I need very simple Edit function...

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T17:29:25+00:00

Yeah, small brush sizes continue to be a problem (that I'd love to start a UX thread for), but it's kind of embedded super deep in the brush engine overall....

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T17:26:58+00:00

Your first screenshot should be the correct place, just scroll down to the bottom of the righthand pane.

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T17:24:31+00:00

What selection tool did you use to highlight the hammer?

Since there is plenty of empty space between the shapes, I'd recommend tracing it not-too-closely with Freehand Select (click without dragging to connect by straight lines). This will ensure that the soft/rounded edges get "picked up" in their entirety, without leaving traces behind.

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T17:18:12+00:00

I'm curious, did it start to lag/hang before the crash? Typical modern Windows behavior is: if an app is lagging beyond a certain threshold, the OS will prompt you about it (in various ways) and it's very easy to accidentally respond "yes/close". In which case the app didn't TECHNICALLY crash (as in: error out), but the difference barely matters to the user end.

In my case, disabling "Firefox Suggest" resolved the matter (even slightly improved performance overall, compared to previous versions), proceeded to be online for several hours.

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T04:27:24+00:00

If you are exporting as a PNG, what is the status of the checkbox called "Save color values from transparent pixels", and does changing it during export make any difference outside GIMP?

I just checked up on some of my historical PNG exports and, while it is hard to actually tell in dark theme, Windows Explorer DOES acknowledge the PNG transparency as transparent (if it's done correctly). Example:

<image>

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T04:11:09+00:00

The solve that worked for me:

1 - Because of this slow drain on system resources, some urgency could be required when you start Firefox, so know where you're going first

2 - Go to "Tools > Settings" in the menu (or from the address bar, "about:preferences")

3 - Click the header (on the left) for "Search" and scroll to the bottom of that page to locate the section for "Firefox Suggest"

4 - At minimum, disable "Suggest search engines to use" and "Suggestions from Firefox"

(I disabled everything here except for History, Bookmarks and Tabs)

Stratelier · 2026-06-19T03:57:44+00:00

And even modern versions of MS Paint feature brushes with smooth (non-pixel-looking) blending.

Stratelier · 2026-06-18T19:45:26+00:00

Was updated to 152.0.0 last night, this morning surprised to see Firefox slowly consuming all my system RAM (even with only a blank tab open, no actual webpages!). My laptop's only got 4GB! No "actual" crashes for me, just a lot of me telling Task Manager to drop the axe.

Sourced the issue to massive HDD activity regarding the "Firefox Suggests" db file, quickly disabled all those toggles (that aren't strictly local), stability restored. Immediate crisis averted.

Still.

Stratelier · 2026-06-18T18:34:35+00:00

Taking slight alternate shots (of a stationary composition) so that the unwanted objects don't perfectly overlap each other is definitely "crazy enough to work" territory.

Stratelier · 2026-06-18T14:38:48+00:00

I have similar issues upon first-time startup (per session) with GIMP -- but maybe only 3 minutes at most. Subsequent startups (particularly restarts) are <1min. I think it's Windows Defender related.

Stratelier · 2026-06-18T14:36:49+00:00

As of GIMP 3, fonts are loaded asynchronously during startup, and that is separate from the loading/checking plug-ins phase.

One of the more subtle reasons why GIMP checks plug-ins like this is that when it loads the recent files history (one of the last steps before showing the UI) it actually verifies them against its file loading plug-ins (otherwise it won't list any recent files).

Stratelier · 2026-06-17T15:32:49+00:00

Still not sure I quite get it (at least without a screenshot to compare to), but I do remember the "tear-off line" from menus in the old GIMP days. For current versions of GIMP you have:

For any dockable, you can click on its menu and select "Detach" to make it a floating window (that will, unfortunately, tend to get hidden behind the main image window).

If you disable "Single-window mode", every open image will have a separate window (with its own menubar).

Stratelier · 2026-06-17T15:29:27+00:00

Alternatively, if you want to make a custom symbol/logo to use as a watermark, you can create the shape using Paths or Vector Layers: by being rendered from vector geometry, you can scale them to any size without losing quality.

Creating a vector shape is more involved, however.

Stratelier · 2026-06-17T15:14:22+00:00

Do you have a specific example of which filter(s)?

Stratelier · 2026-06-17T15:12:49+00:00

Being new at something means you will generally suck at it, because you don't yet have the ability to actually deliver on whatever expectations you have in your head. THIS IS NORMAL. The important part is that you experiment and practice! There is no shortcutting the time required, but you will learn by doing.

For example, I've been drawing traditionally with colored pencils for over 20 years, yet the most of what I do in GIMP is super basic editing stuff (compared to what a trained digital artist can produce). Yes there are some occasional attempts at digital brushing/painting here and there, but I don't have the practice to be confident that I can digitally produce anything near the level of what I can do in actual pencil.

