Photo-Editing

Photo-editing with GIMP

GIMP 2 is a free open source photo editing application that can be downloaded from http://www.gimp.org/. Make sure that you read the directions at http://www.gimp.org/downloads/INSTALL. There are more things to install than just the GIMP application. The install document above will guide you through the process.

GIMP is generally described as being comparable to Adobe Photoshop. There is far more than I can teach in one course, so consider the GIMP User Guide at http://docs.gimp.org/en/ when you want to learn how to do more than the basics covered here.

The GIMP operates in a series of windows. The main GIMP window has several tools and the configuration area for each tool when it is selected. This window also has the menu bar to open photos. The Layers, Channels, and Patterns, etc. window has other options for managing layers and certain tool functions. If you click the red X button in the upper right corner of the layers window, you will just close that window and it won't open up with GIMP again until you go into the options to correct that error. If you click the Red X button on the main GIMP window, then you will close all GIMP windows.

To open a photo, click on the **File** button in the Main GIMP window and choose **Open**. The Open Image window will appear with a choice of places to look for the image. Choose the desktop or drive that the image is in and keep double-clicking the folders that you open until you get to the image that you want. Then double-click the image that you want to open.

The image will open in a separate window also. The Image window has the menu bar that you can use to manipulate the photo or you can use the tool buttons that are in the Main GIMP window.

There are some procedures that I use the menu bar to do and some procedures that I use the tool buttons to do.


 * Simple Image Management Procedures**

__Resizing a photo__


 * 1) To Resize a photo, click on the **Image** menu button in the Image window. Then select **Scale Image**. This will allow you to change the size of the photo.
 * 2) Click in the **Width** field and type a smaller number than the one that was there.
 * 3) Click the little button that looks like a link of chains between the **Width** field and the **Height** field. That will automatically change the height to stay in proportion to the width.
 * 4) Click the **Scale** button and the picture will change to the smaller size.

You can also resize the picture by percentage. In the field that has **Pixels** selected, click the down arrow and choose **Percentage**. Then change the width by typing the percentage that you want the new size to be and you can click the chains to keep the height in proportion.

The resolution will generally just stay at 72 pixels per inch. Making it larger just makes the file size bulkier. For Internet and use in documents, 72 is just fine. If you want higher quality photos, then change it to 150 or 300 pixels per inch.

Most pictures for the Internet work best at 640x480 pixels or 800x600 pixels. Changing the picture to that size will help keep the file size down so that it downloads more quickly.

__Changing the quality of the image__

Changing the physical size by itself won't always affect the file size very much. There is a quality setting that you can choose when you save an image. Click on **File**, then **Save as**. You can do that in the main GIMP window or in the Image window. Anytime that you change an image, you want to change the name of the file. That will preserve the original file and its quality. I also recommend that you keep your digital camera set at the highest quality settings that you can. It is easy to lower the quality of a digital picture. You really can't increase the quality to a higher level than the original, so if you always take the picture at the highest quality and always save a changed image as a new file name, your original picture will remain as good as possible.


 * 1) Go to **File**, then **Save as**.
 * 2) Change the name of the file and find the folder that you want to save it into.
 * 3) Click the **plus sign** next to the file type and select the type of file that you want the photo to be (jpg or gif, see explanation below)
 * 4) Click the **Save** button.
 * 5) A quality window will appear. (For Internet and most documents, select 60% -70%. For printing, 90-100 percent)
 * 6) Click **OK**

That quality setting will have the biggest impact on the file size. Choose a lower quality setting for Internet pictures because they download quicker and the quality is less important. Choose a higher quality setting for images that you want to print and share the photos. Different file types also compress different types of pictures better than others. **GIF** files compress drawn pictures or cartoon pictures with minor uncomplicated color transitions best. **JPG** files compress photos with more complex color transitions best.

