Google has integrated my hobbies and interests into the "Recommended Reading" feeds on my Google Reader. In short, I just discovered the new feeds this morning and ran across Meet the GIMP by Rolf Steinort (lots of video tutorials on GIMP, check out his site.)
Rolf brought up the zig zag trick here. I googled "zig zag selection + saul goode" and got this hit.
Needless to say, I fired up GIMP and tested it, and was instantly impressed.
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Select the top half of your layer, enter Quick Mask mode, and run "Filters->Distorts->Ripple" with the Smear, Vertical, and Sawtooth options (use the sliders to size your zigs and zags). Exit Quick Mask mode.
Thanks to Saul Goode for the awesome tip! And to Rolf Steinort, for sharing it.
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If you're feeling confident about using the Path tool, all it will take is creating 5 path shapes that comprise the entire bow. No special scripts or plug-ins are needed. I have since upgraded my GIMP to version 2.6.8, I suggest you update GIMP if you haven't already done so.
Step 1:
Create a new drawing with a white background. (I am using 640 x 640 at 300 dpi). Add a new transparent layer.
Using the Rectangle select tool, make a small square in the center of your drawing, save it to a path.
Switch to the Path tool and manipulate the square, convert the path to a selection, fill it with white using the Paint Bucket tool:
Step 2:
Add a new transparent layer. Using the Path tool, create the left side bow ribbon:
Convert the path into a selection, use the Paint Bucket tool to fill it with white.
Right click the layer and select "Layer to Image Size". Select the Flip Tool, set the Affect mode to Selection, then flip the selection horizontally.
Create a new transparent layer and then fill the newly flipped selection with white. Your results should be similar to the following:
Now we'll use the Path tool to create the bottom portion of the ribbon on one side and follow the same duplication procedure as above, first create a new transparent layer before proceeding:
Convert the path into a selection, use the Paint Bucket tool to fill it with white.
Right click the layer and select "Layer to Image Size". Select the Flip Tool, set the Affect mode to Selection, then flip the selection horizontally. Save the selection to a Path.
Create a new transparent layer and then fill the newly flipped selection with white. Your results should be similar to the following:
Now all five paths are set and we can begin to create depth using the Blend tool.
Step 3:
Selecting one layer at a time. Selecting the middle rectangular bow "knot" layer, and using the Fuzzy Select tool, I click on the "knot" to activate the selection. Start with the Blend tool selected, and mode set to difference, shape set to Bi-Linear. I started from bottom layer up. Then give the selection a couple of gradient strokes vertically (one running down, and one running up):
I used the Radial shape and Bi-Linear on the next two:
Finally, the bottom two ribbons:
Step 4:
With the background layer turned off, merge the five visible ribbon layers.
Apply Colors - Curves:
You get this:
Step 5:
We need to add some dark folds (on a new transparent layer) that extend from the knot, to give it a touch of realism, then apply a Gaussian blur of 10 px. Right now it doesn't look like much, but I Warp will change that in the next step:
Merge the added lines layer down onto the ribbon layer, and then open Filters – Distorts – I Warp. I mainly used the Move option with deform radius at 50 and deform amount at 30. I recommend you make adjustments in steps, save the effect, open it back up and work in I Warp some more. Because one little mistake can cause you to have to start all over again when resetting the I Warp filter.
All that is left is to add color and a drop shadow:
Maybe add some texture? Add another transparent layer, set the mode to Multiply, and start trying out different textures/patterns, and adjusting the opacity levels. Most patterns work very well with the ribbon bow.
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Pirate map
Click image to enlarge
Wanted Posters
Step 1:
Open a new transparent drawing (I used 640 x 640 px with 300 dpi). With the Rectangle Select tool, create the size of paper or map that you want to use and center it on your transparent image.
Fill the selection with white, using the Bucket Fill tool.
Go to Select – Border and add a 15px border with "Lock selection to images" edges checked.
