can not move a pencilled line

[whburling]

I am a novice. 80 years old.

i have a base image and a transparent layer over it.
In the transparent layer i have drawn, with a pencil tool, one line.

i would like to move that line. i have been unable to achieve that goal.

my experience:
* learned that the move tool is not appropriate tool.
* clicked on transparent layer with one line, thus making that layer active
* selected the line
   * by using the rectangular selection tool.
   * wondered if i had just left clicked on line if that also would have selected the line
      as the line was the only object in the transparent layer.
* moving selection with method one:
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * placed cursor inside rectangle box but NOT within the handles.
    * left clicked and dragged the selection upwards. the frame
       moved, but not the contents.
* method two
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * went to edit in task bar and clicked on copy (also tried ctrl c)
    * moved cursor to a new location
    * in edit clicked on Paste (also tried ctrl v)
    * nothing happened. if i had clicked on "CUT" the line would have disappeared.

Please help me understand what i am not doing or doing incorrectly.
bil

ps.
Tried to attach the file. it was too large. BUT THE SYSTEM WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO DELETE THE ATTACHMENT SO I COULD
SUBMIT my question. am i missing something?

[silenuznowan]

(04-07-2025, 10:37 PM)whburling Wrote: I am a novice. 80 years old.

i have a base image and a transparent layer over it.
In the transparent layer i have drawn, with a pencil tool, one line.

i would like to move that line. i have been unable to achieve that goal.

my experience:
* learned that the move tool is not appropriate tool.
* clicked on transparent layer with one line, thus making that layer active
* selected the line
   * by using the rectangular selection tool.
   * wondered if i had just left clicked on line if that also would have selected the line
      as the line was the only object in the transparent layer.
* moving selection with method one:
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * placed cursor inside rectangle box but NOT within the handles.
    * left clicked and dragged the selection upwards. the frame
       moved, but not the contents.
* method two
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * went to edit in task bar and clicked on copy (also tried ctrl c)
    * moved cursor to a new location
    * in edit clicked on Paste (also tried ctrl v)
    * nothing happened. if i had clicked on "CUT" the line would have disappeared.

Please help me understand what i am not doing or doing incorrectly.
bil

ps.
Tried to attach the file. it was too large. BUT THE SYSTEM WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO DELETE THE ATTACHMENT SO I COULD
SUBMIT my question. am i missing something?

When you select the move tool, there are 3 options beside where it says move.

One lets you move layers, one lets you move your selection and one lets you move paths

You want to select the middle one to move a selection. However if your trying to move a line to a new location on the same layer I'm not sure that's possible. To move the line's location on the canvas you would likely need to move the layer., If say you had two layers one background and one with the line moving the layer with the line would indeed change the position in relation to the background. So this is likely what you want.
select the transparent with the line, from main menu select Layer->crop Layers to content.
That will make your layer basically just the line, and you should be able to move it around the bottom image using the move tool and the first selection Move Layer.

[sallyanne]

Yes that's right, you need to move the layer if you want to keep the line the same but in a different position.

If you want the line to stay the same but just moved around try the rotate tool.

If you want the line to be curved you may need to use a different tool. Maybe a transform tool.

Always make sure you select the layer you are working on too.
   

[denzjos]

whburling, just a tip: I'm a bit younger, but I see that you, like me, still want to learn something. Cool. So I guess you want to do something with lines in Gimp. The best way to do that is by using paths. When using paths, you can move, enlarge, shorten, bend, rotate and more with plugins - but the last one has a learning curve - step by step. After you draw a path, you can stroke that path with different colors and line thicknesses. The advantage of paths is that you can always erase the result after the stroke and the path is still available. Then you can change / correct the path and make a new stroke. A video with a simple explanation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpmxaarP...nel=Jantcu

[whburling]

(04-07-2025, 11:13 PM)silenuznowan Wrote:

(04-07-2025, 10:37 PM)whburling Wrote: I am a novice. 80 years old.

i have a base image and a transparent layer over it.
In the transparent layer i have drawn, with a pencil tool, one line.

i would like to move that line. i have been unable to achieve that goal.

my experience:
* learned that the move tool is not appropriate tool.
* clicked on transparent layer with one line, thus making that layer active
* selected the line
   * by using the rectangular selection tool.
   * wondered if i had just left clicked on line if that also would have selected the line
      as the line was the only object in the transparent layer.
* moving selection with method one:
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * placed cursor inside rectangle box but NOT within the handles.
    * left clicked and dragged the selection upwards. the frame
       moved, but not the contents.
* method two
    * after rectangle appeared around the selection
    * went to edit in task bar and clicked on copy (also tried ctrl c)
    * moved cursor to a new location
    * in edit clicked on Paste (also tried ctrl v)
    * nothing happened. if i had clicked on "CUT" the line would have disappeared.

Please help me understand what i am not doing or doing incorrectly.
bil

ps.
Tried to attach the file. it was too large. BUT THE SYSTEM WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO DELETE THE ATTACHMENT SO I COULD
SUBMIT my question. am i missing something?

When you select the move tool, there are 3 options beside where it says move.

One lets you move layers, one lets you move your selection and one lets you move paths

You want to select the middle one to move a selection.   However if your trying to move a line  to a new location on the same layer I'm not sure that's possible.  To move the line's location on the canvas you would likely need to move the layer.,  If say you had two layers one background and one with the line moving the layer with the line would indeed change the position in relation to the background.  So this is likely what you want.  
select the transparent with the line, from main menu select Layer->crop Layers to content.  
That will make your layer basically just the line, and you should be able to move it around the bottom image using the move tool and the first selection Move Layer.

Thank you for responding. i am beginning to think that Gimp is centered on creating a layer for every distinct object. It appears that approach enables change without harming other objects. I greatly appreciated your response.

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(04-08-2025, 03:57 AM)sallyanne Wrote:

Yes that's right, you need to move the layer if you want to keep the line the same but in a different position.

If you want the line to stay the same but just moved around try the rotate tool.

If you want the line to be curved you may need to use a different tool. Maybe a transform tool.

Always make sure you select the layer you are working on too.

Thank you for responding.  Your input helped me by reinforcing concepts i keep needing to here.

---

(04-08-2025, 07:24 AM)denzjos Wrote: whburling, just a tip: I'm a bit younger, but I see that you, like me, still want to learn something. Cool. So I guess you want to do something with lines in Gimp. The best way to do that is by using paths. When using paths, you can move, enlarge, shorten, bend, rotate and more with plugins - but the last one has a learning curve - step by step. After you draw a path, you can stroke that path with different colors and line thicknesses. The advantage of paths is that you can always erase the result after the stroke and the path is still available. Then you can change / correct the path and make a new stroke. A video with a simple explanation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpmxaarP...nel=Jantcu

I am grateful you encouraged me to pursue paths.  I can really see the advantages.  At the moment, i am barely able to move a line....so  bare with me. before long i shall be using paths everywhere..  Thank you for responding