Gimp The User Manual Is Not Installed Locally

Gimp The User Manual Is Not Installed Locally Free
Gimp The User Manual Is Not Installed Locally Download
Gimp The User Manual Is Not Installed Locally Working

This seemed to be mostly a matter of not using the help browser. So I tried that: in Preferences Help System I selected 'Use the online version' from the 'User manual' selector, and 'Web browser' from the 'Help browser to use' selector. I also purged the gimp-help-en package.

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GIMP is a cool open source image editor that is a great free replacement for the Adobe Photoshop. It has its Windows, Mac and Linux version. You will be amazed at how many features and tools it has for an open source image editor. It actually can seriously compete with the ones you pay for. It has device support, a lot of plug-ins and RAW compatibility. However, it can be a little bit more complex for the uninitiated. That’s why, you should read a manual. You can easily download the GIMP user manual pdf and learn all the basics before you start using the program. GIMP will allow you to edit your photos professionally for free. It may seem complicated to some, but once you learn how to handle it, your photos will be gorgeous without much effort. If you are on the budget, GIMP is the real solution for you. The abbreviation GIMP comes from GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a pretty solid alternative to any digital image manipulation software and besides that it is completely free. GIMP was released in 1996 for the first time and since then it improved a lot and it is widely recognized.

Just the FAQs, please!

GIMP User Frequently Asked Questions ..

Last updated: Monday, 28-Jan-2002 01:00:14 CST

A number of questions related to pre-1.0 releases have been removed.You should really upgrade to the latest release if at all possible.1.0 is far more stable than any of the developer releases! If youreally need an answer to a pre-1.0 question, email the FAQmaintainer at meo@rru.com . If itwas in the FAQ, I'll mail it to you.

Y2K	General	Plug-Ins	Script-Fu	Fonts
File Formats	Using	Platforms	IFAQs

If your question isn't here, it might be more of a Developer FAQ than a user FAQ. Look there before you panic.

The latest version of this FAQ should always be available athttp://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/faq-dev.html .

You may submit material to the maintainer,Miles O'Neal, at meo@rru.com .

Quote of the Something

..birds don't make nifty pencil-tips for sketching..
-Jim Harmon (12 Mar 1998, gimp-developer mailing list)

General Questions

Where should I report bugs? How?
Plug-Ins
Why did some plug-ins disappear for 0.99.19?
Script-Fu
What is Net-Fu? Where is it?
Fonts
What about TrueType fonts?
File Formats
Is there any way to keep the layers when I save?
Why can't I open or save SOME_FORMAT files?
Using the GIMP
How do I draw in a different color?
Platforms
Why is the selection marquee invisible using XFree3.3 with my S3 Virge graphics card?
InFrequently Asked Questions

.. and the Answers!

