Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with GIMP

HDR on the Cheap?

Craig — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:08:26 -0800

How to produce some nice looking HDR shots for free? I'm interested in compiling some HDR photos. I know how to bracket a shot with my camera. But, I haven't compiled a photo together in software before. Is there good free software out there to do this? I have an old version of Photoshop (7 I think?) if there is a way to do it in that. Or I could grab GIMP if you can recommend a good plugin for it. Other software ideas, tips? What's your HDR process? This is just for personal photos, not professional work so it doesn't need to be the best ever, just looking to play around a bit.

How Do I Add Fonts to GIMP? (Mac)

snap_dragon — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:50:03 -0800

I loaded GIMP on to my IMac but would like to put some fonts on it (like maybe some from 1001 fonts)...I am not tech-savvy (to say the least) and would appreciate how I can go about downloading such free fonts and adding them to GIMP. Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Indiana Jones logo in Gimp

tommasz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:47:25 -0800

I have the Gimp, I have the fonts, I have the desire, but what I don't have is a clue as to recreating the Indiana Jones logo style. I'm not an artist and I don't have Photoshop, so this has been frustrating to say the least. There are a couple of Photoshop tutorials on the web but nothing Gimp-specific. Trying to follow them has produced less than satisfactory results given the differences and my lack of skill. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Cutting Out Objects in GIMP

snap_dragon — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:56:16 -0800

I am using GIMP and having the simplest difficult just cutting out an object (such as a briefcase). I want to cut object out and then place them in a different image....I can simply drag an entire layer to a new image but really need to know how to image-edit....I don't really know how to do it. I resorted to making a layer below and trying to erase around the object and that didn't work. I know how to do it in Photoshop but no longer have access to it in my office. If it matters I am on an IMac. I am kinda embarassed that I cannot figure out such a simple yet important procedure. Any help? Thanks so much for your input and time!

What is the next best alternative to Photoshop?

Steve Hight — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:20:17 -0800

What is the next best alternative to Photoshop? I used to be a professional graphic designer, but I am now retired. I used Photoshop for many years and had Photoshop CS installed on my computer so I could continue to work for the one "client" I kept: the non-profit my wife works for.

A few months ago, my copy of Photoshop crashed. I cannot re-install it because all I have is the upgrade CD. I foolishly gave the earlier version (5.5) CD away, not realizing I might need it someday. Adobe will not help me because they say CS is too old for them to service. I cannot afford CS3.

I have been using Gimp since the crash, and it has performed most tasks well, but it doesn't work in CMYK, nor does it work well at all with text. It also doesn't seem to keep layers intact.

Does someone have a suggestion for an inexpensive semi-professional alternative? Does anyone know anything about XaraXtreme? I've read reviews for Paint Shop and PhotoImpact, but I didn't come away feeling that either would quite do the trick. Perhaps I'm wrong. Could someone please set me straight? I need to be able to make website graphics, newspaper and magazine advertisements, and labels for promotional items like water bottles and tote bags.

Thank you.

Is there a GIMP batch operation that will add copyright/watermark imaging to my photos?

ozreiuosn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:12:27 -0800

Is there a GIMP batch operation that I can use in GIMP that will apply watermark/copyright images? I've found batch operators that resize, rotate, change color and other various things to a batch of photos, but I can't find one that will add copyright/watermark imaging.

I've found the script that will add a copyright image to an individual picture for GIMP, but how do I turn that to a batch process?

Freetype for the Gimp on Windows

exhilaration — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:55:45 -0800

How do I install the Freetype plugin for the Gimp on Windows? Google turns up nothing other than instructions to compile it, but I can't believe there isn't a precompiled Windows version online. It looks like it's no longer included in the standard distribution. Alternately, is there any other way to do kerning on the Gimp on Windows?

How to set up actions in GIMP?

lindsey.nicole — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 10:01:24 -0800

I'm a GIMP user, and I'm trying to figure out how to mimic the actions one can set up on Photoshop. Specifically, I'd like to set up a sequence that sets photos to a standard size (600 x ___), adds a standard black border, flattens the image, and saves the whole thing to a set folder. I'm not the most savvy GIMP user, so clear instructions on how to do this sort of thing would be greatly appreciated.

no wonder it's called the gimp

beerbajay — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:43:44 -0800

GIMPfilter: Why does the gimp have "floating selections"? And why doesn't it have a simple move tool? I have used photoshop for many years now and am used to adobe-ish ways of manipulating graphics.

1. Please explain to me what (tf) was going through the GIMP developers' heads when they decided that when you paste into an image you get the "floating selection" instead of just a new layer.
2. The GIMP manuals hint at some manipulations that can be done to this selection before it gets merged into either its own layer or an existing one; what are these manipulations and do they justify having this "special case" layer?
3. Why oh why is there no "everything is unselected" state in which I could use a move tool on an entire layer ala the big black arrow in photoshop?

What's missing from The GIMP?

joegester — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:53:59 -0800

What can Photoshop do that The GIMP can't? People often say that there are many things Photoshop does well that The GIMP can't do at all. What are some?

I understand that many people dislike The GIMP's UI, which is a fair critique but not what I am looking for here. What specific features are missing that professionals might need?

How dirty is the Gimp?

mimi — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 14:03:20 -0800

I'm evaluating The Gimp for use in a corporate setting, and it's looking pretty nice. Now, however, someone in desktop software is saying it's not allowed because it installs naughty things... So, they're looking for a cheap alternative to Photoshop: while the team needs some graphic editing capabilities (more than Paint), full PS licenses are going to be a really hard sell (politically, too). I'm liking The Gimp, but in the course of trying to get GimpShop installed, all of a sudden I get this back from the software people:

Gimp is currently on the software restricted list. When this software was installed another application was also installed. This other application discovered by the Desktop team created peer to peer shares to the internet. This could allow a host PC running the application to be compromised and allow protected customer information to be harvested. If customer data loss took place by the use of such a program, we would be open to severe penalties etc. etc. etc.

In the past, I've talked to a lot of people who know scary amounts about computers, and watch their boxen carefully - and they've all been all about The Gimp. Searching isn't getting me anything other than this 100% great rating from softpedia.

Since I can't find anything that backs this up, I'm suspecting FUD.* Regardless, I'd like to have my ducks in a row before I try to call them on it and they try their moon language on me. Could this have been some sort of rogue ~~demon hunter~~ install? Are they crazy? Is The Gimp dirty? Is this a known thing and not an issue for just everyone else in the world?

*only because it's happened before

How to do color correction for scanned photos?

shinji_ikari — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 17:41:38 -0800

I've got several scanned photographs that have large sections near the edge of the image that have been tinted red (as seems to be somewhat common with cheap cameras/film) How can I fix these areas of the image to match the rest in color? I'm trying to do this in the Gimp (2.0.5) on WindowsXP. The only other tool I have is Adobe Photoshop Album, which just has kind of a generic "fix all" color correction that will only do the whole image at once and not parts as I need. I've been playing around with the "Curves" color tool on those affected areas and I'm guessing that's probably the way to go in general but I can't seem to get it right without overcorrecting so that even though I reduce the red in those areas, they still don't match up with the rest of the image. Does anyone have any tricks for this kind of thing, or better yet know of a filter that is specifically for something like this?

Question number 7471

inksyndicate — Mon, 24 May 2004 09:37:36 -0800

Has anyone successfully installed "The Gimp" for Mac OS X? I've had no luck installing it, whether in handy .dmg form (it says that it can't open my X11.app, even though I have X11), or as compiled by "fink" (in which case it starts kvetching about xfree86 not being set up right.) What can I do to my X to make it accept and welcome The Gimp?