GIMP

Goal: Resize a picture, Rotate it, Crop it, Give it a caption, Copy a selection, Make a selection transparent, Add another picture on top, Export to a gif.

Download a picture to your desktop:

· Find a picture on the internet. Get a large version of the picture, not a thumbnail. Right click and choose save as image. Navigate to your desktop.

· Find one more.

Open GIMP with your picture:

· Start / All Programs / GIMP2

· File / Open file / choose your desktop /

· If you do not see your picture, change all images to all files

· Double click your picture

· It should now be open in GIMP

· Set to single window mode using Window / Single Window Mode

Resize a picture internal size and print size:

· Menu option Image

· Choice Scale image

· Change image size width to half as large or half as small (depending on what you want). See that the height changes proportionally. Click Scale.

· Change again to whatever size you want to work with. (Remember you can change the zoom using view / zoom as well.)

· This changes only the file size and detail level kept inside the file. Change the print size to fit within a paper of 8 x 10 inches.

· Image / Print Size. Choose a width of 5 and select OK.

Rotate your picture:

· Tools / Transform / Rotate

· Hold down your cursor while dragging your mouse to see your picture turn. Click Rotate to accept it.

· Some of your picture turned outside the canvas, so now resize the canvas: image / fit canvas to layers.

Crop your picture:

· Tools / Transform / Crop

· Hold down your cursor while dragging your mouse to define a rectangle that you will keep. Double click inside the picture to accept your crop. Everything else will be removed and your canvas will become smaller.

Add a caption:

· Click the A button in your toolbox

· Click where you want to start typing

· Change the font size and color of the text

· Type a caption

· To change its font after typing, first hit ctrl /A to highlight your text and then choose the color and size and press Enter

· To come out of Text writing mode, click the move tool (the cross).

Copy a selection:

· Your text created a new layer, so get back into your picture layer by clicking the picture on the right.

· Choose a selection tool using tools / rectangular select

· Hold down your cursor while dragging your mouse to define a rectangle.

· Move it around to cover the rectangle you want to copy – move the center or resize the box at the corners.

· Right click on the box and choose edit / copy

· Click another spot on your picture and choose edit / paste

· That paste is now a floating layer. Put your cursor right below your paste. Your cursor will look like an anchor. Click. See the floating picture layer disappear.

Make a selection transparent:

· First, add an index layer to handle the transparency: Layer / Transparency / Add Alpha Layer (If it is grayed out, you already have an alpha channel so it is okay.)

· Tools / Selection / Ellipse and then drag over the ellipse you will cut out.

· Edit / Clear to cut it.

Add another picture on top: (optional)

· Make your GIMP window smaller.

· Move it until you can also see your other picture on the screen.

· Drag the picture onto the layer box to make a new layer (not onto the image window).

· Click on that layer

· Choose Select / All

· Resize to make it much smaller the same way you resized the original picture

· Add an alpha channel using layer / transparency / add alpha layer

· Click the fuzzy select wand and click the white space. It will select the white portion that is currently covering the layer below it.