General Questions

What is this GIMP?
The ``GNU Image Manipulation Program' sired by Spencer Kimball & Peter Mattis.
In their own words, ``The GIMP is our answer to the current lack of free (or at least reasonably priced) image manipulation software for Linux and UNIX in general.'
Note: Originally, GIMP stood for ``General Image Manipulation Program'.
Why and when was GIMP changed from 'general image manipulation program' to 'GNU image manipulation program?
One day (I believe it was in 1997) RMS visited Berkeley,and Spencer and Peter met with him. They askedif they could change General to GNU, and it was done.
Is GIMP a GNOME application?
Not really. It doesn't use the GNOME application framework. The only thingit has in common is GTK.
Is GTK+ still under the aegis of GIMP? Was it ever?
GTK was developed solely for GIMP, initially. Towards the end of the 0.99development cycle in 1998, GTK was split from being bundled with GIMP tobeing a separately available library.See http://www.gimp.org/~sjburges/gimp-history.htmlfor has some interesting tidbits, from the GIMP perspective.
See also http://www.xach.com/gimp/news/, which has an archive going back to1997.
Where do I get it?
The best bet is to check out the GIMP home page which includes pointers to the latest source, as well as complete binaries for a variety of platforms, including at least Linux (a.out and ELF), FreeBSD-2.1, HP-UX, SunOS and Solaris 2.4, and SGI. More may be available by now; go check the web page. Go on! Vamoose! You can come back here after you get it!
Which version should I use?
Version 1.0.0 is out, and very stable. Get the productionversion, and get rid of all your old developer versions!
Is there a user manual?
Yes. It is available athttp://manual.gimp.org/ in HTML form, andftp://manual.gimp.org/pub/manual/ n Frame, HTML, PDF and PS formats.
What about a Windows version?
Pointers to Windows projects are available on the officialAbout the GIMPpage.
A Windoze version was announced onApril Fool's Day, and those who missed the opportunity to downloadit should be sad, indeed; the announcement itself (a work of art!)follows (the URLs are no longer active):
Are there any Easter eggs in the GIMP?
As of version 1.0, there is at least one Easter egg.
What are layers?
These are similar to the layers found in tools such asAdobe's PhotoShop^[tm]. Think of a stack ofslides or filters, such that looking through them yousee a sort of composite of their effects. For moreinformation, check out theS&Pintroduction to layers.
Where do I find GIMP stuff?
Probably the prime GIMP resource page is maintained by Quarticat http://www.nuclecu.unam.mx/~federico/gimp/el-the-gimp.html .
A list of GIMP tutorials is available athttp://abattoir.cc.ndsu.nodak.edu/~nem/gimp/tuts from Nem W Schlecht.
The GIMP Documentation Project, spear-headed by Michael J. Hammel, is the central documentation point for users.
Is there a mailing list?
The old, email-based interface is gone.Instead, we use Mailman. You can subscribe,unsubscribe or perform other configuration tasksthrough the web interface located athttp://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo .
There are other gimp-related lists there as well.
Is there an IRC channel?
I'm not sure who maintains these any more,but the latest list I was provided containsthe follownig:
Hostname Port Location
irc.gimp.org 6667 dynamic
irc.au.gimp.org 6667 Australia
irc.su.gimp.org 6667 USA
irc.acc.umu.se 6667 Sweden
``All the excitement is in channel #GIMP.' -Zach
Do I need Motif?
Some of the earliest versions needed Motif, but by the 0.60(development) version, Motif was no longer necessary.S&P developed their own, very slick toolkit forthe GIMP, called GTK. More information on GTK is availableat http://www.gtk.org/ .
Why does the GIMP complain about missing or wrong versions of libraries?
Probably because it can't find them. 8^)
There are a couple of solutions. The best one, if you havesuperuser access on your system, or a cooperative system administrator,is to add the GIMP's library directory to the system library configuration.To do this, edit /etc/ld.so.conf to include /usr/local/liband then typeand things should work from then on.
If you can't do this, add the directory to your LD_LIBRARY_PATHenvironment variable. Be sure you do this in your shell's startupscripts as well.
If you have old versions of the libraries, you will probably need to removethem first, especially if they are in standard system locationssuch as /usr/lib . Don't just delete them, though; move them somewheresafe, install the new ones, and try again. Then make sure everythingelse still works; you may have other programs on your system whichrequire the old versions. The ideal response in such a case is torebuild all the programs to use the new libraries. Where this isn'tpossible, you will just have to experiment with trying them in differentlocations, or statically linking them to one or more programs.
Why does the GIMP complain 'unresolved symbol: _gimp_message'?
This is caused by attemping to use a pre-1.0 libgimp with gimp 1.0. Thegimp_message() was added in 1.0, and is required by 1.0 to operate.Remove old libgimp(s), and try again. (See previous question.)
Is XInput support available?
It's under development. For more information, see Owen Taylor's<otaylor@gtk.org>page aboutXInputsupport for GTK and the GIMP.
Does the GIMP support art tablets like the Wacom?
There is some support, but you have to do a little extra work tocompile it in.
