Articles : Tutorials - Digital

You Can DIG-It for Free

Using GIMP to create a basic digital page

Class Title:  You Can Dig-It for Free

Objective:  To create a basic digital layout using GIMP and free downloads.

Materials: 

• GIMP - go to GIMP's website (http://www.gimp.org) and press the large, orange download button displayed in the top picture.  Follow the instructions from there.  (If you have problems with GIMP's main page link then please try the following:  If you are a PC User click here - then select the "Installer".  If you are a MAC User click here - then select "GIMP on OS X".)
• My Scalloped Circle Clipping Mask (Not as pretty as Rowena's, but it should work.  One of these files is a .jpg which can be used on any program and one is a .xcf  (GIMP only) file.)
• Kim Hill's Buggie Afternoon Sampler
• Julie Mead's Count on Me Freebie
• Rowena Field's Aqua Alpha Freebie

 

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For all of you who fall under one of these categories:

1. Not a dime to your name
2. Must have the latest and greatest
3. Want to try something new but can't bring yourself to dish out the initial cost

This is the class for you!!

We will learn how to create a basic digital layout using the photo editing software "GIMP" and free digital products.

What is GIMP?  GIMP is a powerful image manipulation program that is completely free.  That's right - FREE!  So you don't have to spend a dime to do digital scrapbooking.  Another great aspect of GIMP is that, like Photoshop, the developers are continually improving and adding features and filters.  Unlike Photoshop, you don't have to pay to get an updated version.  You are getting the latest and greatest!

 

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Instructions:

 When you open GIMP the following three screens should appear:

1. The Main Toolbox: This contains a set of icon buttons that can be used to select tools.  Docked below these icon buttons is a Tool Options dialog, showing options for the currently selected tool.
2. The Image Window: Each image open in GIMP is displayed in a separate window. Many images can be open at the same time: the limit is set only by the amount of system resources.  This window contains some of the higher level menus within its top tool bar.
3. The Layers Dialog: This dialog window shows the layer structure of the currently active image, and allows it to be manipulated in a variety of ways.  (For scrapbooking purposes - this window makes it possible to see your building process).

If the Layers Dialog is not open, select the "Windows" tab in the top toolbar of the Image Window.  Select "Layers" from the "Dockable Dialogs" pull down menu.

***Just some things to remember while working on your layout: 1.  You can always hit "edit" and "undo" if you did something you don't like or was an accident.  2.  Remember to save your work periodically!!***

 

(Starting Out)  To start your layout you will want to open a base layer, your first piece of paper.  Select the "File" tab in the top toolbar of the Image Window and go to "Open".  Find your download files. 

(Shortcut:  Drag and Drop the files you plan to use for your layout into the lower left hand box.  This makes it easier to access everything.)

 

Open Kim Hill's Buggy Afternoon file and select the Yellow paper.  This will automatically open a 3600 pixel X 3600 pixel image.  It will serve as your base paper.  Notice in the Layer Dialog that this sheet of paper shows up as your Background. 

Go ahead and save this layout with a new name using the "Save As" button in the "File" tab.  Select the extension .xcf (this makes it a GIMP image).

 

(Opening New Layers)  Now we are going to open new layers by selecting the "File" tab and going to "Open as Layers". 

Open Kim Hill's Buggy Afternoon file and select both the Plaid and the Beehive paper (use the control key and click on each to open at the same time).  Notice in the Layer Dialog that the two new papers appear on top of the background.  Right click on each layer, including the background, in the Layer Dialog and select "Add Alpha Channel".  This allows us to freely manipulate these papers.

 

(Masking)  Open as a new layer the scallop circle file with the extension .xcf.  Drag this to the top of the layers in the Layer Dialog.  Right click the scallop and select "Alpha to Selection".  This will create a moving line around the scallop. 

Go to the "Select" tab in the Image Window's tool bar and select "Invert".  By doing this you have selected everything outside the scallop, creating a negative of the shape.  We will use this as a mask to cut the patterned papers.

In the Layer Dialog select the Plaid paper.  (Don't worry if you can't see it in the Image Window !!)  Go to the "Edit" tab in the Image Window's tool bar and select cut.  Notice in the Layer Dialog that the plaid paper now looks like a scallop.  

Go to the "Select" tab in the tool bar and press "None".  This releases the alpha selection and makes the dancing lines disappear. 

 

(Moving and Visibility) To cut the Beehive paper we need to move the scallop over to the image of the bee and beehive.  (If the plaid paper is on top of the beehive paper turn off it's visibility, in order to see your work more clearly, by clicking the eyeball beside the plaid paper layer in the Layer Dialog.  You can go back and turn on the visibility by clicking the eyeball again.)

