GIMP. Really need some help please.

[Spec-Kie]

hey guys. i am just starting out using GIMP, thing is when i use the text tool when i go to edit it at all the background reduced to size of the text box that i have made? and also the text options box does not appear when i make a text box?

So if there is any GIMP gurus out there who can help me please im desparate lol, Thanks in advance guys

 

[mikedt]

Normally you create a text box is a separate layer on top the background layer. So what you do with a text box, like editing, moving or resizing it should be independent of the background layer. Unless you've somehow managed to get a text box as the background layer, or is merged or locked to it? I don't know TBH.

You're on the latest version of GIMP are you? - which should be 2.8. I use GIMP on Linux or Mac, and have never had anything like that happen. I'm only doing really basic stuff, making up slides and things for lessons.

 

[Spec-Kie]

Hey miket. Yeah i relised what i was doing wrong i was trying to do a effect chrome to be precise and it was redusing the image to the size of the text box. Sorted it by layer and then making the image the size of the layer lol. I sorted it lol. Its pretty good gimp like expeciay as its free too. Thank miket.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Glad you got it sorted out, Spec-Kie. If you need help with the GIMP in the future, post again--I do everything with the GIMP and may be able to help.

 

[Spec-Kie]

Yeh was been nooby. Its going to take some getting used to like. i used to play with cs5 (my brother was a student ) .. but i like gimp and the way its set cheers guys

 

[SiempreTuna]

Never having heard of GIMP, I thought this had been posted on the wrong forum ..

 

[MoodyBlues]

Never having heard of GIMP, I thought this had been posted on the wrong forum ..

:laugh:

The GIMP is amazing. It's an open source, free, really high quality graphics program. Here's its home page. I've heard it compared to Photoshop, but I have no personal experience with PS so I can't comment on that. What I can say is that it does everything I've ever needed! All the designs on my web sites are done with the GIMP--and people buy them.

 

[mikedt]

Yeh was been nooby. Its going to take some getting used to like. i used to play with cs5 (my brother was a student ) .. but i like gimp and the way its set cheers guys

I became familiar with the GIMP a few years ago, basically because I didn't really want to cough up a huge amount of money for CS(I wasn't a student), and I don't believe in software piracy. I'm sure one of the most pirated programs on the warez scene was Photoshop. Even worse now for Adobe products, they seem to have gone to an on-line software rental model, pay $49 a month for Creative Cloud. I'm not going to do that in a hurry. ...similar to what M$ have done with Office. No thanks I'll stick with LibreOffice.

There's a couple of (professional and/or proprietary) things that the GIMP doesn't really do, that CS does. Like CMYK separations, that are used in some professional printing processes. Although I believe there is a plug-in for that. Pantone colour matching support as well, because to get that licensed is extremely expensive and proprietary, although there's probably something free and compatible with that. I know Moody uses Cafepress for her products, do they require CMYK separations, or are they OK with SVG, BMP or PNG etc.? - and/or do they require Pantone codes.
BTW there's an interesting article about Pantone and free software here...
http://archive09.linux.com/articles/49236

 

[MoodyBlues]

There's a couple of (professional) things that the GIMP doesn't really do, that CS does. Like CMYK separations, that are used in some professional printing processes. Although I believe there is a plug-in for that. Pantone colour matching support as well, because to get that licensed is extremely expensive and proprietary, although there's probably something free and compatible with that. I know Moody uses Cafepress for her products, do they require CMYK separations, or are they OK with BMP or PNG? - and/or do they require Pantone codes.

CafePress actually requires that images be saved as RGB, not CMYK. PNG is their preferred/recommended format, although JPEG is also acceptable. I used JPEGs for years, with perfectly good results, until CP started offering dark clothing. Then it was necessary to have transparent backgrounds, so I switched to PNGs and wouldn't go back now. They can also accept--but don't recommend--PSD, TIFF, BMP and perhaps others.

When I started--and knowing absolutely zilch about CMYK vs RGB, Pantone codes, etc.--I TOTALLY over-thought it! (No surprise there. That's kind of my thing. *shrug*) I bought a Pantone book and learned about the CMYK gamut, blah blah blah, and then realized I was way over-thinking the whole thing. By buying some of my designs I found that, yes, there can be some color variation between what I see on my screen versus what gets printed, but it's not the end of the world. Now I simply design to my satisfaction, on-screen, and give it the go-ahead. Live and learn!

BTW there's an interesting article about Pantone and free software here...
Linux.com :: Pantone and free software

Interesting. Thanks.

 

[Dngrsone]

In my past dealings with Photoshop, I found it quite a bit easier to learn than The GIMP.

Unfortunately for Adobe, I am willing to pay their premium for ease-of-use, and so I use GIMP.

It takes me a little longer to accomplish my goals, but I usually don't do a whole lot of image manipulation.

For a while, I was manually cleaning up and redrawing some schematics for work, which is time-consuming, to say the least.