Step 2:
Go to Filters – Artistic – Cubism. You can follow the settings given below or choose to make yours smaller or larger (if you make the cubism larger it will require additional editing: removing semi-faded areas, etc.).
You should end up with something looking similar to this:
We'll need to clean the edges up a bit.
Step 3:
Turn off the selection: (Select – None or Shift+CTRL+A).
Add a Gaussian blur of 3 px to the paper layer.
Apply Colors – Curve as follows:
You'll end up with something similar to this:
Step 4:
Select the Fuzzy Select tool and click on the white paper area to select it. Create a new transparent layer and fill the selection with white on the new layer using the Bucket Fill tool. Then take note of the following instructions:
If you want to use this as paper and make it look worn and crumpled, I followed this Photoshop tutorial by Janee and converted it to GIMP parameters. The conversion for GIMP for each step is as follows:
- Part A: New Layer is Shift+CTRL+N
- Part B: There are no Reflected or Diamond shapes for Gradients in GIMP, I used Bi-Linear the most, and a little bit of Radial. Pressing D will change your foreground/background colors to default black and white. Don't forget to set the Gradient (Blend) Mode to Difference in the Toolbox dialog.
- Part C: No conversion needed, and you really can't go wrong with overkill. Almost every "overkill" of difference gradients I attempted worked out fairly well in the following steps. Don't be intimidated by finding perfection in the crumple pattern. You'll see when you follow up in steps D and E.
- Part D: For the folds to stand out : Filters – Distorts – Emboss.
- Part E: Curves is found at Colors – Curves. Tinker with curves until you're satisfied.
- Part F: (DON'T USE) If you use my cubism parameters above, you really don't need to do any cutting out. This step is really good for large size edges.
- Part G: (DON'T USE) Drop shadow can be found under Filters – Light and Shadow – Drop Shadow. However, this is very important to note. You don't really want to apply a drop shadow on the crumpled gradient layer because we already have our paper size defined on the original layer under it. So do not apply either "Steps F or G" at this point. I am only making references to them to identify the GIMP conversions.
Here is my example after following Janee's instructions using GIMP conversions:
The "overkill" difference gradients using Bi-Linear and Radial (Looks like one mad crazy storm, doesn't it?):
(Note the paper is still selected)
Now the Filters – Distorts - Emboss effect with settings: Azimuth – 135, Elevation – 45, and Depth – 4:
Finally add a bit of Colors – Curves to lighten it up and smooth out wrinkles and make some folds more pronounced:
Settings
Then the result:
Set the Layer Mode to Multiply.
Keep in mind, if you don't like how my settings are working out for your folds, you can always manipulate the Emboss and Curves settings to suit yourself, or lower opacity levels to reduce contrast, including changing from Multiply mode to perhaps Overlay mode to increase lightness or even opt out of using Curves, entirely.
My goal here is to lead you to doing these things on your own, not trying to make the "perfect" paper crumple. That's something I hope you readers take upon yourself and perhaps show me a few tricks of your own. I would love to see your results, so send me a link to your uploaded images if you have a site you upload to. 
Step 5:
Now to add texture and color. Select the original paper layer (should be bottom-most background layer) and keep the paper selected.
Using the Fill Bucket tool, select a background color of #8e7f60. This should give it the brown paper bag look (lighten or darken the color to suit):
To give the paper an aged look, we'll start by adding a new layer and texture. Add a new top-most transparent layer, with the paper still selected, layer mode to Overlay.
Using the Bucket Fill tool, change the fill type to Pattern and fill the selection with the provided pattern below (save to .gimp-2.6/patterns folder):
Lower opacity of the layer to about 60. You should now have something similar to this:
Any additional layers with text and markings on the paper should be in Multiply or Overlay mode.
Step 6:
If you want page curls, select only the corner area in approximation of how big you want the page curl to be. An example (using the bottom-most paper layer using the Free Select tool with mode set to subtract from the current selection select all but the corner you want to have the page curl):
Change your foreground and background colors to: #8e7f60 and #463e2e.
