the Insteon solution is Device Actions→Input/Output Controls→Turn On Output and select output 1. Other garage door solutions will depend on how they are implemented.
Light Thermostat Fan Control.png
used when the fan state is “always on”
used when the fan state is “auto on”
Use these images for the fan control on a thermostat. The action is Device Actions→Thermostat Controls→Toggle Thermostat Fan Mode.
Light Thermostat Mode Control.png
used when the mode is “all off”
used when the mode is “cool on”
used when the mode is “cool on”
used when the mode is “cool on”
Use these images for the thermostat mode. The action is Device Actions→Thermostat Controls→Cycle Through Thermostat Modes. The cycle order is: Off→Cool→Heat→Auto→Off.

We also have included one specific set of images that you can use with the iTunes plugin that will allow a single control page element to behave like the play/pause button does in iTunes (or virtually any other media player app). When the player is stopped or paused, the button actually shows the play icon to indicate that it's the one to click/tap to begin playing. When the player is playing, the icon is usually the pause symbol, which indicates that when you tap it it will pause. When the player is paused, it also shows the play image to indicate that tapping it will cause it to start playing.

Use the following image to accomplish that behavior:

Media Play Pause Control+.png
used when the play state of the media device is “paused”
used when the play state of the media device is “playing”
used when the play state of the media device is “stopped”
Use the action Device Actions→iTunes Controls→Toggle Play/Pause for this element.

Variable Images

Airfoil Speaker+.png
used when the speaker variable value is “connected”
used when the speaker variable value is “disconnected”
used when the speaker variable value is “unavailable” (or any other value besides the ones above)
Use these images for the speaker variables that the Airfoil plugin creates. The action is Airfoil Actions→Toggle Speaker.
Green Dot.png
used when the variable value is: false, off, 0
used when the variable value is anything else
Use these images for a variable that has some kind of boolean value (true/false, on/off, etc).
Red Dot.png
used when the variable value is: false, off, 0
used when the variable value is anything else
Use these images for a variable that has some kind of boolean value (true/false, on/off, etc).
Red Green Dot.png
used when the variable value is: false, off, 0
used when the variable value is anything else
Use these images for a variable that has some kind of boolean value (true/false, on/off, etc). False is red, true (or anything else) is green.

Static Images

There are three groups of static images: straight control images which are colored and are used in other places in Indigo Touch; buttons that you can use for any use (execute scenes, change to different pages, etc.); and tiles that can group other page elements and buttons. Once again, all images are available in 1x and 2x (retina).

Control Images

Filename Image Usage
Down Arrow.png Useful for indicating an action that reduces - like lowering a setpoint on a thermostat or volume.
Up Arrow.png Useful for indicating an action that increases - like raising a setpoint on a thermostat or volume.
Media Play.png Useful for starting something.
Media Pause.png Useful for pausing something.
Media Stop.png Useful for stopping something.
Media Next.png Useful for changing something to the next: next track in a media player, next sprinkler zone, etc.
Media Previous.png Useful for changing something to the previous: previous track in a media player, previous sprinkler zone, etc.

Generic Buttons

We have several different sizes and styles of buttons. This will allow you to create just the right combination of styles for your page.

Filename Image Notes
Light Button Outline Small.png The inside is transparent, so you'll want to add a text caption that's also light in color to contrast with the dark background.
Light Button Outline Medium.png The inside is transparent, so you'll want to add a text caption that's also light in color to contrast with the dark background.
Light Button Outline Large.png The inside is transparent, so you'll want to add a text caption that's also light in color to contrast with the dark background.
Light Button Solid Small.png The inside is filled, so you'll want to add a dark text caption (hint, select a color that matches the background color where the button sits.
Light Button Solid Medium.png The inside is filled, so you'll want to add a dark text caption (hint, select a color that matches the background color where the button sits.
Light Button Solid Large.png The inside is filled, so you'll want to add a dark text caption (hint, select a color that matches the background color where the button sits.
Light Button Segment Solid Left.png Use this button to represent the left half of a segmented button. To use the left and right together, position them with a 1 pixel gap between to simulate a two segment button.
Light Button Segment Solid Right.png Use this button to represent the left half of a segmented button. To use the left and right together, position them with a 1 pixel gap between to simulate a two segment button.
A neat trick is to use the regular outline buttons above, then place the solid left and right buttons on top of each end of the outline button. This creates a blank space between the two end buttons for additional actions/captions. See the iPhone 6 Retina control page on the demo server for an example: the Whole House Audio up and down controls, with the volume level in between, is an example of this technique.
Light Button Segment Outline Left.png The inside of this button is transparent, so pick a light color for the text caption so it will show on your dark backgrounds. Overlay the flat end of the button with the flat side of the opposite button to create a simple two button segmented control.
Light Button Segment Outline Right.png The inside of this button is transparent, so pick a light color for the text caption so it will show on your dark backgrounds. Overlay the flat end of the button with the flat side of the opposite button to create a simple two button segmented control.

