Vaelissa Cortes

Hey, instead of just saying "I use this program and don't like yours", maybe we could offer some helpful tips?

I don't know what the exact problem is, but since layers were mentioned, let's start with the basics of that!

First, let's fill our background with a pattern, notice on the right how "Background" is the only layer currently listed.



Now, in the image window, go to "Layer" and "New Layer". You can also press "Ctrl + Shift + N" to get the same effect. Once you do either, a new layer box will pop up.



Once the new layer is created, we can work on this layer and this layer alone. The background pattern below will be unaffected. Here I've drawn three lines on the new layer to start a fabric fold.



Now with the smudge tool I've turned those lines into a half decent fold! Notice the transparency and the untouched background pattern underneath showing through.



Now we go over to the right again and select the layering mode! We'll use "Soft Light" from the drop down box, since it is nice for fabric folds.



Ta da! Now we have a decent generic fabric fold! All thanks to layers!

The Gimp is the program I learned with, since at the time it was my best option, and a good one at that. While some of the tools work differently than in Photoshop and the brush sorting is poor, it is a very powerful program in all other respects

It really isn't any harder to use than Photoshop or any less effective for most things.

I usually use The Gimp but tend to switch over to Photoshop CS2 for fabric folds, the Liquify filter and a few other specific tasks. I find the transition to be painless since while the menu placement is different for many features, things are pretty much where you would expect them to be. Also the location of said features makes perfect sense in both programs.

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People are dumb .

Marianne Little

Bless you, Vaelissa!

Thanks to all of you. I don't mind if you comment and say it's difficult. It makes me feel a bit less inferior, lol. I think I will buy the book that Robert Jung recommended. I like the feeling of a book!

I work in RL and have no plans of changing job. I can afford some "play-money". But I think PS is way too expensive to buy for a hobby. Buying PSP can be an alternative. Since it's a 30 days test period, I will wait a bit. I got the test PS just before Christmas, and that wasn't smart!

My oldest child will start school in August, so i think I'll give GIMP another try this summer. If I find it hopeless, I'll order the PSP test version after I'm done with the Summer vacation and school has started.

I will come back to both Vaelissa and Khamon when I'm stuck, and cry for help. Thank you to the others who say you use it and like it. You give me hope! Everything is hard to learn in the start and I really, really hate the video tutorials!

I like to take pictures in SL, and It's addictive. For every nice comment I want to be better. It's some very brilliant people on Flickr. (And here!)

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"Until otherwise notified, which is unlikely to ever happen, since I'm far to lazy to go around otherwise notifing people, you shall be known as The Duchess Grand Inquisitor, Condemnor of Innocence, Writer of Bad Checks, and Destroyer of Hope, She from Whom the Very Forces of Nature Hide in Abject Terror."

Gabriele Graves

Speaking for myself, I was answering the question posed in the title "Do you use GIMP?" and countering some of the negative comments about using it. I felt it was important to reassure Marianne that GIMP was a good choice. I didn't have time to produce the fabulous small tutorial that you did to attempt to address the mentioned non-specific problem Marianne was having using layers. It is great that you were able to however.

Milana Cavan

I use GIMP too. I downloaded Paint.NET not too long ago but I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I would love to have a copy of PS, but I don't have 1k lying around to spare nor do I feel the need to put myself in legal jeapordy downloading a torrent of it.

It's been a bit of a struggle to learn how to use it, but I am getting the hang of it.

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Beezle Warburton

Sams Teach Yourself GIMP in 24 Hours - Gimp Books

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Marianne Little

Now I have 2 suggestions for books, thank you! And I’ve found a third book that looks interesting. I guess I have to toss a coin…

I want to learn how to use layers so I can work on just a part of the picture. I’ve learnt how to adjust and work on the original image. I use Picnik and Photoimpression 4. Both these programs let me do adjustments on the original image. They are good for fixing up an image in easy ways, and I get pictures that are pleasing to look at, but now I want to take it further.

This is the best I can do in Picnik. I've played with different effects and cut and pasted it on a free frame in Photoimpression.


Now, when I look at it, it's not bad. I wish I could add on a bit more light on the branches in the left edge. They look a bit flat. If I should work on just that part of the picture, I would need a layer. Right?

Aodhan McDunnough

A tip to learning GIMP (or Blender, or just about any other software)

1. Don't set out to master everything.

2. Assign yourself a task that involves only a few features (try to keep it to 3 or less).

3. Learn those 1-3 features by repetition. Do your little project over and over again if you have to.

4. When you're comfortable, set out to learn 1 or 2 new features.

5. Rinse and repeat.

With this approach I went from can't-use-Blender to making sculpties like the 1-prim chair I sell. You need surprisingly few features to be able to create a sculpty. I am also using this technique for relearning PHP and it has helped me learn Linux (which I am very comfortable with now).

Circle Widdershins

I use gimp because I am on Linux, and because I never really had a need for graphics work prior to SL. I found the interface tricky at first, but without any pre-conceived ideas from PS maybe it wasn't as difficult.

