CHAPTER 2 IMPROVING DIGITAL PHOTOS Caution The (X web hosting)

CHAPTER 2 IMPROVING DIGITAL PHOTOS Caution The + and keys on the numeric keypad may not work. If they don t, use the ones on the regular keyboard. On some earlier versions of the GIMP, zooming in used = instead of + (on most US keyboards, = is the unshifted version of +, and so is easier to type). Remember, you can always change these key bindings, as described in Chapter 1 in the section User Interface and Keyboard Shortcuts. Scaling an image is easy, and it s an important operation when you re sharing images with other people. For many images, scaling may be the only operation you need. But if you plan other operations that may affect image size, such as rotation or cropping, do them first. Scaling should usually be the last thing you do when you re editing an image; that way, you have the greatest control over the image s exact final size. The exception that proves the rule is a very slow machine. If you scale the image first, subsequent operations will go much faster. However, you ll find that this matters only with very slow machines or very large images! The Scale Tool Most of the time, Image . Scale is perfect for rescaling an image. But there s another way of scaling: the Scale tool. You ll find it in the Toolbox next to the Rotate tool, or through the menu Tools . Transform Tools . Scale. This tool lets you scale interactively: with the tool selected, click anywhere in the image to activate it, and then drag from any corner of the image into the image. The Scale tool is a bit trickier to use than Image . Scale… for a couple of reasons. First, you have to remember to click in the tool to start the operation. Second, it only scales the current layer, not the whole image, and it doesn t change the image size at the end. Third, by default it doesn t maintain the layer s original aspect ratio. You may end up with a funhouse mirror version of your image where everything looks tall and skinny or short and fat. Keep aspect in the tool options can fix that (there are also options to keep height while varying width, and vice versa). For digital photo operations, you probably won t want to use the Scale tool. But keep it in mind for later when you re using lots of layers and doing crazy things to them. It might be just the ticket then, as it does have the advantage of giving a live preview of what the image will look like when scaled. Sometimes that s awfully helpful. Saving Files Image editing is just like any other type of document editing: once you ve made any significant change to a file, you should save it. It s smart to save your work frequently, in case of a computer crash or other disaster. The GIMP uses Control+S as the keyboard shortcut for File . Save, just like most word- processing programs. If the image already has a file name, that s a quick way to save your work. If you ve edited an original image, modified it, and now want to save to a new file name, use File . Save As… (Figure 2-4). You ll also see this dialog the first time you save a new image.
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