Go to the Main Toolbox and select the icon that looks like it has arrows pointing North, South, East, and West.  This is your "Move" tool.  It allows you to move the objects in the Image Window.

Making sure your Scallop layer is highlighted.  Move the scallop by clicking it in the Image Window and dragging it to a new position over the bee and beehive. 

Repeat the masking process by again selecting "Alpha to Selection" on the scallop, inverting the selection, selecting the Beehive paper, and cutting.  Notice in the Layer Dialog that the Beehive paper now looks like a scallop.

At this point you no longer need the scallop clipping mask.  I typically turn the visibility off by clicking the eyeball; however, you can also delete the layer by right clicking on it and selecting "Delete Layer".  Remember to turn the visiblity for the plaid paper back on.

 

(Cropping)  You should be able to see both paper scallops on top of the yellow background.  These two layers still retain their original size, which is extra space we don't want.  So we are going to cut them down in size using the icon button in the Main Tool Box that looks like an exacto knife.  This is the "Crop" tool.  After selecting the crop tool, notice the options that appear in the bottom portion of the Main Tool Box.  Select the box "Current Layer Only".

Select your top scallop in the Layer Dialog.  In the Image Window create a box around the scallop using the crop tool by click and dragging until you have a box around the object.  The shaded area will be cut off while the highlighted area will remain.  You can adjust the size of this box by moving the tool to one of the box's sides; an arrow will appear, click and drag the side to your desired position.  To finalize the crop, click on one of the box's corners.

Repeat these steps for the second scallop.  (Hint: Remember you can turn off the visibility of the layer above - again by pressing the eyeball - so you can see your work more clearly.)

 

(Scaling)  Next we will re-size the scallops.  There are two methods that accomplish this.  The first is to right click on the layer in the Layer Dialog (or go to the "Layer" tab on the Image Window's tool bar) and select "Scale Layer".  You then can select your desired units (pixels, inches, etc), lock or un-lock the aspect ratio, and scale up or down.  However; this method forces you to blindly guess at the size and is really only good if you already know the size you want.  So we will use the second method!!  In the Main Tool Box select the icon button that looks like a small screen on top of a large screen.  In the bottom portion of the tool box be sure to check the "Keep Aspect" box - this will scale the object proportionately.

For this layout both scallops will be the same size, so to cut out a step, we will lock them together and scale them at the same time.  To lock them, click in the space between the eyeball and the layer title in the Layer Dialog so that a lock appears.  Do this to both scallop layers.  Now any changes made within the Image Window to one layer will be duplicated for all other locked layers.  You will want to keep track of the layers you have locked!!!

To scale the layers be sure one of the locked layers is selected in the Layer Dialog.  With the scale tool click and drag on the dotted border in the Image Window until you reach the size you want (mine are app. 1880 pixels X 1880 pixels).  An extra window will pop up that displays the size and gives an option to cancel the operation, reset the operation, or scale the item.  When you reach the size you like press the "Scale" button. 

After you press this button a green bar will appear at the bottom of the Image Window displaying the progress of the operation.

(Note: If we had used the first method of scaling our two locked layers would not have scaled together.  Any operation not preformed directly in the Image Window does not recognize the lock.)

Go ahead and unlock the two layers by clicking on the locks.

Move the scallops with the "Move" tool to your desired position.  For this page the beehive is in the bottom right corner and the plaid is in the top left corner.

 

(Layering)  If you haven't already noticed, the layers in the Layer Dialog show how they are arranged on your project.  The layer at the top of the dialog is the top most layer of your layout.  When you open a new layer it appears right above the selected or highlighted layer.  This is nice to remember!!  To rearrange your layers simply drag them up and down the list.

 

The next items to place on your page are the pictures.  Open your pictures as new layers.  From the above directions you know how to crop them, scale them, move them within the image, and how to move them behind or on top of things with the Layer Dialog.  Go ahead and play with your pictures to get them to the size and position you want. 

 

(Rotating) For my example the pictures are tucked underneath the bottom scallop and are slightly rotated.  To rotate an object select the icon button from the Main Tool Box that looks like a tumbling block, this is the "Rotate" tool. 

Be sure that the layer you want to rotate is highlighted in the Layer Dialog.  As with the scaling tool, when you click on the object in the Image Window a pop-up box will appear that tells you the degree of your angle and gives you the option to reset, cancel, or rotate.  When you have your layer rotated how you like, select the "Rotate" button.  When rotating you can also change the point your object rotates about by clicking and dragging the circle that appeared when you first clicked on your object.

 

Repeat the above steps of scaling, moving and rotating for the ribbon and flower from Julie Mead's kit.

