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120 CHAPTER 4 DRAWING Figure 4-2. The New Layer dialog The Layer Name field lets you choose a memorable name for the layer. You don t have to choose a name; the GIMP will assign one for you, something like New Layer. But a well-chosen layer name can help in the long run. The name shows up in the Layers dialog, so a layer named red arrow or sky can tell you right away what s in it. Width and Height default to the size of the image. This is usually fine. If you know you don t need a layer quite that big, you might be able to save some memory by specifying a smaller size. Layer Fill Type lets you specify whether the layer will start out transparent or not (much like Fill with in the New Image dialog). The default is Transparency. Most often, when you add new drawing layers, transparency is just the ticket. But some of the special effects you ll learn in later chapters will use a solid-colored layer. The OK button creates the new layer and adds it to the Layers dialog. If you need to move it up or down in the layer stack, use the up and down arrow buttons at the bottom of the Layers dialog, next to the New Layer button; or drag the layer s line to where you want it to be. The new layer automatically becomes the active layer. Note If you tried moving your new layer down in the stack (the only choice available now) you were probably surprised to discover that you can t! Remember the note about right-clicking to Add Alpha Channel in the Layer s dialog context menu in Chapter 3? By default, the background layer doesn t have transparency and can t be moved up.
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CHAPTER 4 DRAWING 119 You can also make a new image transparent. This can be useful if you re making an icon for a web page, or an image that will be pasted onto a photograph later. But the gray checkerboard pattern GIMP uses for transparency can be distracting. When you re learning drawing techniques, it s easier to draw on layers over a white background, and then turn off the background before you save the file. You ll see how that helps in the drawing project at the end of this chapter. The New Image dialog offers one more option: a space for a comment, defaulting to Created with the GIMP. You can use this space for your name and copyright information, or information about the image you re creating and what it represents. Or, of course, you can just leave it blank. Note Not all image formats can include a comment, but the most common formats JPEG, PNG, and GIF all have it. Using Layers for Drawing The first rule of drawing is: Use a new layer. You just created a new image with a perfectly clean background. Why should you add yet another layer? What if you want to change the background color later? Or make the background transparent? What if you decide you want to move part of your image to a different place? What if you want to duplicate a figure you ve drawn, so you can have two of them against the same background? Sure, it s possible to make all these changes with the GIMP later: but it s a lot more work than just using layers to begin with. You don t need to make a new layer for every line you draw. But try to think of your drawing in terms of functional units: the background is one layer, grass might be another, trees a third, and the sky a fourth. So, the first step is to create a new blank layer. To do that, go to the Layers dialog and press the New Layer button in the lower-left corner. Up pops the New Layer dialog (Figure 4-2).
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118 CHAPTER 4 DRAWING Caution In the Preferences category Default Image (called New Image in earlier versions of the GIMP), you can set an image size. However, the New Image dialog may not always show this size. It may reflect the dimensions of the last image you created, or of the last region you copied. To go back to the default size you specified in Preferences, click Reset. Expanding the Advanced Options tab in the New Image dialog (Figure 4-1) shows some additional choices, such as Resolution Color space (RGB versus grayscale) The color to make the new image (Fill with) By default, GIMP will fill your new image with the current background color. For starters, you probably want a white background; though later you might want to use other colors for a richer effect. You can change your background color using the color swatch in the Toolbox, or for white, you can simply choose White from the Fill with menu of the New Layer dialog. Figure 4-1. The New Image dialog showing Advanced Options
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Drawing CHAPTER 4 In this chapter, I ll take a step back from photographs and explore the GIMP as a drawing program. I ll cover the following topics: Drawing lines and curves Changing colors and brushes Erasing Drawing rectangles, circles, and other shapes Outlining and filling regions Filling with patterns and gradients Importing brushes or gradients, or making your own When GIMP won t draw A drawing project A New Image Most drawing projects begin with a blank canvas in a new window. Create one using File . New from either the Toolbox or any image window. Choose a reasonable size for the image. The default values in the New Image dialog will reflect the current image or selection. To practice drawing techniques, something that fits on your screen is best: I often use 800 600. For real-world projects, you may want to use a larger canvas, in order to have high resolution for printing or for including fine details. The Template drop-down menu at the top of the New Image dialog lets you choose from a list of popular image sizes.
