Author Topic: Gimp Made Easy- By Smiling.Sin (For Minxy)  (Read 1933 times)

Smiling.Sin

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Gimp Made Easy- By Smiling.Sin (For Minxy)
« on: October 13, 2012, 05:05:48 pm »
GIMP MADE EASY BY SMILING.SIN (MAGICAL~NARWHAL) FOR MINXY :)
POST 1-MAP MAKING


Gimp link- http://www.gimp.org/

Gimp's a great program to use, and it comes in many different languages. I highly recommend it, and I've been using it to make maps and presets ever since I got it.

OPENING GIMP
Once you've installed Gimp and everything, you'll want to open it.


This is what's it's gonna look like, minus the layers. To open the layers and others, you simply click Windows>>Dockable Dialogs>>Layers.

CREATING A NEW FILE
Now, you're going to want to make a new file.


Click File in the top left corner, then New. A little box is going to pop up; This is VERY important. There'll be two boxes labeled Width and Height. They'll have a numbers in them. You need to change those numbers to 513, so it's 513 by 513 pixels. After you've done that, there's one more thing you need to change. Click on the little + sign next to Advanced Options. You will see a drop down box entitled 'Color Space'. Change that to Grayscale. If you don't, it won't work.



This is what you'll see after you've done the previous steps.

COLORS



Colors mark how high or low you want a feature to be. For example, you'd use black (The lowest color) For rivers, lakes, oceans, etc. You'd use white (The highest color) for hills, mountains, cliffs, etc. Gray would be used for a neutral height.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE


You'll have a box to the left entitled Toolbox. This box has (obviously) all the tools, brushes, and features available to you. Click on the little circle in the brush column to open up all your brushes. I did this.



There are two types of brushes; Paintbrush and Pencil. Paintbrush has a softer look to it, while the Pencil is blunt. Above is Paintbrush.


That's Pencil.



Now, why don't we use some tools?


The Smudge tool. It looks like a hand with a finger pointing out. Good for making rolling hills.


The blur tool. Looks like a water droplet right next to smudge.




The blend tool. Two up from smudge, this allows a steady gradient. Really good for beaches.


Dodge/Burn. To the right of Smudge.



The ink brush. Three shapes; square, circle, diamond. One up from Smudge.



Bucket Fill. Right next to the Blend. It gives a cool pattern, though I don't recommend you use it.

Those are only the basic tools that you'll need. What I HIGHLY recommend you use is the opacity. It's hard to explain, but it's extremely useful.