GIMP - Questions and Discussion
Here is a place for you to talk about GIMP (any version). You may ask questions, give tips, discuss features and plugins, share brushes and other presets, or anything else generally related to GIMP and manga.
To download GIMP, go to http://www.gimp.org/
This sticky was patched together from all previous threads that fit this category. The actual creation date of this sticky is May 31st, 2011.
Typesetting for Linux Users
The first four following posts were moved from the Double Arts thread into this one. ~eni
Sounds interesting but I'm a noob at that kind of stuff. And then using GIMP, since I have Linux, is going to be ... well, interesting for the most part. Wich Paint.NET was available for Linux.
Re: Double Arts by Komi Naoshi
you can typeset pretty well with gimp, segua ;) *is used to doing just that* after a short period of getting used to it, it's pretty easy too =3 just a different interface ;) (though I hear that's supposed to change in v2.7/2.8 finally x3)
And Photoshop (up till CS2) works on Linux perfectly, too :p Dunno about Paint.Net, but I doubt that will work that easily...
Re: Double Arts by Komi Naoshi
I hate typesetting in Gimp since it not offers any further options to format text. The text tool is Gimp's big let down compared to PS' otherwise it's fully equal, IMHO.
Therefor I still recommend to simply boot a windows image with Qemu or Vmware-Player. It's the easiest way and we're going extremely offtopic here >.>
Re: Double Arts by Komi Naoshi
I would not even dare to typeset with GIMP. It's much more work than it needs to be. I find that, when I was still using windows, that Paint.NET and Adobe ImageReady worked great together. (Didn't want to buy full version of PS:CS2 or bootleg PS:CS).
Re: Double Arts by Komi Naoshi
Segua, this becomes very offtopic in this thread. Let me move the posts to the academy. 1 sec. Ok, done.
Well, you could give Paint Mono a try. It's a project that tries to port Paint.NET to unix but the current project status is unclear to me:
http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2006/May-19.html
http://redirect.trinec.de/?code.goog...Fpaint-mono%2F
You could also try Krita instead of GIMP. But I haven't installed it in ages and can't say at all how the font tool has developed. I also don't know whether you can import PSD's or not.
http://koffice.org/krita
Another alternative is scribus, a layout program for print media. If you have seen the MH Yearbook, I've made the whole Moderators-part in scribus. You can import psd's too but you have to calculate from px to pt or mm.
http://www.scribus.net
Though, when the group is working with PS, it's hard. I had the experience that GIMP doesn't always import PSD layers correctly and as said above it's a bitch when you want to typeset. Scanning, cleaning, editing and coloring is absolutely no problem in GIMP but I wouldn't recommend it for typesetting.
The best solution for me is still to boot a windows image in a virtual machine and simply open PS (or whatever you're used to) for such stuff. I'm not a fan of emulating with Wine, either all or none.
As much as I wish for working with linux only, I simply don't feel like making my life any harder then it needs to be and there's a handful of programs that I really love to work with which won't get any linux alternative in the near future (in my case: Corel Painter, Terragen, Poser, Photo Impact and my Genealogy software).
Re: Typesetting for Linux Users
I've been trying to find a suitable Linux graphic design program. GIMP is nice but I don't like the whole work flow but it's dreary.
When it comes to text, so far, PS and the tools Adobe provides seems to be the best so far in my opinion. Well, I suppose I should clarify my point. If a person is going to be do anything fancy with the text such as extra effects, PS is great.
Now that I think about it, if the picture is saved in a really high resolution or a big picture, a page layout program might work wonders when it comes to text. I should give that a shot.
Re: Typesetting for Linux Users
The layout program becomes problematic when the typesetter gets pages with PS layers and is expected to send them back as such. I could 'import' the psd as an image but not export it, so it only works when you're the last one in line or a standalone scanlator.
You basically load the page as an background image and set text layers on it which can be saved as a container or exported as png/jpg/pdf/whatever. It's possible to have a whole chapter in one container file since you can work with several pages (magazine project).
Scribus, as a natural print layout software, offers a wide and easy to set repertoire for all kind of text settings and effects (though, you have to get used to it as the menu is very different from graphic programs). The negative side is, however, that it works with formats for print media and that it's not meant to handle graphics aside from being images on a page. It opens up GIMP out of the project file when you want to edit a graphic, though. It has layers, a path tool and could be used for borders and lines but clearly not for cleaning and such.
Well, just try it. I really enjoy working with it in combination with GIMP but it's surely a matter of habit and patience :3