How to Make a Quick Page Using GIMP 2.6

Today I have a freebie of a different kind for you...it is a tutorial. I love using GIMP, however, there are just not a lot of tutorials out there that help out us digi-scrappers. The tutorial I have for you is how to make a quick page using GIMP. Hope you like it!

How to Make a Quick Page using GIMP 2.6

Go to File and choose New.

For a 12 x 12 QP you will want it to be 3600 pixels wide by 3600 pixels tall. A 4 x 6 brag book page would be 1800 pixels wide by 1200 pixels tall.

Click on Advanced Options and change your x and y resolutions to 300 pixels/in.

Color space should be RGB Color and Fill With should be changed to Transparency (This is the most vital part of making a QP).

Click OK.

On your menu bar at the top click on Windows, Dockable Dialogs, Layers; this will open your Layers Dialog.

Now it is time to create your layout.

Each paper/element you add should have its own layer, this gives you the ability to move things around as you are creating your page.

Open the folder that has your papers/elements in them that you want to use. The easiest way to add papers/elements to your layout is to simply drag them from their folder into your GIMP workspace. Simply restore down your folder on top of your GIMP workspace, click on your paper/element, and drag the paper/element into the workspace.

When you do this GIMP will automatically give the paper/element its own layer.

(Note: I like to save as I go, as GIMP can be resource intensive which is not good if you have an older PC. You will want to save your document as a psd or xcf (GIMP file) while you are still working on your page, this will keep your layers from merging.)

When you have the layout how you want it, it is time to add drop shadows if you wish. Drop shadows give your page a more 3D look and make them look more realistic, as if they are actual layered papers and elements.

Click Filters, Light & Shadow, Drop Shadow.

In my experience it is best to uncheck the resize box in the Drop Shadow dialogue. You will find out why if you forget to uncheck it and have a paper or element too close to the edge. If you forget you can always go to Edit and click Undo.

Depending on the colors of your papers/elements the numbers and colors here can be adjusted to your liking. Just play around with them until you find what you like. Because my papers are dark, the default sizes and colors are fine for my QP. If your layout has mostly light colors, you will want to lighten your color for your drop shadow or they will look too harsh. You will want to repeat the drop shadow for each layer that you wish to add one to. For this layout I added a drop shadow to my frame, both elements, and to the plaid paper.

After you add your drop shadows, it is time to merge all the layers BELOW your frame, but not the frame itself, leave it in the layer above the rest of the merged layers.

In your Layers dialogue right click on each layer that you wish to merge and chose Merge Down. Do this until every layer below your frame is merged into one layer.

After you have merged those layers, click on the little eye that is beside your bottom layer. This will make that layer invisible.

Now click on your frame layer in your layers dialogue. After that layer is highlighted, click on your little magic wand in the Toolbox. This is in the top row of your Toolbox dialogue, the 4th over. Now, click inside your frame in the workspace.

This will give you little marching ants on the inside of your frame. On your menu go to Select - Grow and grow your selection a few pixels, 5-10 is usually good depending on the size of your frame. This will insure that none of your paper underneath sticks out from beneath the frame. Now you will want to go down to the bottom layer that you made invisible and click where the eye used to be, making it visible again. You will also want to click on this layer now to select it as the layer you now want to work with.

Notice you will still have the marching ants inside the frame. Now it is time for the cool part, hit control + x. Or go up to Edit and choose Cut.

You now have a hole for your photo and have made your first quick page. Good job!

Now to save your finished quick page…click on File, Save As. You want to save your finished page as a PNG file, that way the opening for your photo is preserved. I saved mine as tgolayout.png. Then click Save.

When you click save a screen will pop up and tell you that the image needs to be flattened before it can be saved. Just keep the default action which is Merge Visible Layers and click Export or hit your enter key.

The next screen that comes up asks you all the specific properties that you want to save your page at, make sure the compression level defaults to 9 and just leave everything else at the default settings and click Save or hit your enter key.

That is it! You have made and saved your quick page successfully. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it educational.

~The Scrappy Kat