1st time GIMP driving me crazy!

[OzarkSawdust]

I'm trying to learn GIMP. To start with I think I picked the wrong photo! There has to be something out there easier to start with. 

Don't know what to do with the teeth. And the hat. How much small details should I take out of my beard and the Crappie to be cuttable? 

Going nuts trying to get out all the random pixels...!

Need advise from all you portrait pros out there! Thanks.

[Foxfold]

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that there is a fish called a 'Crappie'  

[jerrye]

I've tried Gimp and Inkscape, and been unsatisfed with both. Someone on a FB group suggested Cute Cutter, and though it isn't as good as or as detailed as those two, it seems to be working better for me.

I took a shot at this using Cute Cutter. This is just a preliminary; more work would need to be done with eliminating floaters and heightening some lines. It's up to you whether or not you use this. No worries either way!

OzarkSawdust crappie pattern .svg

[OzarkSawdust]

3 hours ago, Foxfold said:

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that there is a fish called a 'Crappie'  

Yes! And they are very good eating, fun to catch, and can be found almost anywhere!

[OzarkSawdust]

2 hours ago, jerrye said:

I've tried Gimp and Inkscape, and been unsatisfed with both. Someone on a FB group suggested Cute Cutter, and though it isn't as good as or as detailed as those two, it seems to be working better for me.

I took a shot at this using Cute Cutter. This is just a preliminary; more work would need to be done with eliminating floaters and heightening some lines. It's up to you whether or not you use this. No worries either way!

OzarkSawdust crappie pattern .svg

Thanks Jerrye! I've never seen a pattern with that program. Gives it an interesting look. How would you get the floaters out? I threw a cat picture in it to see...but I didn't figure out that. Also I didn't see anywhere to set the size, and it printed kind of small.

I just went on the website...is there an actual program to download?

Edited April 11, 2020 by OzarkSawdust

[Birchbark]

I'm hardly a "portrait pros", but i do have an opinion.  First, all the white must connect.  That means above the eyes in this won't work.  Keeping in mind all white must connect, and identifying the problem areas, hat, eyes, beard, mouth, fish..  then you start trying to move the sliders until some of those areas are as good as it gets.  Then it is a matter of painting in with white the areas that you want to save, and connect all white together.  Paint areas black that you want to cut out.  Simple.

I used your attempt and started painting in the white areas, and some of the black, just so you would get the idea.  I would take the image back in Gimp and keep those ideas in mind.

Russell

 

[jerrye]

5 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

Thanks Jerrye! I've never seen a pattern with that program. Gives it an interesting look. How would you get the floaters out? I threw a cat picture in it to see...but I didn't figure out that. Also I didn't see anywhere to set the size, and it printed kind of small.

I just went on the website...is there an actual program to download?

It is a simplistic option, nowhere near as capable as Gimp or Inkscape, but able to quickly give me what I want. I will take the time to learn those at some point...

Under Touchups, you have a brush option that you can make black or white that lets you take care of floaters. I usually zoom the image to max size, make the brush as small as possible, and go from there. I also use the touchup option with smallest brush to thin out the heavy black areas.

You can also use black & white gel pens to tackle floaters after the pattern is printed.

I use the Remove Background function to eliminate background clutter, then make the background color white.

One thing that I really like is the slider between original and cutout that lets you see in real time how your pattern compares to the image you're converting.

It does seem to download smaller images. You should be able to scale the size through your printer software. Another option would be to use the copy function to enlarge a printout, if you have a printer/scanner/copier.

No download. Web based only, as far as I can tell.

Edited April 11, 2020 by jerrye

[OzarkSawdust]

13 minutes ago, jerrye said:

It is a simplistic option, nowhere near as capable as Gimp or Inkscape, but able to quickly give me what I want. I will take the time to learn those at some point...

Under Touchups, you have a brush option that you can make black or white that lets you take care of floaters. I usually zoom the image to max size, make the brush as small as possible, and go from there. I also use the touchup option with smallest brush to thin out the heavy black areas.

You can also use black & white gel pens to tackle floaters after the pattern is printed.

I use the Remove Background function to eliminate background clutter, then make the background color white.

One thing that I really like is the slider between original and cutout that lets you see in real time how your pattern compares to the image you're converting.

It does seem to download smaller images. You should be able to scale the size through your printer software. Another option would be to use the copy function to enlarge a printout, if you have a printer/scanner/copier.

No download. Web based only, as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the info! I'll play around with it and try a couple!

[OzarkSawdust]

47 minutes ago, Birchbark said:

I'm hardly a "portrait pros", but i do have an opinion.  First, all the white must connect.  That means above the eyes in this won't work.  Keeping in mind all white must connect, and identifying the problem areas, hat, eyes, beard, mouth, fish..  then you start trying to move the sliders until some of those areas are as good as it gets.  Then it is a matter of painting in with white the areas that you want to save, and connect all white together.  Paint areas black that you want to cut out.  Simple.

I used your attempt and started painting in the white areas, and some of the black, just so you would get the idea.  I would take the image back in Gimp and keep those ideas in mind.

Russell

 

Thank you for the info Russell. I think I need to play around with the sliders some more. You got a nice defined line on the fins and end of the tail. Whiting out the hat is probably the best way to go. I left in way too much tiny details in the beard and fish. You would have a hard time drilling and cutting them and probably wouldn't notice them in the finished cut anyway. I'll keep working on it and post when I have time to cut it. Thanks again! 

[Rockytime]

On 4/11/2020 at 6:12 AM, jerrye said:

I've tried Gimp and Inkscape, and been unsatisfed with both. Someone on a FB group suggested Cute Cutter, and though it isn't as good as or as detailed as those two, it seems to be working better for me.

I took a shot at this using Cute Cutter. This is just a preliminary; more work would need to be done with eliminating floaters and heightening some lines. It's up to you whether or not you use this. No worries either way!

OzarkSawdust crappie pattern .svg

That's a heck of a nice pattern!

[OzarkSawdust]

3 hours ago, Rockytime said:

That's a heck of a nice pattern!

Thanks Les! I think it would really be neat if I could make portrait patterns for myself...but it will take a lot of learning and practice! 

 

[Ctutor]

I'm assuming you have gone to the resource tab and university where Gimp ios taught.  All things you want to have cut out are black and the left overs are white.  All whites haveto be connected to other whites or they end up on the floor.. You need to think about cutting the negatives out.  If you have not taken the course do so Travis does an excellent job of teaching the making of portrait patterns.  dh

[Ctutor]

In relooking at your pic I would suggest you use more white and only outline in black .  also try to leave some outlining to the viewers imagination.  The eye will add length to lines you do not need to have everything "drawn" in. 

[Dutchscroller]

I use Adobe capture on my tablet (its free) and works great, almost instantly you can see if its workable.

you still need to adjust it on pc, but most of it is already done on Adobe Capture.

on pc i use corel draw its paid but i find it easier then Gimp wich i just cant work with.

below is an example i made with Adobe capture.