Tone-on-Tone Image Manipulation

Tone-on-Tone GIMP tutorial

ESPN-like Game Promo Graphic

ESPN-like Game Promo Graphic

Stencil on Wood Background

Stencil on Wood

Quick and Easy Color Change

GIMP Color Change

Happy Holidays!!! A Text Project

In this GIMP project, you will use layers, strokes, and several other techniques to create a festive holiday text effect.

 

 

Resources you can download:

Background texture | Text fill texture | Bow

 

Open the background texture image as the Background layer.

 

 

Select the Text Tool and create a Text layer using a big, bold font. I used Futura Ultra-Bold Condensed, 196 point. Set the size of the Text layer to the size of the image, Layer > Layer to Image Size.

 

 

With the Rectangle Select Tool, make a selection on a vertical section of a letter.

 

 

Create a new layer, Ribbon. Select the Blend Tool and fill the rectangular selection with the preset Golden gradient.

 

 

Create another new layer, Ribbon edge. Apply a 1 pixel stroke to this selection, Edit > Stroke Selection…, Stroke line, Solid color. Deselect, Select > None. 

 

 

Select the upper of the two ribbon layers and merge them together, Layer > Merge Down.

 

Make the Text layer active and select the text by clicking anywhere on the black text with the Select by Color Tool. Invert the selection, Select > Invert. Now, with the Ribbon layer active, clear the part of the ribbon that lies outside the text, Edit > Clear.

 

 

You can now hide the Text layer by clicking the 'eye' icon in the Layers pallet.

Open the red damask image as a new layer, File > Open as Layers..., name it Damask. In the Layers pallet, drag the Damask layer between the Text and Ribbon layers. Add transparency to the Damask layer, Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel. Clear the selection to remove the part of the Damask layer outside the text.

 

 

Invert the selection again so that you can paint a thin border around the text. Create a new layer, Text edge. Use the Color Picker Tool to choose a color from the middle of the gold ribbon (the Ribbon layer must be active). Select the Text edge layer, and from the Edit menu, choose Stroke Selection…, Stroke line, Solid color.  The width should be about 3 pixels. Deselect.

 

 

Open the gold bow image as a new layer and place it on top of all the others. Name it Bow.

 

 

You now need to shrink the bow down a lot. Choose the Scale Tool, grab a corner handle of the bounding box, and appropriately size the bow. Expand the Bow layer to the image size, Layer > Layer to Image Size. 

 

Make a selection from the Bow layer. With the Fuzzy Select Tool, click outside the bow, then invert the selection. You might want to zoom in to do this more easily.

 

Create a new layer, Bow shadow. Set the color swatches back to default colors and fill the selection on the Bow shadow layer with default black. Deselect. Apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 2 pixels, Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur… .

 

 

With the Move Tool, slide the Bow shadow layer a bit down and right. Drag the Bow shadow layer under the Bow layer. Merge the Bow layer down onto the Bow shadow layer.

 

 

Duplicate the Bow shadow layer, Layer > Duplicate Layer, and position the bows where you like.

 

 

You might want to add a horizontal ribbon, use bows of various colors, or different textures. Happy holidays!

Clipping Masks

As you are likely aware, GIMP does not include a clipping mask function like some other image editors. A clipping mask allows a background image to show through holes in the masking layer and can be very useful. I looked around a little for a how-to on getting that kind of functionality in GiMP, but those I looked at didn't allow the background image that shows through to be repositioned after the mask was created. I think the ability to move the background is important to achieving just the right result, so I set out to figure out how this could be accomplished and discovered that it isn't at all difficult.

 

Some skills used in this project:

Text layer

Grids and guides

Layer effects

Selecting by color

merging layers

 

Open the image you want to show through and name that layer Background. Create a new transparent (must be transparent, not white) layer, White, and fill it with default white using the Bucket Fill Tool.

 

Click on the Text Tool to make a text layer. Use a heavy, bold font in default black. I used Futura Ultra Bold Condensed.

 

Select then merge the text layer down onto the White layer, Layer > Merge Down. Select the black text on the White layer with the Select by Color Tool.

 

Cut out the black text, Edit > Clear, then deselect. You may want to select the Background layer and move it around a little to get a better effect.

 

That's the basics of making a clipping mask in GIMP.  With the Layer Effects plugin, you can get some dramatic looks. Get the plugin here if you don't have it yet.

 

I got this look by choosing the White layer and using the Outer Glow effect with the color set to black and everything else defaults.

 

 

Now, I'll show you how to use this technique to give the impression a picture has been cut into sections and each section placed on a raised panel.

 

Open the picture, add the transparent layer, and fill it with white as above.

 

Display the grid, View > Show Grid. From the rulers, I dragged out guides to divide the image in half both vertically and horizontally.

 

Next, using the Rectangle Select Tool in "Add to the current selection mode" and the gridlines, I selected four rectangles as shown.

 

Cut out the rectangles, Edit > Clear, and deselect. Hide the gridlines and the guides from the View menu. (You may at this point want to reposition your background picture a little bit.)

 

Add the shadow effect from the Script-Fu menu, Script-Fu > Layer Effects > Inner Shadow… . I bumped the size and offset both up to 8.0.

 

For a final touch, I used the Bucket Fill Tool to fill the White layer with the Wood pattern from the default Patterns pallet.