Go to Filters – Distorts – Page Curl and apply these settings:
The result creates some residual pixel litter which we need to clean up. You should now have a page curl layer above your original paper layer. Select the original paper layer and you'll see what I am talking about. Simply select the Fuzzy Select tool, click the paper area to select it, go to Select – Invert and press delete, then Select – None to remove the selection. The result should be similar to the following:
Add a drop shadow (Filters – Light and Shadow – Drop Shadow defaults):
Step 7:
Paper shadowing involves a simple layer mask. Shadowing gives the paper additional depth and makes it look more appealing. Select the original paper layer once again and duplicate it.
On the duplicate copy layer (above original layer) right click the layer and select Add Layer Mask and choose the White (full opacity) option and check Invert layer. Change the layer mode to Multiply.
Press the D key to restore black and white defaults.
Using the Blend (Gradient) tool with mode set to Difference, run a couple of diagonal gradients from top left to bottom right. To give you an idea of how my layers are set up and the end result of shadowing, I have provided a screenshot of my layers dialog with the image.
Click image to enlarge it
Step 8:
If you want to make it look more like a cloth-like pirate map instead of paper, either remove the top-most layer (or turn it off by clicking on the eye) and replace it with a new layer using a fabric or weave type pattern, instead. Make sure the new layer mode is set to Overlay and the paper area is selected!
I used the pattern offered below (save it to your .gimp-2.6/patterns folder – refresh patterns dialog):
Image result using the canvas pattern:
All that's left to do is decorate them with text or maps.
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Drawn solely in GIMP 2.6.8.
In color
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I prefer making my own "stuff". Sure, grabbing a picture off the internet is quick and easy, but so is making your own ornamental tiles. Really, it is.
Embossed / Inverted
Raised via Bump Map (Layer Mode: Hard Light)
(Click image to enlarge)
Let's get started!
If you don't have the Smooth Path plug-in by ijontichy, grab it and extract the smooth_path.exe into your .gimp-2.6/plug-ins folder before starting this tutorial. While you're at it, grab the script-fu-copy-rotate.scm file by tekhertz and move it to your .gimp-2.6/scripts folder. Close and restart GIMP.
Step 1:
First thing we need to do is make our ornamental design. It's easier to accomplish than you might think. Open a square size drawing with a white background (I made mine 800 x 800 at 300 dpi). Then create a transparent layer (top-most). Set up guides for the middle of your drawing both horizontally and vertically. (400 x 400).
Now, lets create the first of two paths (yep, all its gonna take is two paths to make this tile ornamental). Draw out the points for the teardrop path, as shown below (you can name your path "teardrop" in the path dialog, if you wish):
Then manipulate the nodes by dragging beside them, to make the curves (holding the shift key while dragging out nodes makes the curve symmetrical), getting the desired result, as shown:
Now we'll make the second path, called an "open heart". In the path dialog right click and select "New Path", name it "Open Heart". Click the eye on the teardrop path so that it shows while you are working on the open heart path. Set the open heart points as shown below:
For those of you worried about it not being even on both sides, fret not, a little trick to even things out, add guides like shown:
"Think squares", it makes it easier to align the nodes, like shown above. Don't worry about perfection, your ornament is still going to look awesome. . Now, right click on the open heart path in the path dialog and select smooth path, accept default settings, select ok. Your heart should look like this:
With the Path tool selected, click the very top node to get the handles to show up, and then hold CTRL + Shift and click on both "handles". Do not click on the node. See the following:
You should end up with your open heart looking like this:
Now, with Path tool still selected, hold the ALT key down and move the open heart down to the top of the teardrop, like so:
The open heart is a little too wide at this point, so to make it thinner, select the Scale tool (open heart path must be selected in Path dialog) and select the path option under Transform in the toolbox:
Break the link on the Scale dialog, as we only want to reduce the width, not both width and height:
Now reduce the width of the open heart path to a suitable size. See my image below:
The hardest part is over!
