GIMP Bible

Jason van Gumster is a production artist at Hand Turkey Studios, where he specializes in using open-source tools to produce animations and visual effects for television, film, and video games. In addition to GIMP, he is well-versed in a broad spectrum of open-source tools including Blender, Inkscape, Cinelerra, and Scribus. Robert Shimonski is a senior-level systems and network engineer with over 15 years of production experience working with enterprise applications, systems, and solutions. He is an expert in Web and digital media.

• Introduction xxxiPart I: Meet GIMP 1Chapter 1: What is GIMP? 3Knowing What GIMP Can and Cannot Do 6Working with GIMP’s Interface 7Windows and Menus 7Docks and Dialogs 9Images and Canvases 16Setting Preferences 21Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts 37Summary 39Chapter 2: Thinking Digitally 41Digital Images vs. Traditional Photographs 41Raster Graphics vs. Vector Graphics 44Raster Images 44Vector Images 44Resolution and Image Size 46Changing Image Size and Resolution 47Confusing Terminology 49Color Depth 50Color Spaces and Color Modes 51Color Spaces 51Color Modes 52Compression 55Lossless Compression 55Lossy Compression 57Summary 58Part II: Getting Started 59Chapter 3: Working with Files 61Opening Files 61Opening Images 62Creating a Blank New Image 68Generating an Image from Plug-in or Hardware 69Managing Open Images 75Working in the Image Window 77Copying and Pasting 79Fun Things You Can Do with Paste (Besides Eat It) 79Advanced Copy and Paste with Buffers 81Taking Advantage of Undo 82Saving Files 84GIMP’s Native Format: XCF 85Other Formats 86Summary 90Chapter 4: A Brief Overview of GIMP’s Tools 93The View Menu 93Modifying Your View in the Image Window 93Using Display Filters to Color Correct GIMP to Your Monitor 96Showing and Hiding Information 97Snapping Controls 98Padding Color 98Showing and Hiding Parts of the Image Window 99Selection Tools 99Rectangle Select 100Ellipse Select 101Free (Lasso) Select 102Fuzzy Select 102Select by Color 103Intelligent Scissors Select 103Foreground Select 103Image Tools 104Informational Tools 104Transform Tools 106Paint Tools 106Color Tools 106Summary 107Chapter 5: Taking Advantage of Paths 109The Advantages of Paths: Get Some Vector in Your Raster 109Creating Paths 110Drawing with the Paths tool 111Creating a Path from a Selection 114Managing Paths 118The Paths Dialog 119Importing and Exporting Paths 121Using Paths 123Painting along a Path 124Selecting with a Path 132Summary 133Chapter 6: Working with Layers and Masks 135Managing Layers 136A Quick Overview of the Layers Dialog 136Adding, Duplicating, and Removing Layers 139Arranging Layers in the Stack 142Grouping and Merging Layers 143Manipulating Layers 146Resizing Layers 146Aligning Layers 149Working with Layer Transparency 152Blending Modes 156Using Layer Masks 162Defining Layer Masks 162Modifying Layer Masks 163Effectively Using Features in the Select Menu 165Summary 169Chapter 7: Using Channels 171Understanding Channels 171Red, Green, and Blue: The Default Color Channels 172A Fistful of Awesome: The Alpha Channel 173Using Channels 175Creating Channels 176Taking Advantage of Channels Once They’re Created 177Practical Application: Changing the Background 179Summary 183Part III: Manipulating Images 185Chapter 8: Transforming Images 187Adjustments Available in the Image and Layer Menus 187Sizing 188Cropping and Guillotine 190Flipping and Rotating 195Liquid Rescale: Quite Possibly the Coolest Thing Ever 198Using the Image Tools 209Transformation Tool 215Flip Tool 219Summary 220Chapter 9: Adjusting Colors 221Using the Color Menu 223Working with the Color Tools 223Inverting Values 243Using Automated Adjustments 243Working with Separated Color Components 249Remapping Colors 255Analyzing Your Colors with Info Tools 266Color Filter Plug-ins 269Exporting Color Separations with the Separate+ Plug-in 275Summary 279Chapter 10: Working with Text 281Uses for Text in Images 281Adding and Editing Text 282Customizing Text from the Text Panel 286Making Text Go Along a Path 290Using Text to Create a Path 292Working with Text Layers 294Summary 296Chapter 11: Painting in GIMP 297Working with Brushes 298Adjusting Brushes 299Creating New Brushes 303Paint Dynamics and Using Brushes with a Drawing Tablet 313GIMP Paint Studio — A Painter-Friendly Batch of Presets 314Drawing Calligraphic Lines with the Ink Tool 315Working with Gradients 317Creating Pattern Fills 320Summary 321Chapter 12: Enhancing Photos 323Traditional Photographer Tools 323Blur/Sharpen 324Smudge 326Dodge/Burn 329Using Cloning and Healing to Fix Problem Areas 331Clone Tool 331Perspective Clone Tool 335Healing Tool 338Using the Exposure Blend Plug-in 341Summary 345Part IV: Exploring Filters and Effects 347Chapter 13: Implementing Blur, Enhancement, and Distortion Filters 349Common Features among Filters 350Using the Blur Filters 353Blur 353Gaussian Blur 353Motion Blur 354Pixelize 357Selective Gaussian Blur 359Tileable Blur 359Enhance Filters 360Antialias 