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General Category => Computer questions => Topic started by: overfifty on January 17, 2014, 06:15:42 pm
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For those of you who use GIMP on a regular basis do you freehand your "enhancements" with your mouse, or use something akin to a bamboo tablet and stylus. As much as I've used a PC, or laptop over the last twenty-five years the freehanding thing doesn't work for me. To avoid the frustration of working on that small screen in GIMP once I've got something remotely acceptable in black and white I find if I print off a copy and use a couple of thicknesses of felt pen the process goes quicker. Comments? Thank you, Barry.
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I tried the bamboo but could not get used to it and returned it to Amazon. I use the mouse pad on my laptop to do the touch-up on portraits. But there's a trick to making that work - if you want to draw a straight line, you click on one end, then hold the shift button down while moving to the 2nd point. shift-Left click at the 2nd point to get a straight line.
To do a smooth curve, make it as a series of short shift-Left click points. This comes out a lot better than freehand, and if you don't like a segment you can Control-Z to undo then re-do it.
Also with erasing the background, use the lasso tool. Click the starting point, then move the mouse and click again, then again, ... until you've surrounded the part you want to erase. Move the mouse around to close the lasso (click on the starting point) then hit Delete. For a portrait I usually start where the image touches the left edge of the frame then work right and up until I'm at the top of head, then straight up out of the frame, left, down, and close the lasso. Then Delete will clear the upper-left section of the image. Similar for the upper-right section to get to just the face (or whatever I'm rendering).
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The program I used to have used to give me a great basis to start a pattern, then I would print it and them use black markers and white out to make my pattern it was a lot easier than using the Bamboo tablet that I brought.
Marg
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Thanks Ray. I think I've more or less got the hang of the basics, it's just a matter of refinement now. First job out of school was as a design draftsman. Surprisingly, it included courses focusing on shading. I have to learn to accept the premise with making portrait patterns that - for the most part - less is more.
I'm using a photo of my granddaughter as a subject to work through the tutorials in SSV rather than J. Shatner. She has long hair and is very proud of it. Lots of motivation to get it right, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from all three generations!
I like what you did with Alfred E. Newman where you used the grey infill and red borders. I'll pay particular attention to that part of the tutorial as I like the idea of the contrast between the red pattern outline and black blade.
I'm going to play around with GIMP for a bit more and then start on Inkscape. Cheers, Barry.
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that red and gray was done in Inkscape. Once you do the trace bitmap, select the trace and go to [object][fill and stroke]. set the fill to solid, intensity (bottom number) to 32 or 64 (light gray) and the stoke to full red (255 in the top number, all others set to zero). then save as svg or as png.
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So much for a grasp of the basics. If I try to alter my image through .../threshold or .../cartoon the image in the pop-up window doesn't register any change in contrast. That is the working image doesn't change shade at all (yes, I've ensured "preview" is checked, and the image is in greyscale). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, Barry.
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Not sure if this is what you're seeing, but GIMP remembers the last area you worked on, so for example if you lasso (or oval, or rectangle) an area and delete it etc., it remembers that you were working on that area. If you now do any other operation like filter or threshhold, it will ONLY do that thing inside that lasso space (which may now be empty). To reset to edit the full image, select the rectangular selection tool and just click one point outside of that lasso space. BTW - this lasso selection is helpful if you have an original that maybe needs more contrast in only one part of the image. You can lasso that weak area then change brightness and contrast, etc., and it will only change the part inside the lasso (or oval or rectangle).
You can also get on another layer than the layer with your image. Then the new operations only work on that new layer. To reset to just one layer that includes the content of all layers, use [Image][Flatten image].
If you have deleted some area, like erasing the background using the lasso, and now see the checkerboard, then [Image][Flatten image] will fill in the erased area with the background color (defaulted to white).
Hope that's a help.
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It's _all_ very helpful. I noticed on one pattern you did on a couple that you moved the individuals closer together. Mind sharing? Thank you, Barry.
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i usually try to edit the image before starting to render into a pattern. People are more interested in faces than clothes so I crop the picture to just include the faces and maybe some collar bone - makes the faces bigger in the cutting. Then erase the background. If the faces are not close together then use the GIMP lasso to surround one of the faces, ctrl-x (cut) then ctrl-v (paste). Make it a close lasso. At that point you can click on the surrounded face and drag it around the screen. Move it so it is close to the 2nd face or even overlapping the 2nd face by a little. It's like positioning people before taking the photo to get the best setting.
If you look at professional photos, they usually don't have people look directly at the camera - their face is turned to one side. They also don't have the flash blast into their faces - it causes bad contrast and bad shadows. So if you can, use a professional photo or stage the subject to get a 3/4 face and use sunlight or a light not mounted on the camera.
