HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One for Dummies - Andy Harris [351]
The best solution is to use an image-supply site like www.freedigitalphotos.net or www.istockphoto.com. Be sure to search for royalty-free artwork, and check the license to ensure you can use and modify the work. I’m a big fan of stock art. Typically, I can find a dozen images to spruce up a site for less than $20, and I have the satisfaction of knowing I’m completely legal. Often, stock art is designed for both print and digital use. Generally, you can purchase the smallest size for digital work, which is economical and perfectly fine for use on the Web. (Note: Monitors have much less resolution than printed paper, so you can get away with a smaller image.)
To reuse an image in a legitimate way, consider the following:
Acknowledge the source: Generally, this acknowledgment isn’t necessary for images you purchase, but it is polite if you receive an image free. You can place the acknowledgment in the source code.
Get permission if needed: It’s always best to get permission from the original developer. Sometimes this isn’t possible or necessary, but you should always try.
Make the image your own: Do something to modify the image. If it’s a stock photo, this isn’t necessary, but you might want to change the colors, move things around, and make the image fit the theme of your project a little better.
Of course, you can also load an existing image into Gimp. Gimp accepts all major image formats (and dozens more with optional plugins). Use the File⇒Open menu command to open an image, or simply drag an image file onto the Gimp Toolbox.
Painting tools
Gimp includes a number of useful tools to create or modify an image. Figure 4-3 shows a few of these tools.
♦ Pencil: The Pencil tool is the standard drawing tool. It draws hard edges in the exact shape of the pen. You can choose from many pen shapes in the tool options panel (described in the next section).
♦ Paintbrush: The Paintbrush tool is similar to the Pencil tool, but it uses a technique called anti-aliasing to make smoother edges. Like the Pencil tool, the Brush tool can use many different pen shapes.
♦ Eraser: The Eraser tool is used to remove color from a drawing. If the current layer has transparency enabled, the eraser tool makes things transparent. If transparency is not turned on, the Eraser tool “draws” in the background color.
♦ Airbrush: The Airbrush tool allows you to paint with a virtual airbrush. You can modify the flow and size of the paint. This tool is especially effective with a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet.
♦ Ink: The Ink tool simulates a calligraphy brush. The speed of drawing indicates the width of the stroke. It seems quite realistic, because everything I draw with it looks just as bad as what I create when I try real calligraphy.
♦ Clone: The powerful Clone tool allows you to grab content from one part of an image and copy it to another part of the image. This tool is often used in photo retouching to remove scars and blemishes.
♦ Fill: The Fill tool is used to fill an area with a color or pattern. It has multiple options that allow you to pick the pattern, the color, and the method of filling. (You can fill the current selection or all areas with the same color, for example.)
♦ Blend: This Blend tool allows you to fill an area with color patterns, similar to the Fill tool. There are numerous options that allow you to determine what pattern is used and how it is distributed. (Many programs call this the Gradient tool.)
Figure 4-3: These tools are used to draw or modify an image.
A complex program like Gimp deserves (and has) entire books written about it. There’s no way I can describe everything in this brief introductory chapter. Still, this should give you an indication of what you can do. Check the many excellent user tutorials at www.gimp.org/tutorials and the manual at www.gimp.org/docs.
Selection tools
Often, you’ll be working on specific parts of an image. It’s critical to have tools to help you grab a particular part of an image and work with it in isolation.