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CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS 115 TUNING YOUR GIF ANIMATION WITH LAYER NAMES Remember I suggested not changing the layer names early on? You saw how the layer names got lost when you merged them with copies of the background. But once you ve done that, it s safe to change the layer names to something a little clearer. While you re looking at layer names, though, it s useful to know that layer names can also specify the interval between frames. You can even vary the intervals: have your biplane come in slowly, and then use a smaller interval as it s revving up to take off. To specify frame rate of a layer, edit the layer name (by double-clicking on the layer name in the Layers dialog) and give the layer a name that ends with a millisecond interval (in parentheses). The name might look something like: biplane 3 (200ms). You can also add (combine) or (replace) after the layer name to indicate that the current layer should combine with what s in the previous frame without replacing it, or should replace everything. The name now might look like: biplane 3 (200ms)(replace). If you use File . Open to open the animated GIF you saved, and look at the Layers dialog, you ll find that the GIMP will now show the frames with names such as Frame 8 (200ms). Rather than edit each frame to insert the interval, it s usually easiest simply to open the GIF, and then change the few layers where you want to use a different interval. Filters . Animation . Optimize (for GIF) will also insert intervals in each layer name; but it s hardwired to 100ms, so it s not very helpful if you want most frames to have a different interval. Now that you know how to make a biplane land and take off again, it s not that much harder to make it loop. You d need to start with a taller blank image, of course (or use Image . Canvas Size, which you ll learn about in Chapter 4). Then use the Rotate tool on each layer before you move it to the right place. I m sure you can think of other fun animation projects as well. The sky s the limit. Summary By now you should be very comfortable with using layers to make new images. You keep your Layers dialog visible and you know how to use it. You ve used layers for newly created text, and for objects pasted or dragged from other images. You know how to link several layers together to move them as a group, and apply transforms or other GIMP operations to a single layer. In addition, you ve learned some basic GIMP tools such as the Move tool and the color chooser. You re ready for anything. With that in mind, it s time to lighten up a bit, take what you ve learned about layers, and apply that knowledge to a really fun aspect of the GIMP: drawing.
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114 CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS Figure 3-40. The dialogs involved with saving a GIF animation First is the normal Save a Copy dialog; type a file name ending in .gif here, or use the menu to select the GIF file type. This leads to the GIF Export dialog. It reminds you there are multiple layers, and asks you whether to merge all the layers into a single still image or create an animation. Merging is the default; you will have to check the box for animation each time you save, unfortunately. The GIF Export dialog is also the one controlling conversion to indexed mode. You can make your animation file smaller if you convert the image to indexed mode first, as was discussed in Chapter 2. If you ve dragged any of your layers beyond the image borders, you may get a warning like the one shown. It doesn t do any harm; if you see this, just click OK. Finally you get the important dialog: Save as GIF. This offers several animation options. Loop forever is on by default. You can make your animation play once then stop, or loop back to the beginning once it gets to the end. Delay between frames controls the speed of the animation. The default is 100 milliseconds (1/10 of a second), but you can make the animation run slower or faster if you choose. Frame disposal can usually be set to I don t care, as long as you ve made each frame opaque, as in this example. If you do care, the choices are Cumulative layers (combine) and One frame per layer (replace). This option only makes a difference if you make an animation with transparent frames: it lets you control whether previous frames are erased before drawing the next.
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CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS 113 Test Your Animation Check your work: the GIMP should show only the last frame, but if you turn visibility off for the top layer, you should see the next frame down; turn off visibility for that layer too, and you ll see the next layer; and so on. Tip You can also Shift-click on a layer in the Layers dialog to see only that layer, and turn off visibility on all other layers. Another Shift-click brings the other layers back. Now turn them all back on. It s time to test the animation! The GIMP has a very basic animation player in Filters . Animation . Playback… (Figure 3-39). It has a play/stop button, rewind button, and step button. But that should at least give you an idea of how well your animation is working. Don t worry if it s too fast. You can control that in the next step. Figure 3-39. Animation playback Animation for the Web: Save as GIF Now, if you save a copy of the image as a GIF, you get a series of dialogs (Figure 3-40).
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112 CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS Figure 3-38. Layers dialog after merging the first layer into Background copy and raising Background copy #1 to be under Pasted Layer #1 Then right-click on the layer with transparency (probably Pasted Layer #1 ) and Merge Down. Continue this process, making a copy of the background layer, moving it up to just below the first layer that still has transparency, and then merging the transparent layer down until you get to the last frame. If you find it easier, of course you could create the appropriate number of background copies all at once, move them to the right spots, then merge each plane down into its respective background. It s a matter of preference. You may notice that at each step, one more plane disappears in the image the GIMP is showing you. This is because each time you add the sky background, that layer becomes opaque, so you can no longer see the airplanes in the layers below it. Clicking the visibility button on a few layers should convince you that your planes are still there. Once you re finished merging the sky into all your frames, you should probably turn off visibility on the background frame or delete it, unless you want your animation to start with an empty blue sky.
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CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS 111 Figure 3-37. Merge the first pasted layer with the Background copy. At this point, the first biplane layer has a background of its own, and the combined layer is called Background copy. Now go to Background and make another duplicate ( Background copy #1 ). This time, use the Raise button once to raise it so that it s underneath the next layer which still has transparency (Figure 3-38). You can tell which layers have transparency from looking at the layer thumbnail. The checkerboard pattern GIMP uses to indicate transparency is visible in the thumbnails, as in Figure 3-38.
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110 CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS Give Each Frame Its Own Background The final step is to add in the sky on each frame. The frames depict a biplane on a transparent background. But in the final animation, each frame will replace the previous one, so each frame needs its own copy of the sky. This is tedious, but straightforward. In the Layers dialog, select the background layer and do a Duplicate layer. This will create a new layer called Background copy (Figure 3-36). Figure 3-36. Create a copy of the background. Now right-click on the first layer above Background copy and select Merge Down (Figure 3-37).
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