1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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# This is a list of tips for the GIMP. Every time the GIMP is
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# started, one tip will be selected from this file and will be
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# displayed in the "Tip of the day" dialog.
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#
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# - Lines starting with '#' are comments.
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# - Blank lines or comments separate two tips (they are not ignored).
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# Multiple blank lines are treated as one. If you want to have a
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# blank line in a tip, put a space or tab in it.
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# - Text will appear in the dialog as it is in this file. This is
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# done on purpose in order to have more freedom in the layout of the
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# tips than with automatic word-wrapping, but this also means that
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# you have to avoid excessively long lines in this file.
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# - Tips should be concise: 3 lines or less.
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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# - Advice for translators to other languages: keep the original tips
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# as comments before the translated tips. It will be easier for
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# other people to check for changes or additions.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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#
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# Tips in this file have been contributed by Zachary Beane, Mo Oishi,
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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# Raphael Quinet, Sven Neumann, Carey Bunks and other people on the
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# gimp mailing lists and newsgroup (comp.graphics.apps.gimp).
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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# --------------------------------------------------------------------
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# The first tip should be a welcome message, because this is the
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# first thing that a new user will see.
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#
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Welcome to the GIMP !
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Nearly all image operations are performed by right-clicking
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on the image. And don't worry, you can undo most mistakes...
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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# Tips for beginners start here
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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# (for people who are not familiar yet with layers and image formats)
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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#
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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You can get context-sensitive help for most of the GIMP's features by
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pressing the F1 key at any time. This also works inside the menus.
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The GIMP uses layers to let you organize your image. Think of them
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as a stack of slides or filters, such that looking through them you
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1998-04-13 04:54:23 +08:00
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see a composite of their contents.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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You can perform many layer operations by right-clicking on the text
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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label of a layer in the "Layers, Channels and Paths" dialog
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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When you save an image to work on it again later, try using XCF,
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the GIMP's native file format (use the file extension ".xcf").
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This preserves the layers and every aspect of your work-in-progress.
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Once a project is completed, you can save it as JPEG, PNG, GIF, ...
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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The layer named "Background" it special because it lacks transparency.
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This prevents you from adding a layer mask or moving the layer up in
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the stack. You may add transparency to it by right-clicking in the
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"Layers, Channels and Paths" dialog and selecting "Add Alpha Channel".
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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Most plug-ins work on the current layer of the current image. In
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some cases, you will have to merge all layers (Layers->Flatten Image)
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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if you want the plug-in to work on the whole image.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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Not all effects can be applied to all kinds of images. This is
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indicated by a grayed-out menu-entry. You may need to change
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the image mode to RGB (Image->Mode->RGB), add an alpha-channel
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(Layers->Add Alpha Channel) or flatten it (Layers->Flatten Image).
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1998-04-27 00:16:04 +08:00
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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# Tips for intermediate users start here
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#
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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You can drag and drop many things in the GIMP. For example, dragging
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a color from the toolbox or from a color palette and dropping it into
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an image will fill the current image or selection with that color.
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When using a drawing tool (Paintbrush, Airbrush, or Pencil),
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Shift-click will draw a straight line from your last drawing
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point to your current cursor position. If you also press Ctrl,
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the line will be constrained to 15 degree angles.
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The file selection dialog box has command-line completion with
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Tab, just like the shell. Type part of a filename, hit tab, and voila!
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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It's completed.
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You can reassign shortcut keys on any menu by bringing up the menu,
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selecting a menu item, and pressing the new shortcut key combination.
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This is dynamic and is saved when you exit GIMP.
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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You can use the middle mouse button to pan around
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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the image, if it's larger than its display window.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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Click and drag on a ruler to place a Guide on an image. All
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dragged selections will snap to the guides. You can remove
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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guides by dragging them off the image with the Move tool.
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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You can drag a layer from the "Layers, Channels and Paths" dialog
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and drop it onto the toolbox. This will create a new image
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containing only that layer.