And always look for the reflected light in the eyeballs. Try to get that into the pattern. If only one eye has that reflection, add it to the other eye at about the same location. It makes a big difference in the portrait. If neither has it, you can experiment with adding some - I usually put it at the lower left of the iris for a person turned to their right (their oritentation). Note in the photo it will usually be a floater so you need to bridge it to outside the iris. Make the bridge about the same on both eyes.
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I thought I was on a roll with a portrait I was tweaking. I lassoed an area I wanted to delete rather than painting it out and now I can't get rid of this dotted line around the area. [Control Z], [backspace] and [escape] don't cancel. The only place I can use the paintbrush is within the area I lassoed and deleted. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated as I don't want to start over if I don't have to (I like the results so far). Thank you, Barry.
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I'm learning the program as well. It's not very intuitive if you ask me, but it's free and admittedly a very powerful tool. But I think I can answer this one. Click the select drop down menu and choose none. (Or Shift-Ctrl-A). Did that work?
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Guess I'm not very intuitive either... I lost it. Oh well, I'll start over - good practice. I'll certainly keep that in mind for next time. Thank you, Barry.
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I lied, the hockey game started and I wasn't paying attention to where I saved it. Yes, it worked - thank you. (Your my new best friend, sorry Ray.)
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Really!? I'm you're new best friend!? That makes me happier than Carlton listening to Tom Jones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KPwzGzk2S0)!! 8) ;D :P
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After seeing that I've re-considered (where's Ray?)
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crying into my beer :'(
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I've started working on a pattern of my grandson. When I use the lasso tool (in GIMP), close the loop and [delete], the whole image disappears and I'm left with a blank (white) screen except for the outline of the looped area. I've closed the image I've been working on several times without saving, and opened a new one only to have to address the same problem. Any suggestions.. please? Thank you, Barry.
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For the final click on the loop to actually close it, are you clicking the first point you made? If you don't click the actually start of the loop (You will know it is because it's a clickable circle) you don't have a loop and when you click delete, you are deleting the whole picture because nothing is technically 'selected'. I've made that mistake often enough because sometimes I click each point I make in a loop and sometimes I freehand drag it and mixing the two together, I have sometimes had to purposely click that first point.
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Sounds right - like the lasso did not close.
Note that the GIMP lasso does not require you to hold the left button down as you make the loop. You can click a first point, even outside of the rectangle of the image, then click point-to-point following your shape until you've gone all the way around. Finally clicking on the starting point will close the loop. This lets you make a complex curve from a number of straight lines. The lines can be short to follow details curves, or long to move along a straight edge.
One other thing - most portraits show shoulders up to top of head, and the image ends on the bottom edge of the window with one or both shoulders touching the left or right edge of the window. So the lasso can start outside the rectangle to the left of the shoulder. Next point would be where the shoulder touches the left edge, then point by point up and around the head, down and to the right across the shoulder, then outside the rectangle on the right. Then click straight up to a point above and right of the rectangle, left to a point above and left of the rectangle, the straight down to the starting point, then delete. This will leave the face and shoulders, deleting all the background in one shot.
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Thank you Mal and Ray. You were right, I tried everything but that. I should have known better after using that feature with the first one. On another note, I've opened my original image in one screen (for reference), and the second "working" image in another [New]. The dialogue box to resize the working image doesn't allow me to enter my own numbers. Any suggestions? Cheers, Barry.
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By default Image Size has the aspect ratio locked so if you double the width it will double the height. This maintains the shape of the image while making it bigger or smaller. If you unlock the ratio then you can put in any value in both edit boxes.
But if you do that on the Image Size you will distort the image. If you just want more white space around the image, use the Canvas Size rather then Image Size. Canvas size also has the aspect ratio locked by default. I usually use that to set to a std frame size like 5x7 or 8x10. It just makes the rectangle bigger w/o changing the image.
After increasing the canvas size you will see the checkerboard around the outside. Use [Image][Flatten image] to make it white (or whatever background color you have set).
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When I did the first portrait pattern of Lexie the aspect ratio in [Scale] wasn't fixed. I could set the size at 8 x 10 as I find, to my eye, it's an acceptable size - not too small and not too large. However, because length and width wasn't locked I spent more time than I should have pulling at the edges of the picture so the image was in correct proportion. Your advice should make it "gooder". Thank you- again, Barry.
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I should have mentioned that in GIMP the aspect ratio is controlled by the icon of a chain next to the settings. The chain represents a link of the 2 dimensions so they stay in ratio. When it's clicked it changes to a broken chain.
In Inkscape, the aspect ratio lock is an icon of a padlock on the top edge of the window by the size edit boxes. By default it is unlocked. If you use Inkscape to make do a Trace Bitmap (SVG), that's the best place to resize the image - the vector graphics will let it expand while keeping the crisp outline.