Step 2:
In the Paths dialog, right click and "Merge Visible Paths", then right click and select ("Stroke Path"), and give them both a 5px black stroke (make sure your top-most transparent layer is selected and not the white background layer):
Under the Select menu, choose script-fu-copy-rotate and enter the following parameters:
Your image should now look like the following:
It has some fuzziness to it, so we need to give it a slight Gaussian blur (4 px) and then run Colors – Curves, like shown:
We end up with this:
(Save your drawing now, as "ornament1.xcf")
By now, you're probably thinking, "Quick and easy, huh?" Well, it is, once you get the initial grasp of creating the two path shapes and tidying it up, it just seems so long because the tutorial is stretched out picture by picture, so I know you'll understand it more clearly.
Step 3:
The fun starts here, making the actual tile face. Open a new image 800 x 800, with a white background. Set up the guides for the center point like the first drawing, and also add guides at 0, 200, 600, 800 both vertically and horizontally:
Go back to the first image and Edit – Copy the layer with the stroked open heart and teardrop image. In the new image, Edit – Paste As – New Layer. Using the Scale tool, we'll reduce the size of the pasted image to about half its original size (make sure the link isn't broken and that Transform mode is back on Layer):
At this point, Edit – Copy the new scaled path.
Step 4:
Start selecting Edit – Paste As – New Layer, adding one image at a time. (I keep the Move tool selected and quickly move them into place after each paste) Your guides should be snapping (View – Snap To Guides). Follow along the lines of what I have done, shown below:
(TIP: You don't have to Paste every layer, you can do one half of the image, duplicate the layer and flip it the opposite direction, to save time. Just make sure that your original layers are resized to the image before duplicating layers and flipping.).
Now would be a good time to Merge Visible Layers and SAVE the file as "Tile1.xcf". We're not done, just taking precaution.
Edit – Paste As – New Layer, once more. We will use the Scale tool to reduce the current path to 2/3rd its size. Edit – Copy the newly scaled path and again, with the Move tool selected, Edit – Paste As – New Layer new images and place them as shown below:
Merge All Visible Layers, and save.
Step 5:
Filters – Distorts – Emboss:
(Note: if you want a raised area instead of inverted, simply choose bump map instead of emboss, leave Azimuth as is, raise Elevation to 145, and Depth to 5)
Add a new transparent layer, top-most. Set the Layer mode to Overlay. Select the Paint Bucket tool, and choose a pattern of your choice.( Light colored stone patterns work best. Dark colors and wiggly patterns are too busy for the emboss look). I chose a stone pattern I made from one of my older tutorials.
Step 6:
Now its time to put the bevels on the side of the tile. You'll need to set up guides on 0, 25, 775, 800, both vertically and horizontally, like so:
Using the Free Select tool, we'll make trapezoid shapes to mimic the bevels. I created a new layer, because I like to duplicate layers and flip them to save time.
(TIP: Once you make the selection for one side, use the Flip tool with Affect set to Selection, and flip the selection to the other side, to save time)
Do the same for the remaining three sides, making the left and top sides lighter gray, and the bottom and right sides, a darker gray.
Finished bevel, with all trapezoid duplicate layers merged into one, and opacity lowered to about 60.
(Click image to enlarge)
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This isn't my script, so I can't take credit for it. It was originally written by David Nickerson (aka dln385) and posted on the Registry. David never got around to finishing the fade effect, so a registry member named Hoffi stepped in and offered some suggestions. You can read the post here.
I decided to add Hoffi's suggestions to the script and offer it to those users who are a little intimidated about making script edits. The script is working well, I might add. So thumbs up to David and Hoffi for their contributions in making a nice perspective reflection script.
Grab the script here. (Right click "Save Link As" in Windows)
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Valentine's Day is almost upon us and it never dawned on me to create a tutorial for it. I decided to use this opportunity to show a quick and easy way to get cut-out text.
Let's get started by opening a new drawing (any size @ 300 dpi), using any background color of your choice. I am using black so the path nodes show up better.