See http://www.levien.com/free/linux_intuos.html by Terry Mackintosh, orhttp://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/xinput/for details, but here's the quick overview from Juergen Schlag<j.schlag@callisto.fulda.net>:
1. run Linux with a X11 server which supports the Xinput-Section (my old S3-Board running under the XFree-Server works well, but the XSuSE- Server for PERMEDIA2-Boards doesn't work :-(
2. install the Xinput driver for the Artpad (see the docs). I used a patched driver for the PenPartner
3. edit the Xinput-Section of your /etc/XF86Config to load the driver when X11 starts (see the man-pages for XF86Config and your X-server)
4. recompile the GTK toolkit with the Xinput-support enabled. see the README and INSTALL file for the command switch to do this.
5. restart your computer, start X11 and Gimp. if no error message occured your artpad should work well
Does the GIMP have scanner support?
Yes. You can run xscanimage, the front end to SANE(Scanner Access Now Easy), either as a GIMP extension or in stand-alone mode.This supports Mustek and HP flatbed scanners, as well as the Connectixcolor QuickCam camera.
Further information is available athttp://www.mostang.com/sane/ .
Can the GIMP install its own colormap?
Yes. In either the system-wide gimprc file or yourpersonal gimprc file, uncomment the line that includes``install-colormap'.
The GIMP complains about MIT-SHM!
If the GIMP gives you a message similar to either of thesewhen you try to start it:orthen you need to run it with the --no-xshm option.
This happens for one of two reasons.Either your X display server does not have the shared memoryoption, or you are running the gimp on a different system thanthe one on which it is displaying. In the former case, youmay wish to look into different X servers, because shared memorycan give you MUCH better performance. In the latter case, youwill just have to live with it, since different systems can'tgenerally share the same memory space.
Where are the {brushes,gradients,patterns,palettes}?
https://wavegol.netlify.app/nikon-coolpix-s550-user-manual-pdf.html. For a while, these were provided separately in the developer versions.For some time now a very good, 'minimum' set of these has been shippingwith the GIMP. More are available as 'extra' data bundles from any ofthe download sites.
Others are available from various places. Adrian 'Numerical Excess' Likinshas a page with lots of gradients and palettes athttp://www4.ncsu.edu/~aklikins/gimp/AG.html .
What does 'wire_read: unexpected EOF' mean?
This error message should say something like 'the plug-in (or the mainGIMP app) I was talking to has exited before returning any results, soI assume that it has crashed.'
Why doesn't configure find my {jpeg,tiff,pnm,etc} libraries?
This should no longer be a problem, but if you insist on using older versions,read on for help. We recommend you try the latest version, though.
Somewhere around 0.99.16 or 0.99.17 , configure stopped searching/usr/local for include files and libraries, at least for some ofthe common packages. Also, on some platforms (FreeBSd, forinstance), things may get installed under /usr/X11R6/shareinstead of /usr/local . Running autoconf and automake might solvethis, but for the rest of us, just set the following variablesbefore running configure (substituting as neceesary for /usr/local ):
csh, tcsh, etc:sh, ksh, bash, etc:On Solaris, you may need to set LDFLAGS to'-L/usr/local/lib -R/usr/local/lib' .
The instructions state that these directories will be searchedautomatically, but in at least some cases, this is not correct.
Do I have to have an X server? Even for batch mode?
Yes, you have to have some form of X server - the GIMP is an X application!It needs an X server for image processing, and for font manipulation.However, if you wish to run in batch mode, you can run with a special,frame-buffer-less X server called Xvfb, which doesn't require a graphicscard or mess with your screen:The first command starts the special X server; the second is anexample of how to invoke the GIMP in batch mode. When you are doneusing the GIMP this way for a while, kill off Xvfb so it doesn'twaste system resources. If you expect to use gimp this way a lot,you might want to leave Xvfb running for better response time.
You should check the man page for Xvfb(1) for other options,such as whether to use shared memory.
Where can I get some icons for the GIMP?
What kind of system do I need to run GIMP?
That depends on several factors, but in general, any UNIX-like system(Solaris, Irix, Linux, AIX, HP/UX, BSD, etc) with an X server (preferablyX11R5 or later) should work. You probably want at least 32MB of RAM,although a few hardy souls are making do with 32MB.More RAM will help speed things up. I would prefer at least a decent486 box, but even a 386 should work. And it really screams on higherend workstations, like AIX, Solaris and Irix systems.
Like most graphics applications: the GIMP is resource intensive,which means it directly benefits from more memory, higher end graphicscards, and faster disks. Its the nature of the beast (computer graphics)and not necessarily a problem with the GIMP (although there are probablyareas it could use performance work - what program couldn't?).
The GIMP takes too long to load - how can I speed it up?
The main things are to make sure you are running at least version 1.0,and make sure you compiled with optimization on, debugging turned off,and the shared memory and X shared memory options tuned on.
Or, buy a faster system with more memory. 8^)
