Help For Your Gimp And You

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Have you been having problems with your Gimp ? Are you fed up waiting 20 minutes for Gimp to start up ? Or are you just one of those people who
download all the resources ,only to find them all over your computer ? Then read on ,this is just a little help from someone who had these problems
,and found a way to make it easier .

Chapter 1 - How to keep Gimp Running smoothly .

Chapter 2 - How to open your new brushes/patterns/gradients - and where to put them .

Chapter 3 - How to start out making your OWN brushes the easy 123 way .

Chapter 1

We all started out with our Gimp Brush folder empty ,and Gimp starting up in a flash (quicker than the kettle clicking) but then you found all those
fantastic sites which offer ludicrous amounts of tasty Brushes for free ........... now your Gimp takes longer to start up than it does for your dinner to be
ready . My suggestion to you would be for your Gimp Resources to have its own folder - that way you can move/find and delete everything without
searching your whole computer . Here's how to make things a bit easier .

Make a folder on your desktop called Gimp Resources (or anything you relate to ,mines is Gimp stuff) Easy peasy .

Inside this main folder you should then make up a selection of other folders for your Gimping needs . For instance - Homemade Brushes - (that you
made yourself) that way you can use your brushes without forgetting where you put them .

Another Folder called - To make Brushes with - This is your images folder ,it keeps your 'ideas' seperate from everything else and means you wont
acidentally mix up your images with others you downloaded .

Another Folder called - Artist Brushes - These brushes are from those sites that wont allow you to use them unless for personal use - that way you can
keep each pack in a seperate folder named after the Brush Artist and know who they came from if you ever need to credit or link back .

Another Folder called - Gimp Tutorials - That way all your tutorials are in one place and easy to find .

And so on ,you get my point . Its not about categorization - its more about keeping your desktop tidy and keeping everything within reach and making
Gimp run smoothly and with less start up lag time .If you use Gimp Daily ,you may find this folder being the only one opened and that means no lag on
your computer or windows errors because you type too fast for your poor machine - no 20 minute wait for Gimp to start up either . You have now made
your life that wee bit easier . If you can also find a way to hook up the kettle for this to make tea ,note me .

Chapter 2

So you found this great site that lets you download to your hearts content ,but you have one problem - its came in a rar file and you dont know what to
do with it or where to put the contents afterward .

First off if its came in a Rar File (looks like a little stack of books) you will need the partially free win rar program to extract this . I say partially free
because its free for most of it ,you wont have to pay for the bits you dont use .And your only going to be either Extracting or Packing (if you make your
own brushes) . So the bit you need is free ,it will come up with a warning saying buy now ,but you just cancel that . Iv been using this program now for
6 years ........ yes ,the free bits .

So you have your program and your little Rar file all waiting and dont know what to do . You have to Right click on the file itself ,it should have an option
to - Extract to 'the name of your download' option . Click that one ,it means it will extract it to a folder and not singular ,incase the packer did not put
them in a separate folder . Try to make this happen on your desktop ,It will be easier to see what your doing . Now you have your extracted download
and cant wait to try it out . Remember ,you can now bin the rar ,you have your goodies .

My advice would be ,dont have Gimp Running while adding new content . It tends to crash a lot (but if you do then you have to Refresh Gimp for it to
load your new Brushes/Gradients). But ,if you dont have Gimp running - Click on your Start Button - Then click your user name at the top . This should
open up a folder of your stuff - in here you will find The Gimp folder ,and if you click into that - the first thing you should see is the Brushes folder and all
the rest that work Gimp . But right now we are going to focus on the Brush one .

Inside this folder is where your Brush Downloads go - even your own Brushes you made .

Now before you go sticking your Brushes in here and clogging up your Gimp Mobile - take the downloaded folder you just extracted and place it in the
Gimp Stuff folder on your desktop - whichever folder it goes into (if its Artist Brushes and so on) . And I will give you an easier way to move the
Brushes back and forth .

Say you want to use the hearts brushes from Thingamabob - instead of pulling them out of your desktop Gimp folder and having to move things about
by hand - just right click the brushes themselves and use the 'Move To' option . It should go like this ......

Open the folder and Right click on the Brushes you want to use
Command - Move To folder

Your name

Gimp

Brushes

The little arrows at the side gives you the option to open each folder to see other folders inside that one . I use this 'Move To' option for my Brushes
daily . But dont close the folder you took the brushes from ,if you keep yourself right and dont move anything while playing with these it means when
your done using them you can just right click on the folder they came from and use the 'Undo Move' option .Your brushes will now be back in the right
folder with no fuss and you can then close that folder down . This 'Move To' option will not change its settings ,unless you change it . And keep in mind
you CANNOT have folders in the main Gimp Brushes Folder ,they wont work otherwise . You should just have files in there .

Its a bit different for Gradients/patterns/fonts .They all go in the Original Gimp Folder and wont be moved unless you dont want them anymore . You
wont have to take them out ,its the brushes you will want to change . So click your start button again - go to your name - find the Gimp Folder - open
that - and in there you will find all the other folders for Gimp ,like gradients/patterns/fonts . Just put those files in the correct places and they will
automatically install . You probably wont ever move them again .

Chapter 3

So you want to have a bash at making your own Brushes and dont know what to do ? Then Il start you off - you will pick this up in no time .And before
you know it ,you will be a Gimp Brush Maker like me .

Lets start this off easy .

Open up a 400x400 image and then click on 'New Layer' . It gives you an option box then ,I want you to click the transparent one . Now on your white
background you should have a transparent layer ,you want to delete the white one .

Then make a star - or any thing at all on your transparent background - this is just to show you how its done . Once you have your shape ,you then
have to click on your Image tab up the top .It should go like this .....

Image

Mode

Grayscale

Most Brushes have to be changed into greyscale in order to be used with a color .

Once you have done that you then want to click ......

Image

Flatten Image

Autocrop Image

I now want you to Save this . You save it with the 'Save As' option and an option box will come up ,at the left hand corner you should see a little square
with a plus sign saying beside it ' Select File Type' click this little square and look on the right hand panel of the save options it offers you .Your looking
for GBR or gbr . Its the 12th one down . Now at the top of this save option is also where you name your brush ,lets call this 'The Test' ,then click the gbr
file type and it should close this save option down . Refresh your Gimp Mobile ,to do this - click on your Brushes panel on Gimp (this is the one you
choose which Brush your going to use when your making stuff) and on the right hand at the bottom ,you should see 2 little blue arrows in a circle .Click
this ,its how you refresh Gimp .

Congratulations ,you now have your own Homemade Brush!

Try out with different styles and shapes . Also ,if you use a color in a Brush ,then save it on Greyscale it will show up paler in Gimp . It means you can
have different effects and what not . You can also save a brush in full color . Just dont change it to greyscale or flatten it . This is just a brief way of
getting you started ,its now up to you and your imagination .

I hope you find this has made things a bit more clearer and easier for you . If your looking for Brushes to download and start you off ,why not look for
me on deviantART as MarmiteMamie .And dont worry ,I have no TOU nor rules for my Brushes ,you can use them for whatever you need . I also take
2 sugars in my tea ...........

Have fun Gimpers :)