GIMP

Shareware graphics applicaiton

  1. Xen

    Xen New Member

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    Then don't. No one is asking you to.

    And I thought software was meant to be user friendly, but you're proving that it doesn't have to be?...

    In any case you still responded. It gets pretty lonely in my state of rambling insanity. I can tell you that. So thank you for that.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
  2. Xen

    Xen New Member

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    In any case, I spent some time writing a reasonable review, in seeing you have also taken the time for that. Perhaps my condition is more easily explained in that way. I am not a graphical powerhouse but I also cannot be so easily since I kinda lack the visual power for it. Working with GIMP however has proved to be the hardest thing ever. I never ever have experienced anything that was as difficult as that in terms of software terms. Meanwhile my life is falling apart, no, my life is falling back together, but my health is still deteriorating. I find it very hard to write anything sensible that I also agree with, so please excuse me for any rambling (as if I'd need your excuses, but still) for I have more pressing issues to express really from scarce moment to scarce moment than to maintain a consistent "agreeableness" in what I express. My real expressions come down to being locked up, not having any food worth mentioning, and only the Wifi here is occasionally my life-saver as I purchased a second-hand laptop some time that I keep constantly on because a single "standby" can kill Wifi access for weeks if you are unlucky. I have various more pressing issues than maintaining a "civilized" point of expressiveness. It seriously took me an hour or 3 to write that review. To get the rambling out of the way because I did not want to "burden" "you" with it. But seriously I am malnourished, completely losing my sanity in terms of being able to effectively act in the world in the face of constant opposition. Asking for a freaking orange, is, sometimes, way too much for me to handle. I am surrounded by morons and hindered by pricks, and I count you, my dear sir, among one of them ;-) haha. I am reminded constantly now of that phrase I looked up: Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to thy word.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
  3. donald.smith2060

    donald.smith2060 New Member

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    Another free image editor is called Krita? I've used it a little and it may be helpful.
     
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  4. kenc

    kenc Member

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    I have tried to use GIMP but found it annoyingly frustrating. Even doing what should be simple tasks is counter-intuitive.

    I have used Paint.NET for ages, and found that is perfectly adequate for my limited requirements. For most people, I'd recommend Paint.NET if you want a decent, free app.

    The only real problem with Paint.NET is that it's tied to Windows.
     
  5. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Despite the early quarrelling, I'm glad this thread got bumped and made sticky. I'm in a position where I have to learn GIMP to come up with a book cover, but after trying it a few times it wasn't a book like GIMP for Dummies I needed, but something titled more like GIMP for Total Blinkin' Idiots.

    What I found (and find) most difficult is that even beginner tutorials assume a lot. Like, how do I select a layer to work on? Why am I clicking on this image and nothing's happening? How come, whenever I make a new layer and try to make it contain a photo, the image opens as a brand-new project? Frustration on frustration, and that's even before getting to the fancy stuff.

    But I'm starting to unravel it, and I thought I'd make a running note of some things that were messing me up in GIMP and how I learned to get around them. It may help others, and it'd keep all this info in one place, for my own benefit.

    This is what I've learned so far. Anyone who is better at this, please make corrections and fill out my ignorance.
    • Don't bother scaling an empty layer for your background. When you open your first image, it won't go in that broken-line rectangle, it will start a new project. Though not necessarily--- see below. At any rate, it's an unneeded extra step. Start with your basic background image.
    • Just because an element has a broken line around it doesn't mean you can edit it. You have to go to the Layers toolkit over there on the right, highlight the layer you want, and click on the chain icon to unlock it. Then come back to the element with the broken line and left-click once. Little squares will appear at the corners and you can play with the image to your heart's content. (Note that sometimes the chain icon doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. All I know is that it always works--- fingers crossed!--- when I unlock it.)
    • It works the same with text boxes. You have to select the text layer you want to work on, left-click once in the text boxes, bring up the little squares and then you can move it, align it, whatever.
    • Only, you can't edit the text until you choose the Text tool and left-click the text box and bring up the big ears at the corners. Then you can change the font, the font size, the box size, that sort of thing.
    • A weird thing I just discovered: If you're using the Move tool, be sure the little pointy hand goes away before you try to move the chosen selection. Otherwise, you'll shift the background as well, no matter what you have highlighted in the Layers dialogue.
    • Don't think you have to hit "Enter" to make your changes take. If you see them there, they're there. Don't fret that the broken-line frame is still around the element you were just editing. It will go away when you choose another layer.
    • If you want to bring a new image into your project, go to File, then Open as Layers. Clicking that will open a dialogue box that'll list all your GIMP projects. From there you can look for a picture on your computer. Or you can load images in there ahead of time, though I'm not quite sure how that works. Anyway, open the image you want and it will appear as another layer on your project.
    That's what I have at the moment. These things may not be holding up anyone else, but they sure as shootin' were bugging me.
     