I also do the occasional art project-- one time I created an album cover for a song collection I put together for my wife, which didn't turn out too bad.

Nowadays, I mostly just resize and tweak icons for use in custom launchers or (once in a great while) creating new avatars for online use.

 

[MoodyBlues]

It takes me a little longer to accomplish my goals, but I usually don't do a whole lot of image manipulation.

What I've found with the GIMP--as well as just about everything else I've ever used--is that the more you use it, the easier it gets. Specifically, the more you do a particular task, the easier it gets. I remember when I had to follow step-by-step instructions I'd written [after finding various solutions online] every time I wanted to do a particular text effect, making the text outlined:

After a few times, I didn't need the instructions any more. Now? I can do it in my sleep!

For a while, I was manually cleaning up and redrawing some schematics for work, which is time-consuming, to say the least.

Depending on the type of cleaning up you're doing, and whether it lends itself to batch processing, you might want to check out ImageMagick if you're not already familiar with it. It's CLI, and super-duper powerful. I use it when I have hundreds, or thousands, of image files that need a particular edit or series of edits. For example, a group of images that are one particular size, and I need them resized and saved with new names, like for thumbnails. Or a group of images that I want a particular region cropped from, then that region superimposed over another image, and then saved with new names. A few keystrokes at the command line and it's off and running! (Note that GraphicsMagick forked off from IM and is somewhat different. After personally getting unpredictable results with GM, I reverted back to IM and am very content with it.)

I also do the occasional art project-- one time I created an album cover for a song collection I put together for my wife, which didn't turn out too bad.

How nice!

 

[Dngrsone]

Schematics are mostly lines, but some of the pages we get are badly scanned reductions and absolutely crappy, to say the least.

Some can be downright unusable.

 

[jefboyardee]

Having briefly tried stuff like Gimp, Illustrator and Photoshop, I’ve been looking for a program that does the important portions of what the big guys do but is a lot easier to use. I used to like Deneba Canvas, but they’ve wandered off into overcomplexity too. So now I’ve reduced myself to stuff like Kingsoft Presentation.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Having briefly tried stuff like Gimp, Illustrator and Photoshop, I

 

[Spec-Kie]

hey guys thank you all for the help. still a novice but gettin use to itnow thanks guys

 

[zuben el genub]

I did color separations using sheets of screens overlaid on the artwork.

Wish Gimp would work easier with Inkscape. You need vector images for digitizing and die cutting.

Here's a tutorial for Moody.
Designing a Quilt with GIMP - Free Software

 

[MoodyBlues]

I did color separations using sheets of screens overlaid on the artwork.

Wish Gimp would work easier with Inkscape. You need vector images for digitizing and die cutting.

I've used Inkscape [rarely], but don't really know enough about its interaction with GIMP to comment on this. But can you expand on this a bit? What happens, or doesn't happen? What do you wish would happen?

Here's a tutorial for Moody.
Designing a Quilt with GIMP - Free Software

That tutorial [almost] makes me want to take up quilting! The possibilities are endless.

 

[zuben el genub]

I've been pushing the tutorial for those looking for low cost software since Gimp runs on all OS.

You saw the ferret card. I painted the ferret in PS - Gimp will do that. But then I needed to change the file from bitmap to vector. Inkscape can do that, but there are a few steps more than using Adobe PS to Illustrator. The file has to be vector. To cut this file precisely on a die cutting machine (I have a Silhouette) you need coordinates, not pixels. The knife needs the exact position to cut.

The same for embroidery. The sewing machine needs the x,y coordinates to know where to put the needle. You could do that on the machine with the old Pfaff 1470 series. It was called B00L00 and punched in the coordinates of the stitch.

Most people cannot figure this out. A lot use just what the mfg puts out - Cricut uses cartridges for some machines, Sizzix and Accuquilt use dies. None of these are cheap.
Silhouette sells individual designs, and you can edit in the software which is a tad cheaper. Silhouette also lets you scan in your artwork, but you had better know how to use bezier curves or you are lost. I can use them, but find that the undos and a few other niceties in Illustrator are easier. Especially linking the PS artwork so I can work on the same screen.

The newest thing in this line is the Brother Scan n Cut. It will change your bitmap scan to vector and cut your applique for quilting at a price of $500. I'm too damn cheap and too nosy to go for that.
I did go to school for Graphic arts (commercial artist) - so I don't see why I can't just use that knowledge to make things cheaper and easier for me. No one has what I want anyway, so I have to do it myself.
What is funny - I can run almost any software with no problem. Machine language throws me - I guess because I typo'd almost every damn command in DOS. I can read it and understand it, but I will be damned if I can just type it and make it work.
That's why I don't like passwords hidden. I can't find the mistake. No one in the house touches my computers, they don't like them. The Vulcan prefers his own. I had it set up for him and butted out.

Here's another list that popped up on an astronomy forum:
http://www.distroastro.org/