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After tweaking my portrait pattern in GIMP and Inkscape, [Object][Fill & Stroke] the pattern in red, and saved in JPEG, GIF or PNG it refuses to open. In attempting to localize the problem it appears that it's the final change in Inkscape to a red image that upsets the software as it opens o.k. in black outline in any other format. I can work with that but I am curious as to why it has an issue with that. Any suggestions? Thank you, Barry.
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Are you trying to open in GIMP or Inkscape? If saved as a jpg or gif, can you open it in any other viewer?
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Do you do your lettering directly on the pattern, and if so, in GIMP or Landscape? Thank you, Barry.
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Ok after watching some vids and reading some of this, I still don't understand but think I am going about it all wrong. I don't use the paintbrush, I use the pencil and draw in and fill in going by each pixel block if want a bigger area I increase the size of my pencil, and I don't use the filters and photocopy. Should I be doing it that way? When I find something to change to a pattern I click image grayscale then useing black and white clean up and make my pattern this is with any image mind you, I made two patterns doing this and it worked but am working on one now and its giving me fits, about ready to say heck with it. I also have issues with scaleing up a pic but have that figured out now, I think. Am I going about this the wrong way, I am doing portrait patterns yet these are just basic images I have, the one I am working I want to create or make for a friend and am trying to make it perfect to surprise once and if I can get the pattern and get it cut out.
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Whatever is causing the prob seems to be after I put it through [Object][Fill & Stroke]. Doesn't matter what program I try to open the file in, or what the extension is. Up to that point I can open it in any program. Thank you, Barry.
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Gary, have you downloaded or read EIEIO's .pdf document? Lesson 6 from SSV addresses use of the paint brush. If you click on the paint brush in the tool box a dialogue box will open with a variety of brush sizes from pinpoint to quite large. In the same box you'll see two boxes, one on top of the other, one black and one white. You can change the color by clicking on the little arrow in the upper right of the image of the two boxes. It's far easier to make changes to the image if you magnify the image using the per cent change box on the bottom of the screen about half-way across. You can also adjust the size of the new image your working on (to a certain extent) if you hold the cursor over the edge of window and drag it across, and down. Cheers, Barry.
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Where is that pdf format? I have been watching ssv vids but they are not really in order and hard to follow I think I have new version of gimp so what I have may differ to what the vid or tut's explain.
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I sent the .pdf this morning. I'm surprized you haven't received it yet. I've re-sent it in two different formats. The file copy of GIMP v.2.6 I tried to e-mail keeps bouncing back. I'm afraid you'll have to do an internet search, there are a few sites that still have it. Cheers, Barry.
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EIEIO, sorry to be a nuisance but could you please be a bit more detailed in your description on how to add text, and in using the fill bucket to search for floaters. My .svg image doesn't change at all when I click on the image in GIMP and try to use the fill bucket. Also, how, when I use the lasso feature, can I ensure the background is white and not black? Thanks, Barry.
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When I add text I do it in GIMP. I think you could probably do text in Inkscape, but I do it in GIMP. There is a Text Tool in the toolbar. When you select it, you get a set of text parameters that can be set - font face, font size, left-right-center, stuff like that.
Before you save the SVG from Inkscape, resize the image to the size you want (a little less than the size of the frame - resize the Trace so it is about 1" smaller in width and height than the frame). Then save the SVG from Inkscape and load it into GIMP.
If the text is just a signature so people know who made the pattern (or other text that will not be cut), I set the font to 18 or 20 point, any font face will do, and usually put it at the bottom edge of the frame. If the text is part of the cutting, like a name or date that is to be part of the finished work, I usually use one of the cuttable fonts like Scroll Beach Italic or Stencil and try to set it big - 80 point or bigger so I can cut it. Other fonts can be used, but you will have to add bridges to support the centers of letters like "A" or "O". If the image is too big so there is no place to put the text without overwriting the image, I increase the canvas size in GIMP to make some room at the bottom.
Loading the SVG into GIMP:
When you load the Inkscape .svg into GIMP, the Trace is black and everything else is not defined, so GIMP shows it as a checkerboard. Same happens when you increase the canvas size in GIMP - the new area will be undefined and will show up as checkerboard. That is space that has not been committed to any color. After loading the SVG, or after increasing the canvas size, with the foreground/background colors set to Black/White, you can go to [Image][Flatten Image] and GIMP will fill the checkerboard parts with the background color (White). Then the bucket tool should work as expected.