 

(Magnifying)  As you are working on matching the ribbon to your picture you will probably want to zoom in to the area.  This is done by selecting the icon button from the Main Tool Box that looks like a magnifying glass, called the "Zoom" tool.  In the bottom portion of the tool box select the option to zoom in to magnify and the option to zoom out to un-magnify.  Click in the Image Window at the relative area you want to see more closely.

 

(Re-coloring)  I re-colored my flower to look more yellow.  The way I did this was by selecting the "Color" tab in the Image Window's tool bar and selecting "Colorize".  A pop-up box appears that shows you three slide bars for hue (the color and shade), saturation (how much color), and brightness (how bright or light).  I always play with these until I get the look I want.  In this case I used 57 for the hue, 74 for the saturation,  and -3 for the brightness.

 

(Title Work)  For the title work (in my example I used Rowena Field's free aqua alpha) you use all the skills you have learned above.  But here are a few helpful things to remember:

• You can open several letters at once if you are using the same alpha set by clicking on one letter and then holding down the control key while you click the other letters.
• If you have a letter that is repeated in your title, instead of opening it again, duplicate the letter layer by right clicking on it and selecting "Duplicate Layer"
• 
• Remember that you can scale and move all your letters together by locking their layers
• Add variety to your title, especially when using the same alpha set, by scaling some of the layers to different sizes OR overlapping the layers in an interesting way.

(Shadowing)  One of the ways you give dimension to your digital page is by adding shadows.  To accomplish this you choose the layer you would like to shadow from the Layer Dialog.  Next select the "Filters" tab and then the "Light and Shadow" and then scroll down to "Drop Shadow".

When you click on this a pop-up box will appear with Offset X, Offset Y, Blur Radius, Color, and Opacity options.  The Offset X option places a shadow to the Right (if the value is positive) and to the Left (if the value is negative).  The Offset Y option places a shadow to the Bottom (if the value is positive) and a shadow to the Top (if the value is negative).  The Blur Radius controls how sharp or fuzzy the shadow will be.  The higher you set the value the more fuzzy the shadow.  The Color is preset for black, I don't typically change this.  The Opacity controls how dark or light the shadow appears.  The higher you set the value the darker the shadow. 

To keep your shadows realistic do not make your values to high (I typically keep my Offset values between -8 to -2 or 2 to 8).  Also keep in mind that you have different layers:  the top layers should have a greater offset value, greater blur, and a lighter opacity/ the lower layers should have less offset value, less blur, and a darker opacity AND the type of elements you use could effect how you shadow. 

The best shadowing takes practice so play with this function until you get your desired effect (remember you can always undo your last action). 

After you set the values press the OK button.  Notice the new shadow layer listed below the original object in the Layer Dialog.  If you decide to move or scale the original object be sure to lock it to its shadow layer.

 

YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR FIRST FREE DIGI LAYOUT USING GIMP - WAHOO!!!

 

(Preparing Your Layout for Uploading)  Throughout the process you should have been saving your work.  The image you just completed is going to be a large GIMP file that cannot be uploaded onto web sites.  To change it into an uploadable image you need to first scale your whole image by selecting the "Image" tab in the Image Window's tool bar.  Select the "Scale Image" option.  A pop-up box will appear that shows the width/height, the resolution, and the quality.  Lock your values together (this is the default selection).  Set the width and height value to 500 X 500 pixels (it is okay if these are slightly off of each other) and the resolution values to 300.00 pixels/inch.  The quality should be set to "cubic", the best setting.  After your values are set press the "Scale" button. 

Now you need to resave this image as a .jpg file by selecting the "File" tab from the Image Window's tool bar and selecting "Save As".  Take off the .xcf and add .jpg to the end of your title OR select the jpeg option under the pull down menu. 

After you press the save button a pop-up window will ask you to "Export" your file - click on the "Export" button. 

 

A new pop-up window will come up that has a sliding bar labeled quality.  Below this is the option to preview image window - check this box.  The file size will appear right below the sliding bar.  Adjust the bar until your file is right below or at 150.0 kB (the normal size web sites allow).  Press save.

 

NOW YOU CAN UPLOAD YOUR PAGE - CONGRATULATIONS!

 

(The bee trail and bee around the title were added by creating a new transparent layer and hand drawing the trail and pasting a bee I found in a google search)

 

 

 

 

 

About the author ...
Sarah started scrapbooking in 2005 and shortly thereafter found A Cherry on Top, her scrapbooking haven. In May of 2007, during a crop, she discovered digital scrapbooking which took her obsession to a whole new level. Challenges and new techniques drive her hobby while her family inspires her work. She is in love with David, her husband of seven years, and her two boys, Brennan and Connor.

Submitted by davsar