Step 1:
Using the Path tool, let's lay out some points, similar to what's shown in the image below:
Now we need to stretch those points into curves. If you have the Smooth Path plug-in, you can open the Path dialog, right click the path and select Smooth Path. If not, it will require we smooth the points out manually by clicking and dragging on the path line (hold the Shift key down to make the rounding equal on both sides of the path node).
If the handles get in the way on the two middle nodes (see the bottom node, in the above image) you can use CTRL + Shift to delete those handles and make the node into a sharp point. Repeat the same process for the top middle node as well.
Holding down CTRL + Shift while hovering your mouse cursor over the handles (red arrows above) will show a path cursor with a minus sign
Step 2:
In the Path dialog, select the Path to Selection, pick the Paint Bucket tool and fill the selection with white.
Step 3:
Our heart shape is pretty much done, unless we want to embellish it a little more to make it more appealing. I want to add some depth to the heart shape so that it looks three-dimensional. Go to Select – Border, input 15 and hit "OK". Change your foreground color to a light gray (#969696) and fill the border selection on the heart. At this point, using the Color Select tool, click the black background area and then Select-Invert, then convert that selection to a path via Select – To Path (a selection of the entire heart with the added 15px border).
With the entire heart selected (with the border included) add a Gaussian blur of 40px. Your image should now look like the following:
Step 4:
Go to Filters – Distort – Emboss, and add these settings:
Reselect the larger heart path in the Path dialog, and add a Gaussian blur (Filters – Blur – Gaussian blur) of 40px, twice.
Create a new transparent layer.
Step 5:
Fill the new layer selection with red (#d70000), set the layer mode to Multiply. Deselect the selection (Select – None).
Merge the top layer down, then add a slight blur to the heart (Filters – Blur – Gaussian blur) of 4px. Go to Colors – Curves and try following the settings shown below:
Click on image to enlarge it
You should now have a heart image that looks like this:
Step 6:
In the Path dialog, select the larger heart path and Path to selection. Invert the selection and press the delete key to remove the background.
Add a new layer with a white background, move the new layer underneath the heart layer.
Highlight the heart layer, go back to the Path dialog, select the larger heart path and stroke it with a 4px medium red (#830000). Add a drop shadow (Filters – Light and Shadows – Drop Shadow) accept defaults but untick "Allow Resizing".
You should now have an image that looks similar to this:
Step 7:
Now to add the cutout text. I can't believe how simple this new method is. Create a new layer with a white background, it should be at the top. Set the layer mode to Multiply.
Using the Text tool, create whatever phrase you wish to add to the heart and effectively place the text, using a darker red color than the surface color of the heart. I used (#760000).
Merge the text layer down to the white layer in Multiply mode. Click the eye to turn off the text.
Select the red heart layer, then go to Filters – Map – Bump Map. Select the text layer for the bump map and then input the following settings:
Click image to enlarge
Finally, after selecting "Ok". Turn the top text layer back on and change its layer mode to Multiply once again. And Presto! you have awesome looking cut-out text!
Add an arrow or some decorations:
Or add some flowers, etc:
Click image to enlarge.
Thank you for visiting my website.
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Found even more scripts for GIMP, many that aren't available on the GIMP Registry. To get these scripts, click here.
A BIG BIG THANK YOU! & shout out to Paul Sherman for making each script usable for GIMP 2.6
Just a few tips:
- The files named "artist-" require GIMPressionist files to be uploaded into the gimpressionist folder in the .gimp-2.6 directory. Leave them in the "presets" folder and move the entire presets folder to the gimpressionist folder
- Since the zip file contains 94 *.scm files and 22 gimpressionist "ev" files, it will be tempting to just download them all at once and try finding them in GIMP later. Even going against the grain of my own way of thinking, I thought better of doing it with this zip file. Instead, I extracted the entire zip file into the scripts/gimp_scripts_26 sub-folder and moved *.scm files to the scripts folder a few at a time. Even if you only extract one .scm file at a time, it automatically extracts/creates the gimp_scripts_26 sub-folder in the scripts folder. Note the screenshot below:
One script totally blew me away from the get-go, if you try anything first, try the picture_to_graphic.scm. I've been manually performing this process with images almost daily, and now I no longer need to. Another big THANK YOU to Paul Sherman for creating this script.
