Scratch

GIMP is something that you can't quickly explain all of.

All I can say is that you should try messing around with the filters and gradient tool.

Ok... warming up typing muscles... done!

First thing you want to learn is how to make a new image. Click File>New and then input the image size. Make sure the unit is in pixels. 480,360 is the scratch stage size so lets start with that.

First tool we're going to use is the pencil. This is best for Scratch graphics since it has no antialiasing which means clean fills and slick imports. Choose a pen, the default is fine.  Choose any colour. Let's draw a apple outline.

Now the next tool we're going to learn is the fill colour tool. The paint bucket. Click on it and choose a red, green or yellow colour (or grey if you want a Apple and not a apple) and then click in the middle.

Now comes the fun bit. Choose the gradient tool, choose white as your primary colour and then choose foreground to transparent, and choose the shape linear, and then experiment with dragging to make a nice highlight on the apple.

Now lets make a new layer, go to the layer window and click the duplicate layer button. Now right click the new layer in the layer window and choose scale layer. Set the units to percent and then do 50%. The bottom dialog automatically adjusts when you set the top dialog. Click ok and then you're done.

Use the move layers, selections tool to move the new layer slightly away from the original apple, but keep them overlapping.

Now, select the new layer and find the move back layer button. It should now be behind the original apple.

Now go the menu bar and click filters (filters contains all sorts of amazing and useful functions    ) then choose blur and then gaussian blur.

Adjust to about 10. Choose ok.

Now you're done! 

I haven't said anything about alpha channels because Scratch doesn't support it.

Now to export the image, choose save as, then set a name and append .png to the end. Set compression to maximum (doesn't affect quality as png is lossless) and then save to your desktop or wherever convenient.

Now you can import it as a sprite or costume! 

I think I've covered the basics 

Hope that helps! 

Last edited by jji7skyline (2012-01-15 19:09:01)

jji7skyline wrote:

Ok... warming up typing muscles... done!

First thing you want to learn is how to make a new image. Click File>New and then input the image size. Make sure the unit is in pixels. 480,360 is the scratch stage size so lets start with that.

First tool we're going to use is the pencil. This is best for Scratch graphics since it has no antialiasing which means clean fills and slick imports. Choose a pen, the default is fine.  Choose any colour. Let's draw a apple outline.

Now the next tool we're going to learn is the fill colour tool. The paint bucket. Click on it and choose a red, green or yellow colour (or grey if you want a Apple and not a apple) and then click in the middle.

Now comes the fun bit. Choose the gradient tool, choose white as your primary colour and then choose foreground to transparent, and choose the shape linear, and then experiment with dragging to make a nice highlight on the apple.

Now lets make a new layer, go to the layer window and click the duplicate layer button. Now right click the new layer in the layer window and choose scale layer. Set the units to percent and then do 50%. The bottom dialog automatically adjusts when you set the top dialog. Click ok and then you're done.

Use the move layers, selections tool to move the new layer slightly away from the original apple, but keep them overlapping.

Now, select the new layer and find the move back layer button. It should now be behind the original apple.

Now go the menu bar and click filters (filters contains all sorts of amazing and useful functions    ) then choose blur and then gaussian blur.

Adjust to about 10. Choose ok.

Now you're done! 

I haven't said anything about alpha channels because Scratch doesn't support it.

Now to export the image, choose save as, then set a name and append .png to the end. Set compression to maximum (doesn't affect quality as png is lossless) and then save to your desktop or wherever convenient.

Now you can import it as a sprite or costume! 

I think I've covered the basics 

Hope that helps! 

Actually I think Scratch does support transparency (alpha channels) if it's completely transparent, although I'm not too sure about this. However, it's still useful to know how to do. Steps:

Open your image.
Select the area you want to make transparent.
Select the appropriate selection tool from the Tool window or the Tools - Selection Tools menu on the Layer window.  I usually use the magic wand/fuzzy select (Select contiguous region) tool or the Select regions by color tool.
Click in the region you want selected.  Use shift-click to add more regions/colors.
Tip: It's easier if you zoom in (View - Zoom menu) to see finer details of exactly what you're selecting.
In the Layer window (the one showing your image), select Layer - Transparency - Add Alpha Channel.  If this is blanked out then it's already done.  This makes sure your image can store transparency data.
Select Edit - Clear.  This makes the selection transparent.
Save the file. 
Note: If you save it as a PNG file, be sure to select the 'Save colour values from transparent pixels' option in the Save as PNG dialog box.


(these are from http://geekswithblogs.net/timh/archive/2006/03/20/72797.aspx but that page has swears in the comments.

Last edited by luiysia (2011-12-26 21:13:17)