If it's still too slow for you,the easiest speedup is to invoke the GIMP with the '--no-data' option.This prevents the GIMP from loading patterns, brushes, and similar resourceswhen it starts. You may benefit slightly from the '--no-splash' option aswell; you might want to time that one to see if it really helps enoughto be worthwhile.
On a Dell 100MHz 486 server box, the GIMP comes up in the following times:
Command Time
gimp 18 seconds
gimp --no-data 11 seconds
gimp --no-data --no-splash 8 seconds
gimp --no-splash 16 seconds
Is there a bug list somewhere?
Both users and developers can find a HOWTO report GIMP bugs athttp://carol.gimp.org/gimp/howtos/bugzilla/bugzilla2.html for thetime being (it should be integrated in the new www.gimp.org later on).
Where should I report bugs? How?
Depends on what you find. If they seem to be plug-inproblems, you definitely want to try to tell the plug-inauthors (look in the offending plug-in's source or on thePlug-in Registryweb page).
For core functionality, you can report them athttp://bugzilla.gnome.org.
Finally, if you need to discuss it with a wider developer audience(perhaps because it is really a feature request instead of a bug),send email to the GIMP developer mailing list.It's a good idea to say something like '[bug]' or [patch]'in the subject where applicable.
Always include the system type,OS, window manager, X version, etc, as well as the GIMPversion (and GTK version if known), and anything else thatmight be applicable.
It's OK to send related problems in a single email.
Of course, patches are always welcome. 8^)
Plug-Ins
What are plug-ins?
Plug-ins are external modules that actually do thenifty graphics transformations. There is a plug-in registry athttp://registry.gimp.org/with the latest plug-ins, maintained byIngo Lütkebohle.[Special thanks toAdam Mossfor the original registry!]
How do I add new plug-ins?
First, copy the plug-in[s] to your plug-in directory (typically/usr/local/lib/gimp/$VERSION/plug-ins/).
After copying the plug-in to its proper directory, just run the GIMP.It should automatically find new plug-ins.
How do I build new plug-ins?
You'll need a copy of the source directories. Build the GIMP.Place the new plug-in in the plug-ins directory. The docs withthe new plug-in hopefully identify any special libraries it needs.Look for a plug-in with similar libraries (if all else fails,look at xpm and whirlpinch).
With newer versions, if the plug-in is contained in a single sourcefile, you should just have to run the gimptool in the plug-in's directory :
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For older versions, there are several methods. The first two walk youthrough a number of steps manually; these are the most thorough,but also require more work on your part. The last ones arescripts of one sort or another, and are easier on your part -- ifthey work with your system. Go ahead and try - you can alwaysfall back on the first methods.
- The best way to procede is to edit the Makefile. Pick a similar plug-in (such as whirlpinch). For the SRC and OBJ lines, just add entries similar to the others, but with the new plug-in's name. Now, find all the groups of lines with the other plug-in's name in them, duplicate them, and change the old name to the new name. The one exception is the huge set of lines that have a lot of paths that end in .h - do not bother with these. Now, just type and it should build. Install it wherever your other plug-ins are installed.
- A second choice for those who don't want to mess with the main Makefile is to build a file to create just the new plug-in. Start the same way - pick a similar plug-in. Now remove the binary and object files for the one you just picked. For instance, if you selected the whirlpinch plug-in, you will see the following files: In this case, you would remove the first and last files, leaving the whirlpinch.c file. Now type to rebuild the old plug-in.
  Copy the output (cut and paste it!) into a file. Edit the file and change all occurances of 'whirlpinch' (or whatever) to the name of the new plug-in. Execute the file you just edited. For instance, if the file is make_plug-in, just type and it should work. The copy the plug-in to wherever the others are installed on your system.
- A Makefile
  First, load Makefile-pi provided by Ciccio C. Simon . Change all occurances of the word sharpen in Makefile-pi to the name of the new plug-in. Then type and watch it (hopefully) work.
  If it doesn't work, try the next method.
- A compile script
  First, load the compile-pi script provided by Jeremy Dinsel . Change the permissions on compile-pi as follows: and type for instructions. Follow those instructionms. If this one also fails, go back to the earlier, manual methods; you have too picky a configuration for the simple methods to work.
If you need more help, ask your system administrator or a handyprogrammer, or get a good book on make(such as O'Reilly's).You may want to join the GIMPdeveloper's list as well (see the DeveloperFAQ).
Is there a plug-in for .. ?
The plug-in registry referenced above is the place to check.
Why did some plug-ins disappear for 0.99.19?
Some of the plug-ins have proven unstable. These have been movedinto a separate download, which should be available wherever yougot the GIMP, in the file gimp-plugins-unstable-VERSION.tar.gzor gimp-plugins-unstable-VERSION.tar.bz2 .
Since this list may change frequently, the unstable plug-ins are nolonger listed here.
Script-Fu
What is Script-Fu?
In the words of S&P:
