Making an image semi-transparent… Or is that semi-opaque?

[rich2005]

(09-27-2018, 03:14 PM)HavingTooMuchFun Wrote: I had high hopes for this one… But sadly, it didn’t work. Pencil worked normally upon restart as it always does. I switched to a brush, verified that it WAS the brush, clicked back on pencil… And it was still the brush. Tried with several other brushes; same thing.

Tell me, have you come from some other graphics editing application and are trying to make Gimp act the same way?

If the answer is yes - then don't. Use Gimp the way it works and default values have proven the best over time.

Do not confuse the tool with the brush, Defaults are: change tools and keep the same brush or keep the same tool and change the brush.

For what you want go to Edit -> Preferences -> Tool Options and untick the Paint Options Shared... Ok that and restart Gimp.

Then you can use the Paint tool with one brush and the pencil tool with a different brush. You still have to choose the brush for each.

[HavingTooMuchFun]

(09-27-2018, 12:13 PM)rich2005 Wrote: OP did say earlier all was RGB

Quote:...Is there some weird setting that's gone wrong here, or some important step that I'm missing?..

There are no weird settings in Gimp, only the settings you use. It boils down to your work-flow, which probably needs changing. 

Start using transparent layers and stop using color-to-alpha for semi-transparency. 

Compare:



1. The layer is transparent. The opacity is about 40 % the background layer is off. That is what I see. That is what I Copy Visible

2. New transparent layer. Background visibility is back on. Select the clipboard brush. Reset the size (yellow arrow icon next to brush size) Paint in the new layer with semi-transparency. What you need to know here. That new transparent layer is has 100% opacity. The clipboard brush retains the 40% opacity.


Pencil and Brush. You choose either from the tool box, What is the difficulty there? I suspect something else. They do share the same brush shape. Some properties such as brush opacity will change. Up to you to check the settings. No anti-aliasing with a pencil, why do you want to use it?

I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re doing with all these layers and why, but I did my best to copy what it looked like you were doing… and it didn’t work. Your background layer looks like just a plain white layer, so even though I have no idea why you had it there, I put a plain white layer in mine on faith. I did 40% opacity with the background layer off. I did “copy visible.” I added a new transparent layer, again on faith with no idea what’s happening or why, arranged the way you did yours. I then tried to paint with the clipboard brush… and once again, it was totally opaque.

The difficulty with using the pencil, or the paintbrush or the airbrush, is that after I have used a brush, that brush form stays no matter what I click on until I restart Gimp. I use the pencil because it gives the look I would get if I hand-drew something, which is frequently desirable with art. 

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(09-27-2018, 03:48 PM)rich2005 Wrote:

(09-27-2018, 03:14 PM)HavingTooMuchFun Wrote: I had high hopes for this one… But sadly, it didn’t work. Pencil worked normally upon restart as it always does. I switched to a brush, verified that it WAS the brush, clicked back on pencil… And it was still the brush. Tried with several other brushes; same thing.

Tell me, have you come from some other graphics editing application and are trying to make Gimp act the same way?

If the answer is yes - then don't. Use Gimp the way it works and default values have proven the best over time.

Do not confuse the tool with the brush, Defaults are: change tools and keep the same brush or keep the same tool and change the brush.

For what you want go to Edit -> Preferences -> Tool Options and untick the Paint Options Shared... Ok that and restart Gimp.

Then you can use the Paint tool with one brush and the pencil tool with a different brush. You still have to choose the brush for each.

Gimp is the first and only graphics anything that I have used; I can’t imagine I’d flounder quite this much if I had some sort of experience, right, LOL? What do I select in the brush palette in order to get “pencil the way it looks right after Gimp has been re-started”?

[rich2005]

See the previous post about setting the tool options, (ok you saw that for what good it did)

Otherwise, unfortunately, there is no Hopeless Case section on the forum.