On 3/29/2019 7:51 PM, Vic Baron wrote:
New to Gimp, downloaded to MAC ... now looking for tutorials for basic product label making... very frustrating as most i see is for pc , and the screen doesn't match what I'm seeing on my screen (mac pro),so im hardly learning much.
Searching on YouTube for "GIMP Mac" does return a few hits, such as this
one:
https://youtu.be/GsY8Md-qMyw
As far as I can tell, GIMP on Mac is similar to GIMP on Windows or
Linux. Of course, on a Mac, the menus of an app is at the top of the
screen, rather than at the top of the app's window, but that's a Mac vs
Windows difference, not specific to GIMP.
In older versions of GIMP, the UI consists of multiple, independently-positionable windows, as you can see in the video above.
That was one thing that bugged some people. In GIMP 2.8, a single-window
mode was introduced. In that mode, what used to be multiple windows are
now dockable dialogs within a single window, which the user can
reorganize to his/her preference. This brought GIMP more in line with
the expectation of users familiar with other image editors, such as
PhotoShop. The toggle to switch on/off single-window mode is under the
Windows menu.
To use GIMP effectively and not get confused, it pays to first
understand some concepts and object models used in GIMP.
This article contains a picture showing the different dialogs docked in
the areas on the left and right sides of the window. When multiple
dialogs are docked in the same panel, they are shown as tabs within the
panel.
You should understand the following basics:
1. An image consists of one or more layers, which are stacked on top of
one another.
2. Each layer can be made visible/invisible. (In the "Layers" dialog,
located at the upper right part of the window by default, the toggle
that controls the visibility of a layer has an icon shaped like an eye.)
3. The opacity of each layer is adjustable.
4. When a multi-layer image is rendered for display, each layer can be
combined with the stack of visible layers below it using one of many
modes. E.g. in Normal mode, a (fully or partially opaque) layer is
combined with the layer below the same way you'd expect when overlaying
a transparency over a printed picture. There are other combining modes
as well.
5. Each layer consists of a number of channels. For color pictures, the
number is usually 3 or 4 (red, green, blue, and optionally alpha (i.e. opacity)). If a layer has an alpha channel, each pixel individually has
its own opacity value. This is independent of the opacity setting of the
layer as a whole.
6. Each layer can have a layer mask, which is like a associated
grayscale image whose pixel values controls the visibility of
corresponding pixels in the main image in the layer. (Note that a layer
mask is a separate thing than the alpha channel.)
7. Each layer can have different dimensions.
8. Some operations affect the image as a whole. They are located under
the Image menu. For example, if you crop the image, all layers are
affected (cropped).
9. Some operations affect only the current active layer. They are
located under the Layer menu. Most of the operations accessible via the
icons in the Toolbox dialog (upper left of screen usually) affect only
the current active layer. The Toolbox dialog provides shortcuts to
operations available through the menus.
10. Operations that affect the color/brightness of the (active layer)
are located under the Color menu. If you need to fix color or exposure
problems of an image. Many of the operations you'll use will be located
there.
11. GIMP has its own native file format, which preserves the layer
structure and settings of an image. It's good for saving work in
progress for later resumption. That, however, is not a file format used
for other purposes e.g. for webpages, printing etc. The "Save"
operations in GIMP refers specifically to saving in GIMP's own format
(.xcf).
12. To save an image in formats usable by other programs (e.g. JPEG,
PNG), the operation is considered as an export. So after editing, if you
want to save the current image as a JPEG file, you use one of the export options under the File menu. Note that when you export an image, the
individual layers and their settings are not in the exported file. You
may want to do a "save" in addition, particularly if you want to
continue to do more editing later.
13. In GIMP 2.10, support for "linear light" editing has been added. I'd recommend against using it. I'd recommend sticking with "perceptual
gamma", at least a a beginner.
Hopefully the above will help make it easier to learn to use GIMP. You
don't need tutorials specifically designed for the Mac. Tutorials based
on Linux and Windows versions are fine, expect perhaps when it comes to detailed steps of installation.
Good luck and happy editing!
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