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A Floating Selection must be anchored to a new layer or to the last
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active layer before doing other operations on the image. Click on the
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New Layer or Anchor Layer buttons in the "Layers, Channels and Paths"
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dialog, or use the menus to do the same.
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The GIMP supports gzip compression on the fly. Just add
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".gz" (or ".bz2", if you have bzip2 installed) to the filename
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and your image will be saved compressed. Of course loading
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1998-04-19 20:19:24 +08:00
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compressed images works too.
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1998-04-15 03:24:23 +08:00
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Pressing and holding the Shift key before making a selection allows
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you to add to the current selection instead of replacing it. Using
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1998-05-15 15:56:23 +08:00
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Ctrl before making a selection subtracts from the current one.
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1998-04-15 03:24:23 +08:00
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You can press or release the Shift and Ctrl keys while you are
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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making a selection in order to constrain it to a perfect square
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1998-04-15 03:24:23 +08:00
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or circle, or to have it centered on its starting point.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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Using Edit->Stroke allows you to draw simple squares or circles by
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painting the edge of your current selection with the active brush.
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More complex shapes can be drawn with Filters->Render->Gfig.
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If you stroke a path (Edit->Stroke), the current drawing tool and its
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settings are used. You can use the Paintbrush in gradient mode, the
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Clone tool with a pattern or even the Eraser or the Smudge tool.
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You can create and edit complex selections using the Bezier tool.
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The "Paths" tab in the "Layers, Channels and Paths" dialog allows
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you to work on multiple paths and to convert them to selections.
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You can use the paint tools to change the selection. Click on the
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Quick Mask button at the bottom left of an image window. Change your
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selection by painting in the image and click on the button again to
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convert it back to a normal selection.
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You can save a selection to a channel (Select->Save to Channel) and
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then modify this channel with any paint tools. Using the buttons in
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the "Channels" tab of the "Layers, Channels and Paths" dialog, you can
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toggle the visibility of this new channel or convert it to a selection.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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# Tips for advanced users start here
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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# (this is mostly for learning shortcut keys)
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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#
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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If your screen is too cluttered, you can press Tab multiple times
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in an image window to hide or show the toolbox and other dialogs.
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You can adjust the selection range for fuzzy select
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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by clicking and dragging left and right.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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Shift-click on the eye icon in the Layers dialog to hide all
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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layers but that one. Shift-click again to show all layers.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Ctrl-click on the layer mask's preview in the Layers dialog
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toggles the effect of the layer mask.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Alt-click on the layer mask's preview in the Layers dialog
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toggles viewing the mask directly.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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You can use Alt-Tab to cycle through all layers in an image
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(if your window manager doesn't trap those keys...).
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Shift-click with the Bucket Fill tool to have it use
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the background color instead of the foreground color.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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Control-drag with the Transform tool in rotation mode
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will constrain the rotation to 15 degree angles.
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1997-11-25 06:05:25 +08:00
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You can adjust and re-place a selection by using Alt-drag.
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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If your fonts turn out blocky, that's because they're not scalable
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fonts. Most X servers support scalable Type 1 Postscript fonts.
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Download and install them. Some font servers allow you to use
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TrueType (.ttf) fonts, which are also scalable.
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2000-06-08 18:43:58 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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To create a perfect circle, hold Shift while doing an ellipse select. To
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place a circle precisely, drag horizontal and vertical guides tangent to
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1998-10-01 00:31:17 +08:00
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the circle you want to select, place your cursor at the intersection
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1998-04-13 19:05:41 +08:00
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of the guides, and the resulting selection will just touch the guides.
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1998-04-13 04:54:23 +08:00
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2000-06-06 06:08:45 +08:00
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If some of your scanned photos do not look colorful enough, you can
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easily improve their tonal range with the "Auto" button in the Levels
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tool (Image->Colors->Levels). If there are any color casts, you can
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correct them with the Curves tool (Image->Colors->Curves).
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1998-04-15 03:24:23 +08:00
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# (end of tips)
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1998-04-13 04:54:23 +08:00
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