Help using The GIMP.

I've been trying to color in lineart using The GIMP, but I can't get the layering features to work right. I'm following directions in my book about how to do it in PhotoShop, but the method seems to be different in GIMP.

Unfortunately, I can't get the help feature to work, so I don't know what to do.

GIMP is a little different from Photoshop, mainly because of its strange linux-style layout. Alternatively, you could use Gimpshop -a modification of Gimp to make it look and feel more like Photoshop. You can download and install this as a seperate program. Another option is the exellent (and also free) Paint.NET, a program much like Photoshop, with all the basic tools and funtions that Photoshop has.

Gimp, however is the most advanced, if you can get past the learning curve. As far as technical information go, photoshop books won't be of much help, it's just too different.

However, since I have been experimenting with the program, I'll just check what can be done about your problem...

Lets see...

Say you want to colour your line-art... start by opening your line-art pic in Gimp. In the layer window, click the little icon representing a dog-eared piece of paper in the lower part of the layer window. this will create a new layer, be sure to set "background" to "white". Now drag this new layer -in the layer window- below the layer containing your line art.
Select the line-art layer and set it to "Multiply"
Now select the white layer again, and yet again create a new layer, with background set to "transparancy". This layer will be in between the two, and will be the layer on which your colour will go. You can create different layers for different colour sections if you like, and merge them together when you're done.
The white layer should just be left alone at the bottom of the stack, as it only serves as a backing, since GIMP seems to do strange things when superimposing a "multiply" layer over a transparent layer (mine displays an entirely black picture)

Also make sure you got the latest version of GIMP, mine is the 2.6.2 (diplays a pic of a planet in space at startup).

Let me know if you got other questions.

You could try the gimp book

http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/

Interesting link! A pity though the GIMP Book seems already 8 years old (printed in 2000), GIMP has changed a lot since then...

Stupid question, but how do I open the layer window?

Normally, the layer window should be open at startup. (there should be three windows in total: Main window, Tools window, and Layer window) If by accident you closed down a window, go to the main window, in the tob bar, and click on Windows. from the drop down menu, select Dockable Dialogs, and click on layers. The layer window should now appear.
Alternatively, you can use the hotkey combination [Ctrl]+[L] to get the same result.

Hope this helps...

scavenger said:

Interesting link! A pity though the GIMP Book seems already 8 years old (printed in 2000), GIMP has changed a lot since then...

Click to expand...

Here's the official, up to date GIMP user manual.

OK, two more questions:

1. How do I know if I'm on the right layer to start coloring on?

2. How do I make it so I can actually color? I'm only getting black and white.

Larcen Tyler said:

OK, two more questions:

1. How do I know if I'm on the right layer to start coloring on?

2. How do I make it so I can actually color? I'm only getting black and white.

Click to expand...

1: click on the layer of your choice in the layer window; it's name will be highlighted, indicating it's been selected as the layer that you currently work on. Remember what I said about creating new layers? You can also click-and-hold a layer, and drag it abover or beneath another layer, a quick way to move layers around.

2: Okay... first make sure you're in RGB mode, and not in Grayscale (which might be the case if you scanned you're line art in black and white) In the main window, go to Image>Mode> and check if RGB is selected. If not, do so.
Next you need to pick a color.
In the tools window you see two overlapping boxes: By default the front one is black, the back one is white. The front one is always the colour used for your brush, to switch them rapidly, press [X]. Clicking on either one of them brings up the color picker. Best to play around with it a bit, to get aquinted with it. There's several different versions of the color picker selectable, the first one being very similar to that of photoshop. Select your color of choice, and click OK.

There you go.

I can't believe it's so complicated to do all this. I'll give it a try, but will I be able to see the lineart I'm coloring in somehow?

Yeah, sure. If you do it as I said, you'll see your lineart layer and be able to see through it at the layer you're coloring on. For the coloration itself use one of the many generic tutorials out there. By no means use the paint bucket tool on your lineart itself. Most of the time it looks awful, and it's a bad way to learn to color.

It does look complicated, but so does Photoshop at first. Any software, really. You get used to it, and step by step you master the software.
I'd be cool to have an exclusively Gimp using artist in our community, though! Open Source rules!!