[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/GIMP-Lesson-1-65132599]Lesson number 1[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/GIMP-Lesson-2-65199992]Lesson number 2[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/Lesson-3-65285484]Lesson Number 3[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/GIMP-Lesson-4-65439124]Lesson Number 4[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/GIMP-Lesson-Fractal-and-C4D-66323415]Special Lesson 1[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=10854999&mpage=1&key=&]Special Lesson 2[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11141053]Special Lesson 3[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/GIMP-Cloud-Tutorial-66967474]Special Lesson 4[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/Reflection-and-text-Tutorial-66972152]Special Lesson 5[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11544324]Special Lesson 6[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/ToFind-EverythingILost-GIMPTut-71716125]To Find everything ILost - Advanced Sig tut[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/Tag-Tutorial-1-69859611]Basic Sprite Sig tut[/link]
[link=http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/Background-Tutorial-GIMP-69369573]Background Tutorial[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11882576]PathTool (Pentool) Tut[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=12615252]Fow Tutorial[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11599527]Script-Fu's[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=10854999]GIMP Animation Tutorial[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=12473245]Loopy Abstract[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=12422217]MS Word drawing Tutorial[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11082954]MS Word- Sig Making[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11544324]Space Tutorials[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11141053]Animated Liquified Avatar[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=11083306]MS Gif Animator[/link]
[link=http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=12734436]Advanced brush Making[/link]

quote:

ORIGINAL: zenron the great

GIMPhelp
a guide for beginners

This is what I call a GIMPhelp thread. Its just something I made to help out any new people to the world of GFX and digital arts.

To start
When you first open GIMP it will be very confusing. Dont worry, this will all change in a while.

Opening up a canvas
If your going to make any piece of art your going to have to open a canvas.To make a new canvas, go to the GIMP menu that appears when you first start it, then click on File>New. Then, type in the size you want. Any size it really doesn't matter. Bear in mind though that the maximum signature size for the AE forums is 500x100. You don't always have to use something below that but its good to keep that in mind while making something.


Creating effects
Now you must be thinking, "But how do I do anything on it?!?" There are hundreds of different things you can do. You could use brushes or filters or C4Ds (see below to find out what all three are)


Filters
Filters are something to basically add an effect and maybe make your tag look better. There are a lot of them so try experimenting for awhile, to get to grips with what they do. I've been making art for 3 months now and I'm not sure I know all the filters either. Just take your time with this.

In particular some useful ones for beginners is filters>render. There are a couple of things there for example. Difference clouds or plasma. When you click on them you just choose the settings and a result will come up on your canvas. Simple enough eh? The difference cloud filter is going to be used in a written tutorial that is below.

Brushing
Brushing will be a key thing for you when you first start using GIMP. You only start with a few brushes. And there not particularly good for beginners. So I recommend looking below in the resource section for any brushes your thinking of downloading.

To use this just go to the GIMP menu and click on the paintbrush icon. If you click on the box to the right of the word brush you can change the shape of the brush to any you like. You can set the opacity making them less prominent . or change the scale to make it a different size.

To save brushes so they come up on GIMP. Go to program files>GIMP 2.0>share>GIMP>2.0>brushes. Just put the brushes in that folder. Do not put any brushes in there own folder in that folder. They will not come up if you do that.

C4D

C4D is short for cinema 4D. The C4D renders are made in this program. These renders are put into the image to make it look better or add flow etc. These are better used if you create a new layer. Then set it to screen, overlay or put the opacity down. This isn't really for people who have only just started.


The tools
I'm just going to mark down the ones which have been useful to me in the past:
Brushes- detailed description above
Eraser tool- for erasing things. I think that this is pretty obvious XD
Blend tool- for using gradients.
Smudge tool- used to smudge parts of a piece of art. If used correctly it can make something look pretty nice.
Dodge/burn tool- dodge makes something lighter. Burn makes it darker.

That's about it.

Layers
I could explain this but I doubt you will understand it anyway. For the beginning try not to use layers. It will just confuse you.

