IT Skill Module

Image Editing and Design

GIMP – Session 1

CCIT4085
Information Technology Fundamentals
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. I

EXERCISE 1 - BASIC OPERATIONS ................................................................................................................... 2

EXERCISE 2 - MAKING A CIRCLE-SHAPED IMAGE ............................................................................................ 9

EXERCISE 3 - A SIMPLE LOGO (SELF-LEARNING) ........................................................................................... 12

REMARK:

PART OF THIS SET OF MANUAL IS REFERENCED, PREPARED AND/OR EXTRACTED FROM THE MATERIALS ON
WWW.GIMP.ORG.

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Exercise 1 - Basic Operations
Open an Image

1. On the menu, choose File -> Open to open an Image.

2. Choose the file ``bird.jpg”.

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Change the Size (Dimensions) of an Image (Scale)

3. To resize the image to new dimensions, on the menu, choose Image -> Scale Image to
invoke the Scale Image dialog.

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4. In the Scale Image dialog, new values for Width and Height can be entered.
Note: The lock (the small chain) to the right of the Width and Height entry boxes means
that changing one value will cause the other to change in order to keep the original
aspect ratio.
Enter 800 as Width, and then click the Scale button.

5. To export the changes, on the menu, choose File -> Export As.
Set ``bird2.jpg” as the file name, and then click the Export button.

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6. The file size of an image could be modified when the image is exported to a format like
JPEG. JPEG is a lossy compression algorithm. When saving images to the JPEG image, we
could sacrifice some image quality to gain a smaller file size. When a quality setting of 80
is used, the image is significantly smaller in file size while the image quality is still
reasonable.
In the dialog, set the quality as 80, and then click the Export button.

Crop an Image
Cropping refers to an operation to trim the image down to a small region. Sometimes
you may want to remove useless borders or some portions of the original image.

7. Choose the Crop tool.

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 The Crop tool could also be called from the menu (Tools -> Transform -> Crop).

8. To start with, we can click anywhere on the image canvas, and drag the mouse to a new
location to highlight an initial selection to crop.

9. After making the initial selection of a region to crop, hovering the mouse cursor over any
of the four corners or sides of the selection will change the mouse cursor, and highlight
that region. This allows us to fine-tune the selection for cropping.

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 Another way to crop an image is to make a selection first, using the Rectangle Select Tool.

The Rectangle Select Tool can also be used through the menu (Tools -> Selection Tools -
> Rectangle Select).

10. To export the changes, on the menu, choose File -> Export As.
Set ``bird3.jpg” as the file name, and then click the Export button.

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 Flip an Image

11. An image can be flipped through the menu (Image -> Transform -> Flip Horizontally / Flip
Vertically).

Rotate an Image
12. Image rotation from the Transform menu is constrained to either 90 clockwise/counter-
clockwise, or 180.
Choose Image -> Transform -> Rotate 90 clockwise.

13. To export the changes, on the menu, choose File -> Export As.
Set ``bird4.jpg” as the file name, and then click the Export button.
You may also save the image as “BIRD.XCF” for further editing.

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Exercise 2 - Making a Circle-shaped
Image
1. Create a new file, and then open an image. You may choose any image file.

2. Choose Layer -> Transparency -> Add alpha channel to ensure that the layer has an alpha
channel.
3. Use the Ellipse Select Tool to create a circular selection.

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4. Choose Select -> Invert to select everything except the ellipse.
5. Choose Edit -> Clear to erase the selection.

6. Choose Image -> Crop to Content to auto-crop the image.

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7. To export the changes, on the menu, choose File -> Export As.
Set ``ex2.png” as the file name, and then click the Export button.
You may also save the image as XCF for further editing.

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Exercise 3 - A Simple Logo (self-learning)
1. Create a new image of 256 x 128 pixels. (on the menu, choose File -> New)

2. Click the color box to set the foreground color.

3. Change the foreground color to black.

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4. Next, use the Bucket Fill tool to fill in the image. (Tools -> Paint Tools -> Bucket Fill or click
Bucket Fill Tool button)

5. Click on the image area to fill the image with black.

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6. Click the switch button to swap the foreground and background colors.

7. Select the Text Tool. (on the menu, choose Tools -> Text or click the Text Tool button.

8. Type a few characters (e.g. GIMP).

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 The typeface, font style and font size of the text can be changed on the dialog.

9. A new layer can now be created from all the visible layers (the text layer and the black
background layer).
On the Layers tab, right click the text layer and choose “New from Visible”.

The “Visible” layer is now the current layer.

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10. Apply a slight Gaussian blur to the “Visible” layer, choose Filters -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur.

11. Set Size X and Size Y to 5.00.

12. Add a new layer by choosing Layer -> New Layer or by right-clicking the “Visible” layer
and choosing “New Layer”.

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13. Next, fill the new layer by using Filters -> Render -> Noise -> Plasma.

14. Then, the text created earlier will be used to generate a fake 3D shape on the plasma
layer. This process is known as bump mapping.
Open the Bump Map dialog by Filters -> Map -> Bump Map.

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15. Set the input layer, and then set the depth value.

16. Next, we are going to create a layer mask to isolate the bump-mapped text.
Add a layer mask to the plasma layer. (Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask)

17. In the “Add a Mask to the Layer” dialog comes up, set the “Initialize Layer Mask to: White
(full opacity)”.

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18. Click the “Visible” layer in the Layers panel.

19. Choose Edit -> Copy.

20. Then, click the plasma layer in the Layers panel.
21. Choose Edit -> Paste.
Now, a Floating Selection (Pasted Layer) has been inserted onto the image.

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22. To get the Floating Selection into the mask, choose Layer -> Anchor Layer to anchor the
selection down onto the mask.

23. Add a new layer above the “Visible” layer. Set the background color and fill the new layer.

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24. Choose the plasma layer. Then, choose Colors –> Levels.
25. Drag the White point slider down to increase the prominence of the plasma layer. Push
the Gamma up to emphasize it more.

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Create a Shadow

26. Duplicate the “Visible” layer by choosing Layer -> Duplicate Layer.
27. Move the newly-created layer “Visible Copy” above the background layer.

28. Choose Colors -> Invert.

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29. Choose Layer -> Transparency -> Color to Alpha.

30. Choose Tools -> Transform Tool -> Move.

Hold down Shift and click on the canvas to restrict the Move Tool to modifying only the
active layer. Drag the layer to the right and down a bit to simulate the shadow.

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31. Choose Filters -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur.

32. Set the layer opacity to 80.

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33. To export the changes, on the menu, choose File -> Export As.
Set ``gimp.png” as the file name, and then click the Export button.

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AI Corner

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