Tiles

These images are used to create the “tiles” you see in the image at the top of the page that we use to group other control page images. Because the control page editor is not a full-fledged draw program, nor does it support resizing of images, constructing something as complex as a tile with arbitrary width and height is challenging.

We decided to create a set of building blocks that will enable you to create many sizes of groupings. Basically, a tile is made up of three parts: the header, any number of body images that are overlayed, and the footer. We've supplied 4 widths of tile images for each part: small, medium, large, and xlarge.

So - how to you build a tile? The best place is to start with the right header size that you'll need to contain all of the other page elements you want to enclose in the tile:

Filename Image
Light Tile Header Small.png
Light Tile Header Medium
Light Tile Header Large.png
Light Tile Header X-Large.png

You'll notice that the top right and left corners are rounded, but the lower left and right corners are not. This is so that you can add a body tile just below the header to form the area into which you can put other page elements. The body tiles are quite simple - just a vertical line on the left and right sides of the image, and come in the same widths as the headers. The area in between the two images is transparent so anything below will show through. Here are the body images:

Filename Image
Light Tile Body Small.png
Light Tile Body Medium
Light Tile Body Large.png
Light Tile Body X-Large.png

So, the interesting characteristic of these body tiles is that they are transparent except for the left and right lines. This allows you to stack/overlay as many as you like to create the size you need. For instance, let's say you need a tile that's 200px high. The tile body image is only 122px high. How do you make one that's exactly the right size? Simple: add two tile bodies, and overlay one on top of the other such that combined they make about 200px high. Because the inside is transparent, nothing shows where the images overlap. It appears to be a single body that's 200px high. The best way to get a feel for this is to just open the control page editor, insert several body images, and stack them up to see how it works. Experimentation is always the best way to learn.

Finally, let's have a look at the footer images:

Filename Image
Light Tile Footer Small.png
Light Tile Footer Medium
Light Tile Footer Large.png
Light Tile Footer X-Large.png

These are pretty simple images as well - it's just the rounded corners connected by a single line. You position these against the bottom of a body tile of the same size and it'll finish out the tile.

Tile Design Tips

Now, a few tips about designing pages that have tiles. The control page editor does not allow you to layer/lock specific images. This means that when you want to select a certain group of page elements and those elements are layered on top of something like the body tiles, then you can't effectively do a drag select because the body tile itself will also be selected (you can deselect it by shift-clicking on the body tile when you have a group of page elements selected). Shift-clicking on multiple images will select them one at a time (just like all other image applications on the Mac).

I've found that the best way to design a tile is to just add the header, then start positioning the page elements you want under the header and inside what the outside edges will be. That way, the body tile images themselves won't get in the way when you are repositioning groups of page elements.

Once you get all of the enclosed page elements added and in approximately the right position, then you can add the necessary body and footer images. One downside to this approach, though, is that the body images will now be layered on top of all of the enclosed page elements. However, you can just edit the z-order, or the order of the page elements on the page. Click the “Edit z-order” checkbox at the top of the control page editor. Then, select the tile you want to move to the back and click the little down arrow with a line under it. That will move it all the way to the bottom of the layering order. You'll then be able to click each of the page elements that are on top of the body image.

A few other points: once you have a page element selected, you can use the arrow keys to nudge the element one pixel in each direction. If you hold down the shift key, it will move them 10 pixels at a time. Another tip is when you are trying to line up several different page elements, say, based on the text caption that's on them: add one of the larger header images, and move it to under the text caption part of one of the page elements. You can then nudge the rest of them so that the text all lines up (it's a poor man's ruler).

The control page editor is a complex tool. Playing around with it some will help you figure out your own tips/tricks for designing great looking control pages. We hope these images will help you more easily create cool control pages.

6.1_control_page_design.txt · Last modified: 2019/01/26 00:10 (external edit)
 

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