Finding floaters: Now the frame is all White background with a Black pattern on it. Make sure the Black pattern does not touch any outer edges of the frame. If it does touch, increase the canvas size a little so there is White all around the edge and do the [Image][Flatten image]. Save the image - I usually save as GIF at this stage, but JPG will also work. Now select the Fill Bucket, and click anywhere that is white. This will fill all the connected white areas with Black (it should all be connected). Any White area that remains after that fill operation is a floater, meaning the Black (the part you will be cutting out) has formed a loop. If you try to cut that Black loop, the white part will fall out like the center of an"O". Use [Edit][Undo] or Control-Z to undo the fill and get back to the B&W image.
You need to add bridges (White cuts in the Black lines) that will support those looped area, as done with a stencil font. You probably also need to clean up some extraneous lines and dots to simplify the cutting. The bridges and clean-up can be done with either the eraser or by drawing in white. For now just use the eraser and let the White background show through.
It is a lot easier to do the clean-up and bridges if you expand the image. By hitting the '+' and '-' keys on your keyboard, both GIMP and Inkscape will zoom in and out. This is a quick way to get in and out as you work.
The bucket fill will work if you make a bridge that is even 1 pixel wide, but you probably cannot cut that slim line on the scroll saw. When I work on a 5x7 I set the eraser to the 2nd smallest size to make a bridge. That usually will be wide enough to see and cut. On an 8x10 I set to the 3rd or 4th smallest to make the bridge.
Cleaning up noise and adding bridges makes a big difference in how hard it is to cut the pattern. I usually try to get 2 bridges to a small floater, or 3 if it is a bigger floater. I also look for large, weakly supported areas in the pattern and add bridges. Some bridges might be temporary - just there while cutting out a large outline, then carefully removed for cosmetic purposes, leaving just 2 or 3 small bridges for final support until the backer is glued on.
You can experiment with bridges to see how they look to you, but I found:
- anywhere that one line disappears behind another line, or one "T's" into another, I break the rearward line right where it would have touched the forward line (break the stem before it hits the crossarm of the T). Your eye doesn't usually notice a break like that.
- Use the face's hairline to add some bridges to support the face. A hair part, curl, or bald spot can be a good place for a bridge.
- If possible, add the highlight (reflected light) in the person's eyeball. This will normally be a floater, so you need to bridge it to the white of the eye. Put the highlight and the bridge at the same position on each eye.
- don't try to show space between teeth. This just muddies up the image. People like nice straight white teeth.
- don't try to show every edge of the image. The curve of a cheek or some jaw lines sometimes do not show up in the pattern, and usually it looks better without them. But if you think you need that curve in the portrait, it can be traced in GIMP before loading into Inkscape.
- especially with females, look for places to erase lines in the neck, especially if they look like a double chin. Those are much more stark in the pattern than in the photo, so removing them makes a better image.
- then there's hair - yuk. Hard to get natural in a pattern so I usually leave it close to what Inkscape produced. If you look close it's like a head full of worms, but from a distance it looks about right. It's not the 1st thing people look at - usually they see the eyes and the hair is just window dressing.
This is kind of wordy, but I hope it makes some sense. If not, ask and I'll try to clean it up. There are a lot of mechanical steps to this, followed by some artistic touch. The mechanical parts are pretty easy to explain and to learn, but the artistic part just takes practice.
Have at it.
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The mechanical parts are pretty easy to explain and to learn, but the artistic part just takes practice.
I think thats my problem I can get around with the basics of gimp but I am trying to be artistic and that I am not, and thats going to take the practice and what is frustrating me is I am far beyond what would be called artistic and that I am not by any means.
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Dirtrider, Ray's .pdf keeps bouncing back. It's on this forum >Tutorials, Techniques and Tips> Page 1 > Using Inkscape > October 22, 2013. Cheers, Barry.
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Ok I found it but can't use it as I don't have microsoft office, are you sure you putting my email in correct, sometime hotmail gets funny and bounces emails back. Will send you a pm with my email in it to make sure its correct.
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Sorry, it's not the .pdf that bounces back, it's the GIMP v.2.6. I'm just not sure where the four .pdf's are I sent as they're not being returned... just drifting around the ether.
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Ah ok I am using gimp v 2.8.2 I will have too look see if can find the older version have read alot say the older version is better than the new version
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Sorry it took so long to reply, Pat was having issues with her meds and had to go to cancer center. I sent both of Ray's e-mails to the gmail address. There both in an old version of work as I can't justify purchasing Office 2010 (or whatever). If they don't open what word processing software do you have access to? Cheers, Barry.
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I got the email it worked and was able to open them up, must have been something with hotmail.
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Glad to hear it. I've summarized all the questions I've put to Ray, and Malstar and their responses. It's sort of a rough format but it's a resource I refer to regularly. Would you care for a copy? Cheers, Barry.
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Sure i will take a copy maybe it will help me out as I am sure I have the same question you are asking so it wouldn't hurt.