Layers can be made by going on the taskbar above the canvas you're using. Go to Layer>New Layer. This will bring up a box that should say "Create a New Layer". Put in whatever you want to name the layer (this is to distinguish which layer you are on, because if you have a lot of layers, you need to know where you are, and if you name it, it's a lot easier to find it), and look down. There is a height and width box, ignore that and leave it as it is. Now look down again, and there will be a section called "Layer Fill Type". This determines what the new layer will be set as, and how it will look. The first option, foreground color, will give you a new layer that is the color of your foreground color. To change this color, go back to the GIMP main menu. There will be two boxes, and the default colors will be black and white. The black box is the forground, the white box is the background color. To change these colors, double click them, and a new box will appear, then you can choose your new color. Now back to the Layers. The second option, background color, will give you a new layer filled with the color of your background color. The third option, white, will give you a new layer filled with white. The fourth option, and probably the most used, is transparency, which will give you a new layer that is invisible/transparent.
A useful way to check up on your layers is to do Ctrl+L, which will give you a box that lists all the different layers that you have, and will let you change the mode and opacity of the layer.

Improvement
If you want to improve then there is two thing you have to do. This is experimenting and reading tutorials.

Renders & stocks
A render is a picture without a background. These can be gotten from www.planetrenders.com and a stock is a picture with a background. When you put a render onto a picture, it will have the background of the current canvas you are working on.

Uploading an Image
To upload an image go to:

www.photobucket.com

Create an account then go to your album. You can upload things onto the internet. You do this by going to the top of the screen. There will be 3 boxes. Click browse on the top one. Find the image you want and then click open or hit the enter key. Then click upload. When you have done that you will be given 4 links. You want the direct link. Copy that and when you want the actual image to show. just put [image][/image] around it.

so it will look something like this:

[image] http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png[/image]

and if I take off the code tag, it will look like this:

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png[/image]

If you want it to be in link form, it will look like this:

[link=http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png](art name here)[/link]

and if I take off the code tag, it will look like this:

(art name here)


Lessons in GIMP by Lightning is my name

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Special Lesson 1
Special Lesson 2
Special Lesson 3
Special Lesson 4
Special Lesson 5
Special Lesson 6

Resource section

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/brushesbar.png[/image]

http://project-gimpbc.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured

That's all you really need for brushes. You will probably find that this guy converts a lot of brushes. Most of the ones on DeviantART are made by him.

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/stockbar.png[/image]

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z213/RecursosGFX/Stocks/
http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff179/MaroonGFX/Stocks/
http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r126/Quarentine3/Stocks/

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/C4Dbar.png[/image]

http://www.c4d-renders.com/
www.deviantart.com
www.planetrender.net
http://www.optiktutorials.info/c4d_renders.php

Ultimate resource place: http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/article/Resources-Index-13013.html

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/tutorialbar.png[/image]

First sig tut

You need a background (I'm calling it bg from now on) go to the taskbar on the canvas you're working on, then filters>render>difference clouds. A box should come up. Set it to what you like and press ok. If you go to colors, you can change the color there.

Next you need whats called a render. This is a picture without a bg. Go to. www.planetrenders.net and become a member (it's free) when you are, click on any picture you want. Then click it to make it the "full sized image" it should have a white BG normally. save it to wherever you like then open it with GIMP. It will have a gray checkered bg. Don't worry about this, if you copy that onto your artwork, it wont show the checkered part, making it a lot easier to work with. Then do whatever you want. Add text or add some brushes (you have some already but others can be downloaded at www.deviantart.com ) or put some more filters in.

tyberalex's tut
CY's light the way tut
wolfy's renderless sig tut
dabbleh's C4D usage tut
Trip's tips and tricks tut
my easy to do tut
To Find everything ILost - Advanced Sig tut
Basic Sprite Sig tut
Background Tutorial
PathTool (Pentool) Tut
Fow Tutorial
Script-Fu's
GIMP Animation Tutorial
Loopy Abstract
MS Word drawing Tutorial
MS Word- Sig Making
Space Tutorials
Animated Liquified Avatar
MS Gif Animator
Advanced brush Making

www.GIMPtalk.com

More will be added when I have the time.

---

If you want to add anything on to this just tell me.