Even for a GIMP beginner like myself, I am finally more at ease and way past the initial intimidation I faced using GIMP at the beginning. The more you apply and prod in GIMP the easier it gets.
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You decide:
Bernhard's High Pass Mask using GIMP
Or PSP 13 Object Extractor
Aside from the fact that my background is off a bit, this makes a true side by side comparison harder to obtain, I still notice how the High Pass Mask image is much clearer (the darker image is attributed to the adaptive contrast filter in GIMP, so it can't be a factor in comparing the two). Bernhard's tutorial took me 15 mins to obtain, whereas the object extractor in PSP 13 took me all of 30 seconds. Not bad for something done on the fly.
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There are a few quicks ways you can accomplish camouflage patterns without much trouble:
- Using Filters - Alpha to Logo – Bovination on a new solid color layer
- Or using File – Create – Patterns – Camouflage and set the colors and options
I found these two processes to make camo looked way too similar, meaning everyone's pattern turns out looking identical to the next pattern. It might take a little longer doing it yourself, but at least then you can make it look unique.
Or you could make them yourself in as simple as 3 steps with 3 layers, using Filters – Render – Clouds – Solid Noise. At least by creating your own layers, you have more control on how the "color splotches" lay out on your image, rather than having an identical uniform image every single time.
Step 1:
Open a new layer, transparent or solid color, makes no difference. This layer will be the bottom-most layer and should be filled with a solid light color, like the light blue in the pattern above. Fill your bottom layer with the color of your choice.
Step 2:
Open a new transparent layer. Go to Filters – Render – Clouds – Solid Noise. This will be the middle layer. Select the settings show below:
After selecting OK, go to Colors – Threshold, click the Auto button, and then OK. You should see something like the following:
Using the Select by Color tool, click on the black area, and press delete. You're image should now look like the following:
Step 3:
Add the final transparent layer. Run Filters – Render – Clouds – Solid Noise again. Only this time, we'll break up the monotony of X and Y by inputting a high and low setting, as shown:
After selecting OK, go to Colors – Threshold, click the Auto button and select OK. Go to Colors – Invert. You should end up with a result similar to the following:
Using the Select by Color tool, select the white color and press delete:
After merging visible layers, you are done. However, before I merged my layers, I decided to test different colors to get the maximum appeal. In this case, I swapped white for a darker blue using the Select by Color tool on the middle layer, as shown:
Be sure to test out different colors for yourself.
In addition, you can use brushes of leaves, tree branches, grass, etc. It's as simple as adding one solid color layer, and a couple of transparent layers on top, using various colors with different brushes of differing sizes, and just rotating the layers to suit. Here is a quick example of a leaf brush used to make a camouflage pattern as I just described, its just 3 layers (one solid color, two rotated brush layers):
One clever little trick I incorporated into making quick color changes to test out how the camo colors work – is – I created palettes of various colors (keep it simple by only adding 5 or 6 various complimenting colors to each palette). I then convert those palettes to gradients, and select those gradients in the Blend toolbox, then run Colors – Map – Gradient Map. It really speeds the process up. Just use CTRL + F to repeat the gradient mapping, just be careful not to exceed the depth of undoing your work. Take note of a couple of my examples below:
Right click on the palette you create within the Palette dialog, and select Palette to Gradient, it saves the name along with the gradient into your gradient folder – automatically. One sweet way to swap colors! Palettes with lots of colors don't tend to turn out so well. I'm really not sure why that is, but it appears that (I'm just guessing here) the algorithm for matching colors using a color map relates to the number of colors within the image itself. Four colors within an image will swap with 4 colors in a palette. If this is true, its totally random and unpredictable as to which colors get swapped first or not. I've experienced different color sorts with each mapping.
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