Script-Fu is the first GIMP scripting extension.Extensions are separateprocesses that communicate with the GIMP in the sameway that plug-ins do. The distinction is that extensionsdon't require an active image to operate on, insteadextending the GIMP's functionality. GIMP internals forversion 1.0 have been completely overhauled fromversion 0.54. In particular, the plug-in API has beenmade far more general with the advent of theprocedural database (PDB). The PDB allows the GIMPand its plug-ins to register procedures which can thenbe called from anywhere: internally, from extensions,and from plug-ins. There are already over 200 internalGIMP procedures, and more being created all the time.Because all of these procedures can be easily invokedfrom extensions, the logical next step was to create ascripting facility; thus, Script-Fu was born.
Where can I learn about Script-Fu?
As with plug-ins, web pages, COBOL, or anything else,one of the best things you can do is look at other peoples'code, and play with it. But it helps a lot if you knowScheme.
- S&P's Script-Fu pages at http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~gimp/script-fu/script-fu.html
- Mike Terry's Black Belt School of Script-Fu at http://manual.gimp.org/manual/GUM/write_scriptfu3.html
How do I call one script-fu script from another?
The trick to calling script-fu-scripts from another script is to justreference the main define for the script and not to try to use the pdb call.All the scripts in script-fu share a common name space; you call otherscripts just like a regular function / define / whatever you call thosethose things in_scheme.
Apple watch user guide series 5. Ie, to call script-fu-predator in a script, just useFor examples, see
How do I call a plug-in from script-fu?The following examples assume the plug-in name is 'plug_in_randomize_hurl',and the plug-in has four parameters specific to it, the first two ofwhich are floats, and the next two ints.
From the script-fu console, call a plug-in like this:The first parameter should always be a '1'. The next two are theimage number and drawable. Anything following these numbers willbe plug-in parameters, which depend on the plug-in.
Inside an actual script, call a plug-in like this:
How do I execute script-fu from batch mode?
Invoke the script as non-interactive and add a pair of escaped quotesaround each string just like you do in (script-fu-register). You DO NOT need toreplace '-' with '_' in any names or registrations.
Example script:Example Invocation:For a detailed, step by step explanation, check out Adrian'sGimp Batch Mode how-to athttp://adrian.gimp.org/batch/ .
What does ``procedural-database-error' in script-fu mean?
Normally it means that the script is trying to use a particularfont that isn't available on your system - it's either not installedor not in your X server's FONTPATH. The base script-fu packagemakes extensive use of the freefont package, and at least onefont (AlfredDrake) from the sharefont package.
What is Net-Fu? Where is it?
Net-fu is a web-based interface to ascript-fu server. The work is done at a remotesite. To see Net-fu, point your web browser atftp://ftp.gimp.org/or one of the miiror sites,and then go to 'gimp/net-fu/'.Any web browser can read net-fu pages; the browser must beJava-enabled to actually run Script-fu.
Fonts
Where can I get the fonts I'm missing?
The freefonts and sharefonts packages are both available fromftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/mirrors/metalab/X11/fonts/ or other metalab mirrors.If you getthe sharefonts package, be sure and read the various licensingagreements, and abide by them.
How can I change the GIMP font?
You need to copy the gtkrc file that comes with the GIMP source(in the top level directory) into $HOME/.gimp/gtkrc . As of0.99.10, this should be recognized. You then go in and editthe default font style, the one that looks like this:I'm sure ther's a lot of clever stuff that can be donehere, and I'll try to track it down soon, but in the meantime,just change that '100' to something larger, like '120' or '140'.(The number is points * 10, so 100 is a 10 point font).
Obviously, you could stick in any font you have available.
Why don't the Far Eastern fonts work?
These are 16 bit fonts, with thouousands and thouousandsof characters. And the characters are more complex, which means(usually) more bits per character, which means more memory andmore processing time.
This includes fonts such as kana, kanji, song ti, mincho andgothic.(If you look carefully at the fully qualified font name for gothicvia xfontsel, you'll see clues. It's a daewoo font. The gothicname is misleading to western minds, but no doubt means somethingto its author[s].)
Check one of these out in a program that shows a font as pages(such as xfd).You can keep hitting next page to see a new page of characters,almost forever.
What about TrueType fonts?
If neither your X server nor your X font server supports youcan try one of the TruType font servers:xfstt (http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/fonts/)
or
xfsft (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jec/programs/xfsft/ .
xfstt supposedly has limitations on the font size.
File Formats
What is GIMP's native graphics file format?
XCF is the GIMP's 'native' format. This will preserve all informationabout an image, including the layers.
What other graphics file types are supported?
All the common formats, and many more as well, including GIF, TIFF, JPEG,XBM, XPM, PostScript, and BMP. Plug-ins are used to load and save filesso adding new file types is very simple, compared to other graphicsprograms.