By ~ZTG~zenron the great

people who have helped in any way(even if they don't know it XD-
LIMN(for the lessons)
Tyberalex-tut
CY's orb-tut
wolfythegreat-tut
dabbleh-tut
trip-tut
Any of the resource sites, and whoever made them

And thats about it. I made the rest myself.

quote:

ORIGINAL: zenron the great

GIMPhelp
a guide for beginners

This is what I call a GIMPhelp thread. Its just something I made to help out any new people to the world of GFX and digital arts.

Downloading
If you have already decided that gimp is what you want, but you can't find a download link, don't worry because we have one here. All you need to do is go here, press downloads, and then click on the very first download link. Simple, easy as pie, and don't forget to enjoy.

To start
When you first open GIMP it will be very confusing. Don¡¦t worry, this will all change in a while.

Opening up a canvas
If your going to make any piece of art your going to have to open a canvas. To do this just go to new on the GIMP menu bar and put in the size you want. Any size it really doesn¡¦t matter. Bare in mind though that the maximum signature size for the AE forums is 500x100. You don¡¦t always have to use something below that but its good to keep that in mind while making something

Creating effects
Now you must be thinking ¡§but how do I do anything on it¡¨. There are hundreds of different things you can do. You could use brushes or filters or C4D¡¦s(see below to find out what all three are)


Filters
Filters are something to basically add an effect and maybe make your tag look better. There are a lot of them so try experimenting for awhile. To get to grips with what a lot of them do. I¡¦ve been making art for 3 months now and I¡¦m not sure I know all the filters either. Just take your time with this.

In particular some useful ones for beginners is filters>render. There are a couple of things there for example. Difference clouds or plasma. When you click on them you just choose the settings and a result will come up on your canvas. Simple enough eh. ļ. The difference cloud filter is going to be used in a written tutorial that is below

Brushing
Brushing will be a key thing for you when you first start using GIMP. You only start with a few brushes. And there not particularly good for beginners. So I recommend looking below in the resource section for any brushes your thinking of downloading.

To use this just go to the GIMP menu and click on the paintbrush icon. If you click on the box to the right of the word brush you can change the shape of the brush to any you like. You can set the opacity making them less prominent . or change the scale to make it a different size.

To save brushes so they come up on GIMP. Go to program files>GIMP 2.0>share>GIMP>2.0>brushes. Just put the brushes in that folder. Do not put any brushes in there own folder in that folder. They will not come up if you do that
C4D
C4D is short for cinema 4D. What we use in GIMP are things that are created in this program. They are put into the image to make it look better or add flow etc. These are better used if you create a new layer. Then set it to screen, overlay or put the opacity down. This isn¡¦t really for people who have only just started.


The tools
I¡¦m just going to mark down the ones which have been useful to me in the past:
Brushes:- detailed description above
Eraser tool- for erasing things. I think that this is pretty obvious XD
Blend tool- for using gradients.
Smudge tool- used to smudge parts of a piece of art. If used correctly it can make something look pretty nice.
Dodge/burn tool- dodge makes something lighter. Burn makes it darker. That¡¦s about it.

Layers
Layers can be made by going on the taskbar above the canvas you're using. Go to Layer>New Layer. This will bring up a box that should say "Create a New Layer". Put in whatever you want to name the layer (this is to distinguish which layer you are on, because if you have a lot of layers, you need to know where you are, and if you name it, it's a lot easier to find it), and look down. There is a height and width box, ignore that and leave it as it is. Now look down again, and there will be a section called "Layer Fill Type". This determines what the new layer will be set as, and how it will look. The first option, foreground color, will give you a new layer that is the color of your foreground color. To change this color, go back to the GIMP main menu. There will be two boxes, and the default colors will be black and white. The black box is the forground, the white box is the background color. To change these colors, double click them, and a new box will appear, then you can choose your new color. Now back to the Layers. The second option, background color, will give you a new layer filled with the color of your background color. The third option, white, will give you a new layer filled with white. The fourth option, and probably the most used, is transparency, which will give you a new layer that is invisible/transparent.
A useful way to check up on your layers is to do Ctrl+L, which will give you a box that lists all the different layers that you have, and will let you change the mode and opacity of the layer.



Improvement
If you want to improve then there is two thing you have to do. This is experimenting and reading tutorials.

