Background colour in GIMP

C

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
Hey,

I may concievably be being a muppet, but does anyone know of somewhere someone has posted instructions on how to manipulate the background of an image in GIMP? I can do the basics now (crop, montage), but I\'d really like to be able to change the background to a single colour as well.

Thanks in advance,
Cybersquig
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
Well, I\'m not at the computer that has it, but I believe you\'d need to have the image on one layer and the background on another. The image layer would have to have some transparency so one could see through it.

I\'ll try to remember tonight when I get home to see if I can come up with some quick tips.
 
Einion

Einion

New member
I\'m sure this must have been explained before even if there\'s no article on it. It\'s not difficult usually, but it can take time depending on the intricacy of the mini or groundwork.

So, basically you have the background colour/grad on a layer above the photo of the mini with space for the mini to show through deleted out of the middle of it.

Alternatively you have the grad/colour on a layer below the photo of the mini and erase around the mini to reveal what\'s underneath.

The best way to do the deletion/erasing of the unwanted areas is generally to use a Layer Mask, which I presume GIMP has in it now.

Einion
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
Okay, quick background on backgrounds. I\'m going to assume you\'ve got a picture of a mini that you want to put a background to. I\'m not going to go into the details on how to get those to the correct size, so assume you\'ve got two images both 500 pixels square. One image is the mini, the other the background you want.

And another caveat: There are other ways of doing this. I\'m trying to write the simplest way I found.

Starting with a new picture from Gimp (500 pixels square), the first layer (Ctrl-L) you\'ll have is the Background layer. Delete this layer. In the background image, select all, copy, and then paste it into the new image, and you now have your background layer.

Now, go to the mini image. If you can select JUST the mini, you\'re ahead of the game. It might be easier to erase everything but the mini before copying it. If you can select just the mini, do so then copy and then Paste Into. This will add a phantom layer with the mini in it. Move it to the location you want, then in the layers window, hit new layer. This will fix it in place.

With that, you should have what you want.
 
C

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
ok I\'ve had a chance to have a look at that tutorial now. (it\'s been a while becuase I only have internet access at work, and there\'s work at work).

Fantastic! what a great little resource! That helped me understand gradients in particular. Marvellous marvellous marvellous! thanks :)

It still takes me an age to select the background though, even when it\'s just the back and sides of my light box thingy...I don\'t suppose theres a quick way of doing that rather than just drawing out parts which the initial selections don\'t pick up?

also...is there a way of opening multiple images without going file open? (for wierd reasons I can\'t access my personal area on the college network through gimp, and the only way I can open the pics I want is by right clicking and selecting \'open with\', but that opens each picture in a different programme, each with its own gimp bar etc. weird!

Cool tutorial though, I\'m getting there wiuth this stuff, thanks!
 
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War Griffon

New member
Look in the articles here on CMON I did a basic GIMP tutorial not so long back including getting started with it, changing the background etc :D

I have been meaning to do a more advanced one about gradients etc but haven\'t got around to it yet due to work loading but read and try the article I did and the rest should fall into place as a matter of experimentation :D
 
L

Legacy Account

Active member
Originally posted by cybersquig

Fantastic! what a great little resource!
Click to expand...

Adobe Captivate! I spent hours knocking together the Photoshop tutes in my sig. I can have something like that GIMP tute done, dusted and published to the web in 5 minutes. Awesome bit of software :)
 
L

Legacy Account

Active member
The tool boxes are all adjustable and you can dock individual elements onto the bottom of other palettes by dragging and dropping.

Aint got Captivate at home and I\'m too pissed or I\'d do a tute for you! lol
 
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War Griffon

New member
Also if you create new fades to be used as backgrounds you can save them as well, much easier to do in GIMP than Photoshop .

In GIMP you can choose the start and stop of the fade rather than just have to take what Photoshop gives you.
 
Einion

Einion

New member
Originally posted by cybersquig
It still takes me an age to select the background though, even when it\'s just the back and sides of my light box thingy...I don\'t suppose theres a quick way of doing that rather than just drawing out parts which the initial selections don\'t pick up?
Click to expand...
Don\'t think so. In Photoshop, even with third-party selection plugins the best edges are often still obtained by the tedious-and-slow method!
Originally posted by cybersquig
also...is there a way of opening multiple images without going file open?
Click to expand...
Drag and drop work?

Einion
 
L

Legacy Account

Active member
Originally posted by War Griffon
Also if you create new fades to be used as backgrounds you can save them as well, much easier to do in GIMP than Photoshop .

In GIMP you can choose the start and stop of the fade rather than just have to take what Photoshop gives you.
Click to expand...

You\'ve been able to do all that in Photoshop since before GIMP was even invented.... :D
 
W

War Griffon

New member
I\'ve not been able to work that one out in Photoshop Scott, It just seemed so much easier using GIMP :)
Perhaps it was just me having a blonde moment...
 
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