As of July 1, 1998, the list of supported types included BMP, CEL,FITS, FLI, GBR, Gicon, GIF, GIcon, HRZ, JPEG, PAT, PCX, PIX, PNG,PNM, PostScript, SGI, Sun Raster, TGA, TIFF, XPM, XWD andXCF. Bzipped, Gzipped and Xdelta'd files are understood, and URLsupport is provided.
Of course, plug-ins for other types may be available at theplug-in registry .
Why can't I save my image as a GIF (or whatever)?
The two most likely problems are related to image type and layers.For instance, your image type must be 'Indexed' for GIF, but 'RGB'for TIFF. Try a different image type (look under the 'Image' menu).If you have more than 1 layerin your image, you probably need to merge the visible layers, and/or'flatten' the image. Both operations are available under the 'Layers'menu or from the 'Layers' dialog. Flattening will destroy anybackground transparency.
Is there any way to keep the layers when I save?
Yes; the GIMP has a file format just for this - the XCF format.Don't flatten the image or merge the layers as you would to saveto other formats! This will only work with the XCF type.
Why can't I open or save GIF files?
Why can't I open or save PNG files?
Why can't I open or save XPM files?
Why can't I open or save TIFF / TIF files?
Why can't I open or save PSD files?
Why can't I open or save SOME_FORMAT files?
There are several possibilities.
1. If the file type appears in the Save dialog but is grayed out, you may need to change the image type. For instance, you can't save an RGB as a GIF (convert to indexed first) or an indexed image to JPEG (convert to RGB first).
2. The GIMP comes with full support for a few types built in. If the type you want doesn't appear in file type format of the Open and Save dialogs, you need to check the Plug-in registry to see whether you need to download an optional plug-in.
3. Some of the file types, such as JPEG and TIFF, require extra libraries (described elsewhere). Make sure you have the correct versions of these on your system.
Using the GIMP
How can I draw a straight line with the GIMP?
There's a tutorial on this athttp://www.gimp.org/~sjburges/straightline/straightline.html .
How can I draw a circle with the GIMP?
Use the elliptical select tool, hold down CTRL key to constrain as circle,fill the selected area with new color, right click on selected area, chooseSELECT, SHRINK, shrink selection by whatever number of pixels you want yourcircle width to be, right click again in selected area, choose EDIT, CUT.Voila, one beautifully antialased circle.
How do I save a selected sub-image to a file?
Create a new image large enough to hold the selection.Copy the selection, then paste it into the new image.Crop the new image. Flatten, etc, as necessary. Nowsave it.
The script-fu-selection-to image can also be used to cut a selection out of an image and create a new image with it.
How do I save an image with an alpha channel?
Before saving the image, select 'Layers->Flatten Image'. It would be moreintuitive if it was called something like 'Remove Alpha'..but that'sgenerally not its primary function. It just happens to remove alpha.
How do I merge an image from a file to the current image?
Open the additional image via the File->Openmenu. Then Select->Select all. Edit->Copy.Move the cursor to the edited image. Edit->Paste.This drops the new image (selection) into themiddle of the edited image. Move it around asnecessary, then anchor it.
How do I get small fonts to look as nice as large ones?
In general, small fonts won't ever look quite as nice as large ones.But there are a couple of things to try.
1. Make sure you are using an outline font as opposed to a bitmapped font. For details, check any book on using the X Window System, such as O'Reilly & AssociatesX Window System User's Guide (Volume 3 of their excellent X series).
2. ``If your image is GRAYSCALE or RGB (ie. not INDEXED) when there's a toggle button in the text tool which turns antialiased text on and off. It's on by default in GRAYSCALE or RGB modes, and forever off in INDEXED mode.' --Adam Moss
How do I bind keys to menus for shortcuts?
Go to the menu selection you are interested in. Keeping it selected(hold the mouse's menu selection down if necessary), press the keysequence you wish to assign to the menu. It will appear on the rightof the menu. The new binding will be saved and used in future GIMP sessions.
How do I composite 2 layers, using a 3rd layer as a mask? This worked in 0.54!
0.54 is ancient history - it was an early, developer's release.
The equivalent method in 1.0 or later would be to have two layers, andcreate an alpha mask (add layer mask from the layer ops menu) andinsert the 'mask' layer into it.
Is there a macro recording interface?
Not at this time. It's in the works for a future release.
How do I configure my X server to do global gamma correction?
Some servers have no facility for this; you may be able to adjust your monitorto correct somewhat. Later versions of XFree86 allow these server options:
How do I fill with transparent?
If your image doesn't have an alpha channel, add one withLayers->Add Alpha Channel.Select the area you want to clear (if not the whole image).To change everything of a particular color transparent,pick Select->By Color.. and click on the color in theimage you want to replace.Then select Edit->Clear. That's it.
