Scale tool giving me hell

[Oona Mistwalker]

Hi. I am trying to scale a selection of a layer so parts of it align with guide dots in another layer. Most of the first layer is transparent. A small area in the center has color data and the layer is in legacy Dodge mode.

I select my layer, then get the Fuzzy Select Tool and put it in the "replace current selection" mode. I click in a transparent part of the layer, then invert the selection. Now, all pixels with color data are selected and the selection is near the center of the image.


Then I choose the Scale tool. I make sure it is in Selection mode and click in my selection. At this point one of a handful of weird things happens. Either the Scale Frame starts at the top of the selection, hugs either side of it, then drops down to the bottom of the image; or the Scale frame starts at the top of the selection, extends to either side of the whole image and down to the bottom; or it starts at the right edge of the selection, extends to the top and bottom of the image and then out to the left edge of the image. The selection is far too large to scale the detail I need!


Either way, if I grab one of the handles of the frame and move it, the "marching ants" resize themselves,

but when I click the Scale button, the colored pixels themselves do not move, though the dancing ants do.



Changing the layer mode from Dodge (legacy) to Normal (legacy) shows all the pixels with color data. It looks like no color data has moved.


To confirm this, I take the Fuzzy Select Tool again, in "replace current selection" mode, and click an area outside the new marching ants. Only the colored pixels are selected so the Scale Tool has truly moved no color data to new pixels.


What gives? I've looked everywhere for something I have done to cause this but I can't find anything. I sure would be grateful for any help.

[programmer_ceds]

The reply you have on GimpChat looks useful. In addition there is a script that you can use to align, scale and (if necessary) rotate one layer to match another by entering the coordinates of the source pixels in the layer that is to be transformed and the corresponding pixels to which they must be mapped. The script performs the move, scale and rotate in one operation using a transformation matrix thereby avoiding the cumulative interpolations that would occur if the scale and rotate were performed separately. Link: http://programmer97.byethost10.com/GIMP.html and download the script "Align Layer Numerically"

(01-11-2021, 05:03 PM)Oona Mistwalker Wrote: Hi. I am trying to scale a selection of a layer so parts of it align with guide dots in another layer. Most of the first layer is transparent. A small area in ...

[Ofnuts]

Please add a screenshot showing the Tool options for the scale tool.