__Cropping an image__

You can crop certain areas of an image by clicking the Crop tool in the main GIMP window. The crop tool looks like a precision knife.
 * 1) Click the **Crop** tool.
 * 2) Move the mouse to the image window and click the left mouse button at the place where you want one of the corners to be located. The Crop image window will open over the image window.
 * 3) Click the title bar of the Image window to bring it back to the front and click and hold the mouse on the opposing corner of the crop selection handles.
 * 4) Drag that handle diagonally to the place where you want it to be located.
 * 5) Release the mouse button.
 * 6) Adjust the crop selection area so that all components that you want to keep are located inside the crop selection area.
 * 7) Click the blue title bar on the Crop image window and then click the button that is labeled Crop.


 * Select areas in a photo**

You can select areas in a photo to manipulate just those areas.


 * 1) Click the **Rectangular selection area** button to select a rectangular area within the photo that you want to work with.
 * 2) Move the mouse over to the image window, then click and drag the mouse diagonally across the image until the rectangle includes everything that you want to include.
 * 3) Release the mouse and the square selection icon below and to the right of the mouse pointer will change to a four-headed arrow.

Click the mouse with the four-headed arrow beside it to move the whole selected area to a new spot.


 * 1) You can also copy the selected area and paste it as a new image.
 * 2) Click on **File**, then move the mouse over **Acquire** and click on **From Clipboard**.

The selected area will open in a new window as a new image.

You can do the same thing with the round elliptical selection tool to select round areas within an image.

If you want to place a person or object in a new picture, then use the toolbutton that looks like a pair of scissors following a path. That is the **Select Shapes** from an image button. You click that button on the edge of the object that you want to select and then click again right next to it and again next to the last until you have drawn a series of dots around the object connected by a line. When you get back to the beginning of your shape, click on the first dot that you made. That will complete the shape. Then click the mouse inside the shape and the dotted line will be replaced by a dashed line. Then go to **Edit**, and **Copy**. Open a new image and click on **Edit**, then **Paste**. That will paste the shape into a new image. The edges can be sharp which makes it obvious that the image has been retouched. You can soften those edges buy clicking the eraser tool and tracing the edges with a fuzzy brush.


 * Adjusting the Appearance of a Photo**

You can make adjustments to the general appearance of a photo.

Each time that you release the sliding arrow, you will notice that the image changes. If you don't like the change, then you can move the arrow back, or you can click the **Reset** button.
 * 1) Click the **Layer** menu button on the menu bar in the image window.
 * 2) Move the mouse over the option **Colors**, then click on the option that slides out labeled **Levels**.
 * 3) Move one of the extreme left or right sliding arrows under the **Input** graph toward the spot where the graph begins to show a dramatic rise in the color levels.
 * 4) Release the sliding arrow and move the other outside arrow to the nearest spot where the graph shows a dramatic rise also.
 * 5) Click **OK**, if you like the changes.

You can move the middle slider to the right or left to change the image also. You can also move the **Output Level's** sliders to adjust the image's appearance.

Click **Layer**, then move the mouse over **Colors** and try the other color adjustment tools.


 * Specialized Adjustments**

You can use the clone tool to copy portions of the photo and paste them in other places to cover up blemishes or other portions of a photo.


 * 1) Click the **clone** button in the main Gimp window. It looks like a rubber stamp.
 * 2) Move the mouse over the image to the area that you want to copy from.
 * 3) Hold the **Ctrl** button and click where the area that you want to copy begins.
 * 4) Move the mouse over the area that you want to cover and click the left mouse button.
 * 5) Move the mouse over the whole area that you want to cover up and click the mouse each time before you move on.

Clone Tool options

You can adjust some of the options that help you manage the clone tool. The section of the clone tool options titled **Alignment** will change how the selected copy area behaves. **Nonaligned** will anchor the selected copy area to one spot. No matter where you click the mouse, the copy area will not move. If you choose the **Aligned** option the selected copy area will move according where you move the mouse after your first click to paste the colors. Most of the time, I prefer to use the Aligned option.