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  6. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I use both GIMP and Krita, mainly for creating abstract art. I don't find either of them particularity complicated, but then all I'm doing is simply painting on a blank canvas. I don't have to worry about layers etc.
     
  7. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    Remember, it's free... and you get what you pay for.;) Gimp is buggy, inelegant, and doesn't have anywhere near the third part support that Photoshop enjoys.

    I know Photoshop is fantastically expensive, so much so that even I, who use it every day at work and at home don't own a license... Adobe realizes this, and figured out a way to compete against these free/cheap apps... you rent the program by the month. It's called Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud). For $19/mo I use Photoshop all I want with no limits, have access to loads of free, professional fonts, and endless tutorials... the best reason for Photoshop, is all the really cool plugins and Actions that are available for it.
    I'm guessing you'd like to produce a bold, eye-catching cover for your book?.. go to Adobe, get Photoshop CC for $19/mo, then head on over to this site... https://graphicriver.net/category/add-ons/photoshop
    ... and shop through the "Photoshop-Actions" for one of the artistic Actions (there are some really good ones, and they cost practically nothing) that will turn a photo or any source material into splendid Art. You spent how long writing this book?.. months-years? Don't slap an amateurish cover on it! Even a novice, who invests some time learning Photoshop and how to use Actions, can produce professional quality work.

    I create my own Photoshop Actions; since my WIP is set in the Paris of 1790, I wanted a way to turn some of my paintings into aquatint etchings to evoke the time period, and achieve an authentic vintage look for some of the illustrations. I have neither the time or training to produce authentic etchings... it's an art form unto itself and requires years of dedicated practice... with a push of a button, and some time spent on touchup I get what appears to be real aquatint etchings! Indeed, you can't tell them apart from the real thing!

    Do yourself a favor, get Photoshop CC and have some fun with it!
     
  8. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Nice idea. I learned PhotoShop 5 on the job a few years ago, so I'm familiar and comfortable with the program in general. But believe it or not, I can't even afford the extra $20 a month. That's what? $24o a year?

    Unless you're suggesting I hire PS for the month or two it'll take to relearn it and produce my cover and let it lapse till I need it again? :bigwink:

    But as for "You get what you pay for," you're right. I'm paying for GIMP with my time and effort in learning enough to knock out a cover.
     
  9. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    Yeah, getting Photoshop CC isn't like joining the mob... you can leave anytime you want.:)

    Get Photoshop for two months, go to GraphicRiver and buy yourself some artistic "Actions" (they usually cost $6 or $7) and have at it. Just tell me how you envision your cover, and I'll tell you what you need to accomplish it. This is what I do for a living!
     
  10. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Hmm. What I'd be interested in is a program that could take a pencil sketch and paint it to look like a photographed face. (Dream on, right?) I haven't yet found a stock headshot of a young woman of the right age and appearance with the right expression. I keep searching . . . and making sketches in the meantime.
     
  11. Megalith

    Megalith Contributor Contributor

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    I think video tutorials are easier to follow because you can see the program and what the mouse is doing while they explain it.



    once you have the basics down, you can start learning more and more complex things. GIMP is definitely worth learning how to use, especially if you don't want to drop all that money on Photoshop.

    Edit to add: A big key is using the keyboard shortcuts so you don't spend so much time, doign things like selecting the move tool from the tool selection bar.
     
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  12. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    GIMP serves me well. I don't come across any bugs, but I have a fairly routine set of uses that I put it through.
     
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  13. Megalith

    Megalith Contributor Contributor

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    yeah, 90% of problems people run into while using these programs is user error. Once you get the logic behind it, it's actually really fun to use.
     
