De (D. A.) Clarke
GIMP baby step 2
You know how it is when you discover a new software
tool with a thousand menus and options and features...
gotta play! As soon as I could I sat down with GIMP
again for a second try. But this time I actually
found the massive PDF manual written by some kind
people in Sweden, and skimmed it. Most of it went
right over my head, but a few basic concepts
trickled in, like "what's an image" and "what's
a layered image" and "how does selection work."
So the tools I played with in this picture were:
- Text and fonts again
- Textures and patterns again (the water and "turf"
backdrop are all built in textures; I thought it was
pretty cool that GIMP had thirty or so of these... well
that was GIMP v .99 -- version 1.0 has at least 3 times
as many, and of course you can create your own)
- Script-based tools (GIMP's scripting language, called
"script-fu," is basically Scheme by any other name, and
it comes with a lot of very cool scripts, one of which
produces the "Lava" effect)
- This time I got smart and used the script-fu perspective
shadows filter.
- More experiments with ripples and reflection effects.
- Airbrush for a little touch up here and there
The growling and groaning were diminishing a little by now.
There were still "what the heck?" moments but I was
starting to get the feel of the package. And I was getting
motivated to RTFM :-)
de@ucolick.org
De Clarke
UCO/Lick Observatory