The brush selection tool can also affect how the clone tool works. A large brush can make work go faster, but a smaller tool allows you to make more detailed adjustments. The shape of the area that you are covering can determine whether you want to use a circular brush or a rectangular brush. The changes could be more detailed and less noticeable if you use a feathered brush, but a larger area can be covered more quickly using a hard edge brush.

You can also select a certain area of the picture and copy it, then paste the selected area over the part that you want to cover.

If you want to place a person or object in a new picture, then use the toolbutton that looks like a pair of scissors following a path. That is the select shapes from an image button. You click that button on the edge of the object that you want to select and then click again right next to it and again next to the last until you have drawn a series of dots around the object connected by a line. When you get back to the beginning of your shape, click on the first dot that you made. That will complete the shape. Then click the mouse inside the shape and the dotted line will be replaced by a dashed line. Then go to Edit, and Copy. Open a new image and click on Edit, then Paste. That will paste the shape into a new image. The edges can be sharp which makes it obvious that the image has been retouched. You can soften those edges buy clicking the eraser tool and tracing the edges with a fuzzy brush.

__Adding Special Text__


 * 1) Click the **T** (for text) in the main GIMP window tool frame.
 * 2) Click the mouse on the photo in the upper left corner of the place where you would like the text to begin.
 * 3) An **Edit text** window will appear. Type the text in that **Edit text** window.

You can change the font, font size, color, etc in tool controls frame below the tools frame. You can move the text by clicking the four headed arrow (Move tool), then click the mouse on one letter and drag the text to the area where it looks best.

__Applying a 3-D bump to the text__


 * 1) Click the text to make sure it is selected.
 * 2) Click the menu item labeled **Filters**.
 * 3) Choose the option **Blur**, then **Gaussian blur**.
 * 4) In the Gaussian blur window bump the **blur radius** down from 5 (default) to about 2. Click **OK**.
 * 5) Click the menu item labeled **Script-Fu**.
 * 6) Choose the option **Decor**, then **Add Bevel**.
 * 7) In the Script-Fu: Add Bevel window put a checkmark next to **Keep Bump Layer**.
 * 8) You can bump the thickness up from 5 (default) if you would like, or keep it the same. A new image window will appear.
 * 9) Click the title bar at the top of the new image window and move the image until you can see the Layers window with 3 layers.
 * 10) Click the **Bump Layer** to select the Bump layer and then click the button farthest to the left. That will make the layer appear over the rest of the layers.
 * 11) Click that **Bump Layer** again then click the Menu item labeled **Layer**.
 * 12) Go down to the option **Transparency**, then choose **Color to Alpha**.
 * 13) Click the **From:** color button to select the correct color (Default is black) to make it transparent.
 * 14) Click the color box at the farthest down and to the left as possible, then click **OK**.
 * 15) The preview screen should show the text as white and the rest as transparent.
 * 16) Click **OK** in the Color to Alpha window.
 * 17) Click the **Move** button (four headed arrow) in the main window.
 * 18) Click on the text and drag the text down and to the left just a little bit until you can see the bump to the upper right of the letters.

If you have trouble changing the black to transparent, you can cancel the Color to Alpha window and go back to the menu item labeled **Layers**, select **Colors**, and then select **Invert**. That will make the layer a negative. Then go back to step 11 - 16, but instead of changing black to transparent, you will want to change white to transparent. If that works, you will want to go back to the **Layers** button on the menu bar and select **Colors** and **Invert** to change the bump layer back to the way it was. The transparent area will stay transparent, but the black text bump will revert back to white like it was before you inverted it the first time.

Save the image in the new image window. Then you can close the old image window without saving to preserve the original image.


 * 1) Go to **File**, then **Save as**.
 * 2) Change the name of the file and find the folder that you want to save it into.
 * 3) Click the **plus sign** next to the file type and select the type of file that you want the photo to be (jpg or gif)
 * 4) Click the **Save** button.
 * 5) A quality window will appear. (For Internet and most documents, select 60% -70%. For printing, 90-100 percent)
 * 6) Click **OK**.