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  14. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Yep. I originated this thread, so there's no need for me to expound how useful I have found this free application to be for my modest use. I'm not rendering 3D animation or anything of the kind. I'm "Joe Normal User". One thing, though, that I do sometimes find is that if you push the application a little too hard, switch between functions a bit too quickly, have too many things open at once, it can sometimes be a little crashie. I would love for them to work on its stability.
     
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  15. Megalith

    Megalith Contributor Contributor

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    I find that the computer specs really effects the limits of the application. The better graphics card, RAM, and CPU, you have the more it will tolerate high stress use. I wasn't able to do anything super fancy with high resolutions until I had a decent computer.
     
  16. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    If you're having speed trouble with GIMP, it's likely your own fault. The GIMP preferences allow you to alter the amount of resources that GIMP uses. Make sure you are allowing it to use all of your RAM and CPU cores. Make sure you use the default skin, and for gods sake don't let the script-fu server run unless you are actually using it. I've forgotten to turn it off many times, then wondered why everything ran so slow.
     
  17. Millamber

    Millamber Senior Member

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    I considered downloading this software to help design a map for world building in fantasy books. I haven't got round to it yet, but it seemed really good at the time.
    I hope it's not as complicated as some people have mentioned, but if it proves to be, i'll head to Youtube and see what tutorials there are to help :)
     
  18. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    I've used it extensively, so if you ask questions here about something I'll probably know about it. Most important thing is to learn how to manage your layers.
     
  19. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I use it as well. :) The medals you see created for forum contest winners, I created them in GIMP. I also used gimp to create my fantasy story map.
     
  20. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Okay, is this an okay place to ask a question about GIMP? I've played around with it a little before, but I've always started from scratch and gone from there... now I'm trying to use someone else's work...

    One of the problems with self-publishing short stories is that they aren't going to make much so it's hard to justify spending much on them. So I have a couple shorts that have been published already but I have the rights back and I want to slap them up on Amazon to see what happens. I got a cover off Fiverr, and it's not a miracle but for $5 it's just fine. And I paid an extra bit so I could have the source files, thinking I could use them to just change the title and have a sort of generic "short story" cover I could re-use lots of times.

    But I don't know what I'm doing. It's a .psd file and I can open it in GIMP with no problems... I selected the "open as layers" option, which I'm hoping makes sense? And then it tells me the file has an embedded colour profile and asks if I want to keep it and I said "convert" once and then re-opened it and said "keep", but I don't see a difference and the cover is essentially black and white anyway...

    How do I get rid of the title I have and put in a different title?

    And, actually, the finished versions of the cover had a faint image in the background that isn't present on the source file... is that because I got the source of the lettering, but not of the image?

    Aaaaaargh.

    It's only five bucks a cover... maybe I should just get a fresh one for each book.
     
  21. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    If the image is really in layers, you should be able to simply turn off the current title's layer and throw a new one in. Open your image, and press Ctrl+L to bring up the layers window. If Ctrl+L doesn't work, go to Windows > Dockable Windows > Layers.

    In the layers window, see the little icon that looks like an eye? That allows you to hide and reveal different layers. Find the layer that has your text on it. If it's true text, then it will look like the T icon in the attached screenshot, if it's rasterized or vector art, you will likely see the text itself in the icon. There are two layers in the example attached, the text and the image, most of the time there may be more. Click the eye to turn it off. This will hide the layer. From there, you can add a new text layer for your new title.

    The color profile does not matter with modern images, go ahead and convert to whatever GIMP wants.
     

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  22. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I'm going out for a few hours, but I'll try that when I get back. Thanks!
     
  23. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    How did it go? I'd only add that when you go to add your replacement text, make sure the big A in the toolbox (over to the left of your screen) is selected. That's your Text tool. Then left-click on the place you want to insert your text and start typing.

    Another alternative is to copy the existing title layer (the Duplicate icon is at the foot of the Layers dialogue), highlight everything in the copy, and type your new text over it.

    I've been learning a lot about GIMP the past few months; the good joke is that if I don't use a certain technique for awhile I have to go back to the how-to pages online and learn it all over again.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2017
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  24. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Like using masks to create different fade effects. Every time I see something I want to emulate and someone tells me it was done with a mask, I have to learn the process all over again. o_O
     
  25. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Also, adding new brushes. Every time is the first time. :confuzled:
     

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