GIMP lesson (2)

hello everyone

in this lesson ... i'll explain some of the most important tools in our program



lets take a look at the tools menu
its exactly like this:
lets see what’s the usage of these tools
take a look at this picture and you may understand what can they do:
if you were working on Photoshop .. you’ll understand most of these tools


so now ... let me explain Selection tools in addition to Paths tool


we’re gonna work on this image to declare the usage of these tools


1)Rectangle Select Tool:
shortcut: (R)
ex:
lets select the rectangular upper part of the image using this tool

are you finished?? .. no …
press enter … or press anywhere in the selection region using the mouse left button



2)Ellipse Select Tool:
shortcut: (E)
ex:
lets remove the the firefox logo from our selection
first select the Ellipse tool .. then … change the “Aspect Ratio” to 1:1
go to the middle of the firefox logo and press “Ctrl” button while dragging the Ellipse selection …
now press “Shift” (while dragging with mouse)
(you don’t have to make a Perfect selection cause we’re gonna make it later)
well .. lets explain what we’ve just done now ..
first we’d set “Aspect Ratio” to “1:1″ to make a “Circle” Selection
then we used “Ctrl” button to remove part of our selection
then we used “Shift” so we’re using the Aspect ratio and the shape is Circle



3)Free Select Tool:
shortcut:s (F)
ex:
we can make a random selection using this tool
but i’m not gonna use it now as our image is simple
and i advice you to avoid using this tool in such simple images



4)Fuzzy Select Tool:
this tool helps us to select a contiguous region on the basis of color …
shortcut: (U)
ex:
select the tool and press “Shift” while clicking the left side white region
explanation:
“Shift” button we’d pressed is for adding selection
if we raised the “Threshold” option degree .. it’ll be able to add larger region
we’ll undo this step as we’ll need the white color in the next tool
(to Undo .. press “Ctrl+z”)



5)Select By Color:
shortcut: (Shift+O)
ex:
this tool selects the regions of the same color …
so now we’re gonna select the left side white region …
we’ll notice that we’ve selected all the white regions in the image



6)Scissors Select Tool:
shortcut: (I)
this tool is like the “Magnetic selecting tool” in Photoshop
its selecting shapes using edge-fitting technique …
i always use it when i get a bad selection
now we can make a good Selection using this tool
i’ve selected the whole image and removed the firefox logo from my selection
ok .. now we’re gonna deselect the whole selection …
so if you’re worried about your selection, you can save it to channel
go to Select menu >> Save to Channel
now if you’re thinking howto load the selection
simply .. go to channels menu .. you’ll find the selection …
right click on it then choose “Channel To Selection”
now you can deselect our selection … just press “ctrl+shift+A”



7)Foreground Select Tool:
no shortcut
ex:
select the region of firefox logo as follows:

now draw a shape using Paint Brush Tool into the firefox logo … so you can take all the colors inside the logo … as follows
then press Enter
this tool is based on “Simple Interactive Object Extraction” technique which is also contained in Inkscape



8)Paths Tool:
shortcut: (B)
ex:
this tool is similar to Pen tool in Photoshop …
i’m gonna make a path around the upper area of the picture
… notice that every point has a line with two end points
these end points specify the direction of the previous and following pathes
to control these points … create a point then drag it while pressing “ctrl” button
you can see that in this image:
now you’ll see your Path in the Paths Dialog:
you can use “Strock Path” icon to fill in your path with a color, brush or pattern
you also can use “Path To Selection” icon
and if you already have a selection .. you can make a Path from Selection using “Path from Selection” icon