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lectures / gimp intro / 6
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Introduction to the Gimp
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Layers and Channels
An easy way to understand layers and channels is to think of your image being comprised
of a stack of acetate plastic sheets, where each of these can be manipulated individually.
Layers
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Intended to isolate individual elements. A layer can be moved around,
duplicated, deleted, transparency adjusted, and have it's depth order shifted.
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In the layer menu, you can see little thumbnail images representing the
contents of each layer. The contrasting checkerboard of greys represent
transparent area. The order from top to bottom determines the stacking
order. The eyeball on the left side tells whether the layer is currently
visible, or temporarily hidden. Highlighting dictates which layer is currently
being worked on. Be careful - you can potentially work on a layer that is
underneath another, therefore also hiding the changes that you're applying.
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Layers can easily be added, and come in various forms: |
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The vertical stacking positions of layers is easy to change. The
difficulty illustrated here is a common one, and only occurs when there is a
"background" layer. This can be easily overcome by simply duplicating the
background layer (the copy will be a non-background), and then deleting the
original background layer.
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Finally, when saving your multi-layer image into the GIF or JPEG or other
flat-file format, you should be sure to flatten your image, or be aware that
you'll only be saving the current layer.
Channels
The Red, Green and Blue channels can be accessed independently as well. Similar to layers, channels operate together (but don't block each other out). This allows you to isolate a color (for example, red) and work on changing those independent of blue and green. Two or more channels can be highlighted at once, and worked together.
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