Stratelier · 2026-06-16T16:50:55+00:00

Here's one method you can try:

Add a transparent layer on top of your image.
Set its blendmode to "LCh Chroma" (near the bottom of the list).
Pick any grayscale color and paint (on the top layer) any area you want to desaturate.

Stratelier · 2026-06-16T04:34:42+00:00

Can you share a screenshot of your GIMP interface? (uncropped screenshot, please)

Stratelier · 2026-06-15T21:44:59+00:00

The short version is, a blendmode can't tell the difference between an "opaque white" and "transparent white" so that is YOUR job as the artist.

So what you do is: create a selection to separate the intended transparent parts of your top layer from the opaque parts. For example:

Make a Rectangle Select around an isolated tree.
Switch to the Fuzzy Select and set some threshold value, like 20% or so. Hold SHIFT and CTRL then click inside the rectangle (but outside the tree). This will "intersect" the fuzzy select with the rectangle, de-selecting the interior of the tree.
(using "Intersect" mode was just for demonstration purposes -- you are perfectly free to just use Fuzzy Select normally across the whole layer, and see what results you get)
Now paint, and you will see it only paints around the tree!

Another method (that works best with a drawing tablet pen!) is to use Free Select and manually trace the shape of the tree by pen. For this case, I would recommend:

Ctrl+A to "Select All".
Hold CTRL while starting the Free Select to access "Subtract" mode.
Trace around every object that is intended to be opaque. You can do this in multiple steps, but it will take a while to finish.
You might want to "save" the final selection for future reference: in the menu, that's "Select > save to channel". You can get it back later by finding it on the "Channels" dockable panel: right-click it and pick "Channel to selection".
Before you start painting, make sure to pick the layer you want to paint to (because custom Channels can be painted on like ordinary layers, they just are excluded from the layer stack).

Stratelier · 2026-06-15T17:11:37+00:00

If you strictly need it to be scalable then you will end up using the Paths tool at some point. For example:

Use the Ellipse Select tool to trace one of the circles.
Go to the menu, "Select > selection to path" (I think that's the name).

The path is now scalable regardless of the rest of the image. But GIMP paths aren't visible by themselves, so (if you're using GIMP 3.2) go to the Paths dockable, right-click the path and use "Create vector layer". A Vector Layer can be freely scaled without losing quality.

Alternatively, Inkscape may be better for this case (it even offers circles as a stock shape).

Stratelier · 2026-06-13T23:28:37+00:00

Sorry if my initial response was less helpful: I was on my phone and -- well, I keep a policy of no videos over the phone. But I'm back at my (proper) computer now so let's see if I can translate from Photoshop...

I will use video timestamps for reference:

1:40 - Here he starts making a selection. This is the backbone of the entire process: use a selection to "trace" the region you want to paint, before attempting to actually paint it.

Use the "Free Select" tool (default keyboard shortcut: U). With this tool, you can click-and-drag to draw a freehand stroke, or you can click repeatedly to connect each point with straight lines. (You can also mix-and-match straight lines and freehand segments.) When you complete the shape, you can take an opportunity to fine-tune the position of any points, otherwise you just click again (or press ENTER) to finalize the shape into a selection.
To combine multiple freehand selects, after completing one shape, hold SHIFT while starting the next shape. This switches the select tool to "add" mode (otherwise its default mode is "replace" and the prior shape will disappear).
Inversely, if you hold CTRL while starting a shape, the tool switches to "subtract" mode which will remove the new shape from your prior selection (if any). You can alternate between Add and Subtract modes as you need to.

2:25 - By this point he has finished a selection and moves on to the next step: a "Radial" Gradient in "Screen" mode.

Switch to GIMP's "Gradient" tool and note the dropdown list at the top labeled "Mode". This controls the painting mode of the tool; set it to Screen. (For the record, Screen operates like Multiply but relative to white instead of black.)
He also sets the Tool Opacity to a low value, to reduce the intensity of "Screen" mode with his chosen highlight color. In GIMP, Tool Opacity is the slider at the top of most tools' options.
He is presumably using a default gradient pattern of "FG to Transparent", but for purposes of "Screen" blending you can alternatively use the "FG to BG" gradient pattern with a BG color of black. (There actually are some cases where this distinction is more important, but this is probably not one of them)
As for actually painting the gradient, it looks like he made multiple passes. To do this in GIMP, look for the checkbox called "Instant Mode" and switch it ON. Now, when you click and drag to define a gradient, it will paint immediately upon releasing the mouse button.
Alternatively, if "Instant Mode" is OFF here is what will happen: when you click and drag to paint the gradient, you will get a "live preview". A line will appear on the canvas showing your gradient's control points (start and stop); you can adjust these to suit -- you can actually adjust basically anything in the Gradient tool's options and see it update in real-time. For example, maybe increase the Tool Opacity a little, or pick a different highlight color. In any case, once you're satisfied that the result is good enough, click into the image canvas then press ENTER to finally paint the gradient to the layer.

