On Thu, Jan 26, 2006 at 09:39:26PM +0200, Joe Schaffner wrote: > > > What exactly is a layer? > > A drawing is made up of layers. Why? Each layer has attributes which > are combined to produce a total visual effect. This means you can add > and subtract layers, join them, etc. > > Some of these attributes must be the fuzzing, shadowing, smearing, > etc.... the artsy stuff, which a newbie like me would not be > interested in. > > A layer can be transparent. Perfect. When I create a text box I must > also be creating a layer. > making masks and manipulating the transparency of each layer is the only thing missing from this nice answer to your own question.
> > Do I move the whole layer? > > It looks like I can "select" the layer using the Layer dialog and move > the entire layer to position the text. I'll try that tomorrow. That > would be easier than cutting and pasting regions on the drawing > surface, like you do with mspaint, but I got pretty good at it. What > bothered me was moving the edges of the layer off screen. I don't like > surprises. > that quality can become useful. there is a difference between canvas size and image size. if at any moment you are extremely uncomfortable with some of the image stuff not being in view in the image area, simply Image/Canvas to image size (or something like that in the menu). > Hey! I couldn't find any grid. > View/Grid you can adjust the size of the grid via the preferences. > I'm used to drawing on a gridded surface. I need the grid to line up > components and I can't do that using the rulers on the edges of the > drawing surface, and the measuring tools have a learning curve... > These learning curves are cumulative. > > I noticed one of the layers had a grid like background, don't know how > it got there, and I couldn't make it do anything with it, so I gave > up. > it is also possible to paint a grid onto a layer. Filters/Render/Patterns/Grid, perhaps you did this. also, if you drag the mouse from the rulers you can get a guide. > > Do I select an object by selecting the layer? > > To be honest, I was expecting to be able to point at an "object" and > select it by simply clicking, but it was much more complicated than > that, and I wasn't sure exactly what a selection tool was or a path. > the gimp has an understanding of too many "objects". perhaps you want all instance of a color, maybe you would like all continuous instance of a color. perhaps you want all the image area outside of a path that you have not shown to gimp yet. it is more complex than what you are used to. > There was something called a "moving selection" layer or something. I > don't know how I got it, but it had something to do with the selection > tools, or the "move" button, which also was highly context-sensitive, > so I couldn't do much with that either. > floating selections. much controversy. if you use gimp often, you will understand how it works. > > Does it make sense to draw inside a text object? > > I can edit the letters in the text box. Boy was the font quality > crappy, much worse than the browser. You must not be using the same > font transformation the rest of the world is. > the text tool has several options, one of them is a reset. please use the reset button and then be careful of which font you choose. the free software tends to show you all of your computer fonts. not all of those fonts were made for decorative image making. please do not be frightened about this new glimpse into your computer. those system fonts actually (occasionally) make nice button images because they do work at lower resolutions. > I wonder if I can create layers inside a text box too, which also have > graphics, like lines and circles... > no. the text layer is a special layer. if you save your work as xcf, gimp should be able to access the text and the font if it is still available to it where you open it. you can do all of those things on layers around it. tranforming the text layer in any way beyond moving it will make it be a paint layer with no text memory other than the shape. > > Is it an object at all? > > I suppose, a layer is an object, but my figures do not look much like > objects, I mean I cannot create them as objects, give them names, make > them into components, like an arrow, with a head and tail, then > instantiate the object. Of course, you'd have to do this with a svg > program, but I couldn't tell what gimp was just by looking at it. > There sure are alot of windows. > > How would I go about creating an mspaint user interface for the gimp? > i would start by seeing if you can get it to compile on windows first. then ask again for instructions here. > Can I do it with your scheme interpreter? > you would have to answer this yourself. i wonder even if mspaint is a scheme thing using libgimp. there is no way of knowing what the heck ms did to make software! > Curious thing, AutoCad also has a Lisp interface, which none of my > architect friends can use. > > Who inspired who? > meanwhile, ICQ claims all .scm (i read this somewhere on the internet) to me, personally, it speaks well of your friends to not be able to use lisp. carol > http://modern-greek-verbs.tripod.com/ > http://www.geocities.com/klairbab/ > > On 1/24/06, Joe Schaffner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Everyone, > > > > I have SuSE Linux 9.2 and need to do some simple line drawings I'm > > doing for a book I'm translating. The site is at: > > > > http://www.geocities.com/klairbab/ > > > > I know Microsoft Paint pretty well, so you can imagine my surprise > > when I opened up gimp. > > > > It looks like a paint program but it's not. I discovered I can draw > > ellipses and rectangles by "selecting" a path then "stroking" the > > path. > > > > Pretty neat. > > > > But I'm having a hell of a time selecting and moving objects around. > > > > It looks like each Text object is being placed its own "layer". > > > > What exactly is a layer? > > Do I select an object by selecting the layer? > > Do I move the whole layer? > > Does it make sense to draw inside a text object? > > Is it an object at all? > > > > All I need is a monocrome gif, but it would be nice if the resulting > > drawing were scalable, one which would grow and shrink if the user > > zooms in using the browser. > > > > Does gimp do that? > > > > I have friends who use AutoCad and are always talking about scalable, > > vector graphics. AutoCad also uses layers, but I've forgotten exactly > > what the were. > > > > Can you help? > > > > Thanks. > > > > Joe > > http://modern-greek-verbs.tripod.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Gimp-user mailing list > Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU > https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user _______________________________________________ Gimp-user mailing list Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