With these things I tend to play and work some things out on my own and then go to the manual for the tricky bits. Because by then I can understand the manual

Awesome tutorial Vaelissa

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Tya

Doesn't anyone use AI?

Confused

Ohhh that was interesting seeing how other people make folds.

The other alternative to make folds and wrinkles is to create a layer, fill it in with a 50% grey (exactly 1/2 way between black and white) then change that layer to an over lay layer


it then essentially disappears.

Then select the brush tool, change to mode to burn and drawa line or a few on the overlay layer. change the brush mode then to a dodge mode, smudge them out and ta da.

I prefer this method as using black and white can make certain fabrics and colours look a little dirty

The downside to this method is it can make colours over aturated if your not careful....

Marianne Little

I'll add on some more info of what I want to use layers for.

I often want to have more than 1 avatar in the picture. I've even made alts for that. Problem is that running multiple SL demands a lot of the computer. Also the alts have a smaller, but even more chaotic inventory than me! Finding the "right" clothes, skin and hair take more time. And it's very few items that's trans.

I found a tool that let me lock camera, and save the position. This will let me set up poseballs and then pose on one of them, jump off and change clothes, skin and shape, and then pose on the other poseball.

I know I can copy and paste, but I was thinking that layers could be a better solution. Working on 2 layers, making the top layer transparent and then use the eraser tool. Same can be done when hair fall through the body, take one pic bald and one pic with hair. Then place the layers on top of each other, and simply wipe away the part where the hair poke out. I've tried to solve this by editing hair in SL, or using clone and smudge tools. Not sure if I can explain this well enough, sorry.

Oryx Tempel

I use GIMP and love it. What I need is one of those drawing pad thingies.

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Oryx Tempel

This was done with one avatar, multiple changes of clothes/hairs/skins/shapes, and one camera view. I did a PrtScrn for each outfit, then in GIMP, Edit/Paste as New Layer. Then you can cut out around each avatar.

This would have been loads easier using a flat green screen,but I wanted the shadows to look right.

Chalice Yao

Soooooooo totally worth it. TABLET GET!

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Aodhan McDunnough

And just to make a reference to a past thread regarding this matter. I will recap about 20 of the posts.

WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!

WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!

WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!

WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!
WACOM!

Khamon

That's some nice looking foliage under your image window Vaelissa.

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Alessa Sapphire

Me too!
It would make my henna pic a whole lot easier to create.
Although building everytyhing with shapes is a fun challenge in and of itself!

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Alessa Sapphire

I stareted using GIMP when I ran out of usefullness with Inkscape

Marianne Little

An update: I logged into Amazon to order a GIMP book. The newest book cost 31 USD. Not so bad. But included shipping, the alternative that took up to 7 days, would make me pay 85 USD. The cheapest alternative could take up to a month, and a lot can happen in a month. I am not sure if I will pay so much for a book, especially if I don't know if I can master it. Sometimes it sucks to live in a small country!

Don't get me wrong, I can afford it, but I hate to pay for stuff I can't use. It's such a waste of money. If I like it and use it, I can pay for it and be totally happy.

So I turned to the libraries. My local library had only a PSP book. I searched the database and found a GIMP book in another city. It was only in the university library in another city, so I would need to register. Now I have a trial of PSP X2 to work with, and I put the GIMP aside for a while.

I am going to the library today, the book should be available according to the database. I've searched for PSP tutorials and it looks like most I can find is based on graphic images, not photos. Well, I haven't spent any money on it yet.

Gabriele Graves

Have you tried looking at the GIMP tutorials here:

GIMP - Tutorials

All free, no commitment needed except time.

Siggy

I used Gimp for a while, until my work got me a copy of photoshop - I found the online tutorials enough to get me where I needed to get, because I was only putting out some box art, and my texturing skills have always been pretty sub par.

I introduced Jonquille to Gimp long before SL during my Linux development days. When we migrated back to windows (for SL and video editing) she kept with Gimp - in fact everything in Little Rebel was made with it... never went to photoshop.

If you've never (like me) used Photoshop, you're going to have a learning curve to do stuff - so you may as well learn on something free... the actual skills (which I never possessed) are the things you want to work on, and those will translate to other packages should you ever need to change.... (For the small amount of things I need to use Photoshop for - as After Effects does nearly everything I need to do since CS3 - the transition from Gimp to Photoshop was pretty easy).

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Circle Widdershins

How does the Tablet work and how does it help? I'd love to experiment more.

Confused

It is basically like using a pencil instead of a mouse.

I can see the benefits of it especially if you ar good at drawing. I puchsed one and to be hoenst ihated it but i dont have a steady hand when drawing so the mouse is better for me as i can holdit more steady

Gabriele Graves

Another benefit is that you can draw darker or lighter depending on the pressure you put on pen. This makes it a very flexible tool that is more natural for use, especially for artists who are used to pencil and paper.

Aodhan McDunnough

The tablet's pressure input can be made to control either size, color, or opacity or a combination of them.

I normally have it on size + opacity for paint brushes, opacity for airbrush.