Renders & stocks
A render is a picture without a background. These can be gotten from www.planetrenders.com and a stock is a picture with a background. When you put a render onto a picture. It will have the background of the pre-existing tag.

Uploading an Image
To upload an image go to:

www.photobucket.com
www.imageshack.net

create an account then go to your album. You can upload things onto the internet. You do this by going to the top of the screen. There will be 3 boxes. click browse on the top one. Find the image you want and then click open or hitthe enter key. then click upload. when you have done that you will be given 4 links. you want the direct link. copy that and when you want the actual image to show. just put [image][/image] around it.

so it will look something like this:

[image] http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png[/image]

and if I take off the code tag. It will look like this:

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png[/image]

Lessons in GIMP by Lightning is my name are below. please try these there really helpful


Resource section

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/brushesbar.png[/image]

http://project-gimpbc.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured

that¡¦s all you really need for brushes. You will probably find that this guy converts a lot of brushes. Most of the ones on DeviantART are made by him.

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/stockbar.png[/image]

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z213/RecursosGFX/Stocks/
http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff179/MaroonGFX/Stocks/
http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r126/Quarentine3/Stocks/

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/C4Dbar.png[/image]

http://www.c4d-renders.com/
www.deviantart.com
www.planetrender.net
http://www.optiktutorials.info/c4d_renders.php

Ultimate resource place: http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/article/Resources-Index-13013.html

---

[image]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/tutorialbar.png[/image]

First sig tut
you need a background(im calling it bg from now on) go to filters>render>difference clouds. a box should come up. set it to what you like and press ok. If you go to colors. You can change the color there.

Next you need whats called a render. This is a picture without a bg. Go to. www.planetrenders.net and become a member(its free) when you are click on any picture you want. then click it to make it the "full sized image" it should have a white BG normally. save it to werever you like then open it with GIMP. It will have a grey chequered bg. If you copy that onto your thing. It wont show the chequered part. making it alot easier to work with. Then do whatever you want. add text or add some brushes( you have some already but others can be downloaded at www.deviantart.com ) or put some more filters in.

tyberalex's tut
CY's light the way tut
wolfy's renderless sig tut
dabbleh's C4D usage tut
Trip's tips and tricks tut
my easy to do tut
Lesson number 1
Lesson number 2
Lesson Number 3
Lesson Number 4
Special Lesson 1
Special Lesson 2
Special Lesson 3
Special Lesson 4
Special Lesson 5
Special Lesson 6
To Find everything ILost - Advanced Sig tut
Basic Sprite Sig tut
Background Tutorial
PathTool (Pentool) Tut
Fow Tutorial
Script-Fu's
GIMP Animation Tutorial
Loopy Abstract
MS Word drawing Tutorial
MS Word- Sig Making
Space Tutorials
Animated Liquified Avatar
MS Gif Animator
Advanced brush Making



www.GIMPtalk.com

Im going to add more when I can be bothered

---

If you want to add anything on to this just tell me

By ~ZTG~zenron the great

people who have helped in any way(even if they don't know it XD-
LIMN(for the lessons)
Tyberalex-tut
CY's orb-tut
wolfythegreat-tut
dabbleh-tut
trip-tut
any of the resource sites. whoever made them
and thats about it. I made the rest myself.

[link=http://www.imageox.com/share/142287-.png]Chooci's Colored Sig Tut[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Choochi-039-s-Zoom-Pixel-Stretch-Sig-Tut-25027-1.html]Choochi's Pixel Strech Tut[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Full-Sig-Tut-1283-1.html]Tkill Full Sig Tut[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Cutting-Out-Renders-Using-The-Paths-Tool-769-1.html]Cuuting OUt Renders(the best renderin tut)[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/-19509-1.html]Kirby-Splash[/link]

[link=http://hosting02.imagecross.com/myspace-image-hosting-o/8537mario-galaxy-tutorial.png]Mario Smudge TUT[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Penguins-Sig-Tut-10820-1.html]Penguins Sig TUT[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Ps-gt-gimp-Sprite-Signature-Tutorial-11710-1.html]Cool Sprite TUT[/link]

[link=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Three-Strands-Sig-Tut-25746-1.html]Three Strands TUT[/link]