361Deinterlace 361Despeckle 362Destripe 363NL Filter 364Red Eye Removal 365Sharpen 365Unsharp Mask 367Distortion Filters 368Blinds 368Curve Bend 369Emboss 371Engrave 372Erase Every Other Row 374IWarp 374Lens Distortion 377Mosaic 378Newsprint 380Pagecurl 381Polar Coordinates 382Ripple 383Shift 384Value Propagate 384Video 386Waves 386Whirl and Pinch 388Wind 389Summary 390Chapter 14: Using Image Creation Filters 391Light and Shadow Filters 391Gradient Flare 392Lens Flare 395Lighting Effects 397Sparkle 400Supernova 402Drop Shadow 402Perspective 404Xach-Effect 404Lens Effect 405Glass Tile 405Noise Filters 406Scatter HSV 406Hurl 407Random Pick 407RGB Noise 408Slur 409Spread 409Render Filters 411Clouds 411Nature 413Pattern 414Circuit 420Fractal Explorer 421Gfig 421Lava 422Line Nova 422Sphere Designer 423Spyrogimp 424Summary 425Chapter 15: Using Compositing Filters 427Working with Edge-Detect Filters 427The Difference of Gaussians Option 430Edge 431Laplace 434Neon 435Sobel 436Using the Filters in the Generic Menu 438Convolution Matrix 438Dilate and Erode 442Using the Combine Filters 443Depth Merge 443Filmstrip 446Taking Advantage of Mapping Filters 450Bump Map 450Displace 453Fractal Trace 456Illusion 457Make Seamless 459The Map Object Filter 459Paper Tile 464Small Tiles 466Tile 467Warp 468Summary 473Chapter 16: Enhancing Images with Artistic Filters 475Artistic Filters 475Apply Canvas 475Cartoon 476Cubism 477GIMPressionist 479Oilify 480Photocopy 480Predator 482Softglow 484Van Gogh (LIC) 486Decor Filters 487Add Bevel 487Add Border 488Coffee Stain 489Fuzzy Border 491Old Photo 492Round Corners 493Slide 494Stencil Carve 495Stencil Chrome 496Summary 498Chapter 17: Working with Specialized Filters 499Web Filters 499Image Map 499Semi-Flatten 501Image Slice 501Animation Filters 504Blend 504Rippling 505Spinning Globe 506Waves 507Optimizing Filters 508Alpha to Logo 5083D Outline 508Summary 511Chapter 18: Batch Processing with Automating Filters 513Batch Processing Multiple Files 513Using the Batch Process Plug-in 514Using the Contact Sheet Plug-in 524Automating Tasks with GAP’s Filtermacro 527The Filtermacro Window 527Adding Operations 528Filter All Layers 530Using Filter All Layers 531A Quick Shortcut: Selection to AnimImage 535Summary 536Chapter 19: Using GIMP Animation Package 537Using Still Image Sequences and Layers for Animation 538Creating a Simple GIF Animation with Layers 538Images to Layers and Layers to Images 542Managing the Frames of Your Image Sequence with GAP 546Convenience Features to Improve Workflow 553Working with the Move Path Feature 553Morphing 556Onionskinning 559Creating a Storyboard 562Summary 566Chapter 20: Working with Video-Specific Functions in GIMP 567Playing Back Video 568Video Options 568Audio Options 572Preferences 574Encoding Video 575Setting Video Options 576Setting Audio Options 586Configuring the Audio Tool 588Using the Extras Tab 590The Encoding Tab 592Extracting Frames from a Video File 592Using Extract Videorange 593Using MPlayer-Based Extraction 596Summary 598Part V: Advanced Topics 599Chapter 21: Finding and Installing Plug-ins 601The GIMP Plugin Registry 602Installing Plug-ins 604Installing Scripts 605Installing Compiled Plug-Ins 606A Few Plug-ins Worth Mentioning 608Exposure Blend 608GIMP-GAP 609Installing GAP on Linux 610Installing GAP on Mac OS X 612Installing GAP on Windows 612GIMPshop and GimPhoto/GimPad 613GIMPshop 613GimPhoto/GimPad 614GREYCstoration and G’MIC 615Layer Effects 617Liquid Rescale 621Installing Liquid Rescale on Linux 621Installing Liquid Rescale on Mac OS X 623Installing Liquid Rescale on Windows 623Separate+ 623Installing Separate+ on Linux 624Installing Separate+ on Mac OS X 626Installing Separate+ on Windows 626Summary 628Chapter 22: Creating Custom Effects with Scripting 629Multi-Lingual GIMP: Scripting Languages GIMP Understands 630Scheme and Python — GIMP’s Primary Scripting Languages 631Other Scripting Languages Supported by GIMP 633Taking Advantage of the Procedure Browser 634Using the Scripting Console 634Writing a Custom Script for GIMP 635Building a Structure for Your Script 636Writing the Meat of Your Script 639Summary 645Part VI: Appendices 647Appendix A: Downloading and Installing GIMP 649Installing GIMP on Linux 649Debian/Ubuntu 650Fedora 652OpenSUSE 653Gentoo 655Mandriva 655Installing GIMP on Windows 656Regular Installation on Windows 657Installing GIMP Portable 658Installing GIMP on Apple Macintosh 660Installing GIMP on OS X 661Installing GIMP from MacPorts 662Appendix B: Setting Up External Input Devices 663Acquiring Images with a Scanner 663Linux 664Mac OS X and Windows 666Printing Images 668Using the Bundled GTKPrint Module 668Printing with Gutenprint 671Configuring a Drawing Tablet 676Appendix C: Customizing GIMP 679Changing the Splash Image 679Using a Different Theme 681Linux 682Windows 684Mac OS X 687Appendix D: Additional Resources 691On the Web 691Internet Relay Chat 694Appendix E: What’s on the Web Site 695How the Site is Organized 695Getting the Most out of the Site 696Index 697