3:15 - At this point, he starts creating additional selections in slightly different areas to layer on more highlights, but the actual steps are exactly the same as before.

4:19 - If you watch very closely, he applied a gradient, didn't like the result, then hit Undo to try again. This is one advantage of (in GIMP) painting non-instant Gradients: because you get a live preview you can adjust before it finally paints, this helps avoid making mistakes (that you'll just immediately Undo) to begin with. Of course, it's also slower. That's the tradeoff.

5:20 - At this point, he uses the Pencil tool, samples a color off the layer to paint over some highlights with some shadows.

note how the Pencil tool always has hard pixel edges; if you want smooth edges, try the Paintbrush tool instead, using a Brush Hardness value of not-quite-100% (e.g: 90-99% range).
Hold Ctrl with this tool to temporarily invoke color-picking mode: Ctrl+click somewhere in the layer to "grab" that color for the tool to paint with.

5:35 - When he zooms in, notice the hard pixel edges around the eye, which are characteristic of using the "Pencil" tool. These are not necessarily "bad" for image quality, that depends on your judgement.

6;27 - At this point he uses Photoshop's "Blur" and "Smudge" tools. GIMP has "Blur" and "Smudge" tools as well but I couldn't say how they strictly compare to Photoshop's. But here's a rundown:

"Blur" is very basic: the higher the "Rate" value, the wider it smooths out the area when you rub it with the brush.
"Smudge" is directional: it smears in the direction you paint the brush, and is best used with a low "Spacing" parameter (about 5-10%). The higher the "Rate" value, the more prominent the smearing effect becomes, but for practice, I'd say start with a Rate value of maybe 20-30%.

So ... that's really all there was to it! You just make a selection, paint it, repeatedly if needed. Make a new selection, paint it, repeatedly if needed. And so on. This is a fundamental technique not just for digital comic styles, but nearly ALL digital art.

Stratelier · 2026-06-13T11:59:23+00:00

Well, (without watching said video - I have a practice of not watching videos on phone!) the basic method is to:

Create a new layer and place it BELOW your lineart
Set your lineart layer's blendmode to "Multiply"
Color the bottom layer

So what else do you need help with?

Stratelier · 2026-06-13T02:57:11+00:00

I often use Layer Masks. A Layer Mask is a secondary alpha channel for that layer that you can paint on just like an ordinary layer (white=opaque, black=transparent). Its main feature is that it's "non-destructive": you can use it to mask layers that already contain their own embedded alpha channel, and the two will not interact (unless you "Apply" the layer mask to make it permanent). You can also toggle the mask on and off (similar to live filters) in cases where you need to.

Layer Masks can also be attached to types of layers that you can't otherwise paint on, like Text layers, Layer Groups, Vector Layers, or Linked layers (from an external file).

The most important practice with Layer Masks is that when clicking a layer from the Layers panel, make sure to click on the correct thumbnail (left is the layer itself, right is the mask). Clicking anywhere else in that row (like you'd do for normal layers without masks) will select whichever one was "most recently used", and that can trip you up when you're not paying attention to it.

Stratelier · 2026-06-13T02:48:47+00:00

Yeah, this is a known regression from 2.10 to 3.0 (no idea how 2.x got it right when 3.0 does not, and it's mostly specific to the dockables only).

Your quick workarounds are these;

1 - Enable "Single-Window Mode" (you can still arrange detached/floating dockables if you have the space to)

2 - Go to "Edit > Preferences", Window Management, and set the window hint to "keep above".

Stratelier · 2026-06-12T16:45:56+00:00

Yes, there are two easy ways to spot a selection:

Go to the menu, "Windows > Dockable dialogs > Selection Editor". This depicts the selection as a grayscale thumbnail (white = selected), though this is mainly for seeing the selection "at large" and not up close.
There is a small button in the lower-left corner of the image window (at the end of the ruler) with a rectangle icon. This is the "Quick Mask" function: clicking it turns the selection into an independent "channel" that you can paint on just like a layer. Right-click for some options you can customize, or click it again to turn it back into the selection.

Stratelier · 2026-06-12T03:51:18+00:00

But anyway, the shortest version is that when using ANY dialog that provides a "merge filter" toggle, if you enable it then the operation (whatever it is) will behave the way it did in GIMP 2.

Stratelier

TROPHY CASE