Any dithering, blurring, or related effects against the coloryou replace will be against the original color. This usuallyrequires you to do some form of cleanup of the edge pixels.In cases likely to result in this, change the color totransparent as early as reasonably possible to precludeextra 'cleanup' work.
How do I draw in a different color?
At the bottom of the toolbar there is a box with two smaller boxesand an arrow. The uppermost box displays the current foregroundcolor; the lowermost box displays the current background color.You can single-click on the arrow to switch these two. You canalso double-click on either of the color boxes (or single-clickif that box is already selected) to pop up a color selection tool,with which you can elect any color you like for that box. Thatcolor then becomes the new foreground or background color. Subsequentdrawing operations (including text and color fill) will now use thesecolors.
Platforms
I downloaded the GIMP, but it won't install on my Mac system!
To date, there's no native port for older Macs. Work has been done on OS X and to work with X11 on Macs, with Tenon's X port, etc. For details go tohttp://www.macgimp.com/ .
I downloaded the GIMP, but it won't install on my Windows system!
You downloaded a non-Windows version. The Windows version is available athttp://www.gimp.org/win32/ .
Why can't the Windows version of GIMP handle GIFs?
To avoid problems with GIF's patent holder, the GIMP no longer shipswith GIF support by default. If you can't find the GIF plug-in whereveryou got the GIMP, it's available athttp://www.gimp.org/win32/ .
Why can't I get JPEG to work on my Digital Alpha/UNIX (4.0d) box?Even the jpeg libraries at the GIMP web site may not work for all versions.If their jpeg-shared-6.a.tar.gz package doesn't work for you,try:
Why won't GIMP compile on IRIX (SGI)?
If you are using a 64-bit OS, you need to add the `-o32'option for the compiler, or use gcc. With the SGI compiler,you may also need to play with optimization. Some modulesmay have exhibit problems unless compiled with `-O1' or even`-O0'.
Script-Fu won't compile on IRIX (SGI)
Script-Fu requires the POSIX-compliant regex functions, which SGIonly supports with IRIX 6.2 and later versions. The GNU versionof regex should work just fine, though, and is available at:
Why does GIMP complain about X Input Methods under Solaris?
The GIMP is interacting in such a way with your system that it thinksyou have XIM extensions when you don't. Run the configure scriptagain, with the `--disable-xim' option, and recompile.
You can also try compiling with `--disable-shared'.
Or you can install a version of X11R6. 8^)
How do I add fonts with Solaris?
If you just want to use freefonts or sharefonts, you can copy thesefiles into the appropriate directory (such as /usr/openwin/lib/fonts/freefonts/or /usr/openwin/lib/fonts/sharefonts/), or merge them with the appropriatefonts.dir and fonts.scale files if you mixed in freefonts and sharefontswith existing fonts:
Or just try using fontadmin instead ofmkfontdir .
I've never run into a Solaris system missing this, but according toNeil Corlett:
The 'fontadmin'tool is a openwin demo program and sometimes does not exist. To properlyadd fonts the finagled directory requires fonts.dir, fonts.scale filesto exist. mkfontdir does the first of these OK. For the second I builtgroff and downloaded type1inst-0.6.1 from an X contrib archive.type1inst (which needs groff) will build the fonts.scale file from thepfb files automatically.
Solaris 2.6 is supposed to include better font editor and admin tools.
Why won't the GIMP compile on Solaris?
There may be a number of reasons. Several peoples' answers are here.The most detailed answers, list first, are the best bets with their notedversions.
According to resident Gimp on SOlaris guru Jim Harmon, more recentversions (0.99.25 on) should compile easily, but you may need tomake a change in /usr/graphics/gtk-config.in:
Jim Harmon compiled GIMP 0.99.19 and GTK+ 0.99.5 on Solaris 2.5,SPARC 5. Here are the steps he took:
Jim Harmon compiled GIMP 0.99.18 and GTK+ 0.99.3 on Solaris 2.5,SPARC 5. Here are the steps he took:
According to Keyyly Price,here's a major one for 0.99.10 .
``If you do a -lX11, you must also include -lsocket, or it won't compileanything of X on Solaris 2.5. X doesn't have the socket lib.
Which means you'll need to setenv LIBS -lsocket while running configure ifyou run Solaris 2.5.'
Will Lowe did the following to get the GIMP compiled for Solaris 2.5.1 :(You should replace/usa/lowe/usb_lowe/gimp in each '-L' part with whereever you arecompiling gimp, and replace /usa/lowe/gimp/lib in the '-R' parts withwhereever you're going to install gimp. -Will)For 0.99.pre11, Sheldon E. Newhouse suggests the followingchange to the libtool files:
How do I add fonts with SunOS?
SunOS ships with an X11R4 server, which does not handle either scaleablefonts or communications with the X font server. If you want to use thefreefonts (or any scalable fonts) on SunOS, you need to install your own,newer X server, preferably X11R6.4 (which will be much faster than theserver shipped with SunOS).
If you do this, you will no longer have PostScript capability directlyin your X server; you will need to use ghostscript. You may well wantto keep both servers around, and use each when you need its features.
Of course, you could always try to find a PS version of the font youneed and make a bitmap for the size you need and add that to the X11R4server's font path, but if you need more than one or two font/sizecombinations over all the time you use GIMP, this is an obnoxious solution.
Is there an RPM for Red Hat Linux?
