- Ahundredbux
-
The right to bear arms
|
if you press shift+e you quickly select the eraser tool in gimp
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2016 20:46
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2024 12:02
|
|
- Ahundredbux
-
The right to bear arms
|
I think this is a good idea for a thread and I don't want it to slip away
you started out with what seems like a straightforward question, but actually it has some sticky elements for a still-learning person like me. the pros can and should chime in.
the quick and dirty answer is that you select the dog's head, copy it, and paste it into a new layer. you select the cat's head, copy it, and paste it into a new layer. on the dog head layer, you resize the layer so that the dog head is small, and move it over the cat head on the main image. on the cat head layer, you resize the layer so that the cat head is big, and move it over the dog head on the main image.
but this can be slightly tricky. isolating elements from their backgrounds seems to be a very common task when messing around with collage-type photoshop/GIMP art. there are actually a number of ways to do this, and different techniques are going to be more useful at different times.
the picture you have selected is actually fairly challenging because it has complicated boundaries between the animal heads and their backgrounds (hair/fur can be hard) and because there's not a solid-colored or highly contrasting background
here is what I was able to do spending maybe 15-20 minutes on it--I would not call this perfect by any means:
I used several different techniques to do it, but I think the biggest single thing that's helpful to be aware of is layer masks
layer masks are used in both GIMP and Photoshop but handled slightly differently. at this point I'm more familiar with GIMP's way of handling them.
layer masks are great because they are a nondestructive way of assigning which parts of a layer should be transparent and which parts should be opaque. you can mess around with the layer mask to your heart's content without actually erasing any of the information on your layer.
so basically you can use the simple lasso tool to select (say) the dog's head and a generous boundary around it, copy that, and paste it into a new layer. then you add a layer mask by (in GIMP) choosing "Layers-->Mask-->Add Layer Mask . . ." if you then select "White (full opacity)" you will get a new layer mask which can be painted on using the paint tools. anything you paint black on the mask represents an area that will be totally transparent (i.e., "erased" from the layer, allowing layers underneath to show through). anything that's solid white will be totally opaque. shades of gray represent partly opaque/partly transparent areas, which are great for "feathering"/transitioning the boundary between one layer and another.
you'd use this technique to erase the background from your dog's head layer. you'd do the same thing with the cat's head.
well I feel like this has been too advanced for some people and too basic for others. it may be a little easier to answer questions or provide tutorials on very specific techniques/problems rather than trying to give a general introduction to GIMP/Photoshop, there are lots of tutorials out there that cover these things
I did want to mention that the "Layers-->Transparency-->Color to Alpha . . . " menu command can be a very handy way of removing a solid-colored background. "alpha" basically means "transparency" . . . it's not quite the same thing as a layer mask, but a similar concept. basically you can tell GIMP "make everything that is this specific shade of blue/green/whatever transparent." it actually works best if you first select, roughly, the area containing the background--that way you won't accidentally transparentize colors in your foreground
I've not really used GIMP until now and this is actually very helpful stuff and might make me start using masks again
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2016 10:14
|
|
- Ahundredbux
-
The right to bear arms
|
if you smoke weed do you get better at gimp?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2016 13:52
|
|
- Ahundredbux
-
The right to bear arms
|
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2016 12:36
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2016 20:46