Yes. Try the following:
ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/binary/RPMS/
ftp://s9412a.steinan.ntnu.no/pub/gimp/
Why won't my RPMs upgrade properly?
According to Rob Payne..
There are old .src.rpm's on ftp.redhat.com for gimp and gtk that if used tobuild new gtk+ and gimp will create all kinds of headaches for the builder.
The gtk SPEC file manually moves header files from gtk defaultinstallation place, and then the CFLAGS returned by gtk-config areincorrect when it comes time to build/install gimp. I was successful inbringing the gtk+ SPEC file up to date by removing the following lines from(gtk-970925.spec) to build 0.99.7 and 0.99.8:Of course, the %files section of that SPEC need to be changed, as well toinclude the differences in places for the header files, and to includegtk-config.
I hope that information is useful to someone. If you have any questionsabout any of this, please let me know.
What is the gimp.wmconfig file?It's a Red Hat RPM-related file, related to their desktop and window manager.
Why does my RedHat system get __register_???? erors when I run GIMP?This is due to incompaitble RPMS. If (for example) gtk was compiled withegcs, gimp must be compiled with egcs. There is no easy way to tell what is compiled with what, so getting both gimp and gtk off a gimp mirrorwould be a good idea.
Another possibility is for this error (far less common) is that there isan old library compiled with the other hanging around somewhere on the system. Remove old copies of libgimp.
Why don't GIF and JPEG work on Slackware Linux?You need to manually get libgif andlibjpeg and compile and install them on your system. They will install bydefault in /usr/local/lib, so once they're installed, you have to makesure that LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib or put /usr/local/lib in yourld.so configuration file. In addition, you also have to remove libgif.*and libjpeg.* from your /usr/lib directory, as these will be found first(and even if you finagle ld.so to find the other libs first, they're stillbroken so remove them anyway). I think that if you go to ftp.gimp.orgthere's a 'support' type subdirectory that has the gif, jpeg, png, andmpeg libraries, though I've never gotten the mpeg stuff to compile.
Why won't GIMP build for SuSE Linux 5.x?
You probably just installed the graphics libraries. You also need toinstall the development portion as well; it's called the libgr sourcepackage. After installing that, GIMP should compile easily.
Where can I get recent binaries?
- Irix: http://www.easysw.com/~mike/gimp or its mirror site, ftp://ftp.funet.fi/mirrors/ftp.easysw.com/pub/gimp
- Digital UNIX 4.0D: ftp://finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at/pub/gimp/
  ``This version does not need the colormap workaround on DEC3000machines. The JPEG plug-in is included as well.'
why does compiling on HP fail with notes about s%@LIBXMU_LIB@%-lXmu?From the Sun -> HP porting guide..
``Some of the X include files and libraries are not in /usr/include/X11 and /usr/lib/X11 as you may expect. This is because HP allows support for X11R4 and X11R5 on the same machine. You must modify a configuration file so that the Makefile created by imake looks for these files and libraries in an alternate location. See 'Motif and Xt' on page A-5 and 'Xaw and Xmu' on page A-6 for details on installation of OSF/Motif, Xt, Xaw and Xmu.
..
``HP does not ship or support these widget libraries; however, they are widely used for X public domain software. Binaries and header files are available from the Interworks library. Source is available from public domain archives. The name of the binary package in the Interworks library is x8.0s700.tar.Z. You may also be able to locate these files on another machine and copy them to yourmachine.'
The ref'd package is at:Look for the x8.0s[378]00.tar.Z files.
I get make errors on {Solaris, HP/UX, whatever}.
You are probably not using the GNU make. Most, if not all, non-GNU makeswill fail on the GIMP makefiles. Get the GNU make package.
Why do I see weird things when I use the GIMP with AcceleratedX?
It's a bug in AcceleratedX with shared memory. Turn off shared memorywhen you start the GIMP (--no-xshm) or pick up the patchto AcceleratedX's X server fromftp://ftp.xinside.com/pub/update/ .
At least one person has found this bug (or another one with the same symptoms)to still be present in 4.1 .
Why is the selection marquee invisible using XFree3.3 with my S3 Virge graphics card?
This is a bug in XFree. You need to upgrade to XFree3.3.2 .
InFrequently Asked Questions
Is there a history of the GIMP available?
Seth Burgess has written A brief history of the GIMP.It's available athttp://students.ou.edu/B/Seth.J.Burgess-1/gimp-history.html .
What's this beavis.jpg image used in several scripts?
(/usr/local/share/gimp/scripts/beavis.jpg is theB/W image in question.)
The image (of a kitten playing with Gumby) is used as 'sorta random,sorta not' data to generate (for example) the crystal bands,or other texture maps. There are other ways to produce thisdata as well, but the author stuck with this one, found in atutorial somewhere.
What lucky human does this adorable cat own?
One of the original GIMP authors, Spencer Kimball or Peter Mattis, weforget which.

Hostname	Port	Location
irc.gimp.org	6667	dynamic
irc.au.gimp.org	6667	Australia
irc.su.gimp.org	6667	USA
irc.acc.umu.se	6667	Sweden

Command	Time
gimp	18 seconds
gimp --no-data	11 seconds
gimp --no-data --no-splash	8 seconds
gimp --no-splash	16 seconds