New user needs Assistance

[Mac101]

Hi Thanks . Yes its a Manual But not text . Schematic diagram with a million bus wires . It was on from a A1 Sheet (blue print)
An the they did not have it on disk . Well it was on disk 12inch . and no one has a working drive .
So they scanned it section by section . So the alignment is by hand overlaps etc .
And its a greyscale scan just to make life easier . I found just by converting it to colour and use the Auto Balance removed
the smudgy greyed paper colour white so it was again readable .
But there are odd size overlaps as it was done by hand 1 by 1 .
I tried that Panorama stitch that was a disaster as it distorted the pages and the wires well connected to the wrong bits ..
So I have to overlap and align and then remove the waste . I did mange joining the top row of 4 but one section was horrible
aligning manually has to be as I know how the link should be .
The other way I thought of was to print it all out and with a paper slicer trim and stick it to gather again jigsaw job .
And then Photograph it . (old school way )

(Geekspeak vs layman's terms) I was a Geek 60 years ago now I just squeak ...
I am not sure I have 5 years to learn this program to it full extent . No what I mean . nod is good as a wink to a blind man.

Thanks .

[rickk]

(01-15-2021, 07:14 PM)Mac101 Wrote:  I did mange joining the top row of 4 but one section was horrible
aligning manually has to be as I know how the link should be .
The other way I thought of was to print it all out and with a paper slicer trim and stick it to gather again jigsaw job .
And then Photograph it . (old school way )


Thanks .

gimp should be MUCH easier than a paper "cut and splice" proceedure....don't be afraid to make a few mistakes, you can always start over. Sometimes the 2nd or 3rd time through you'll have an "AHH-HAAA!" moment, and suddenly it will all make sense.

If you are having trouble getting your "wires" to all mate up,  there is a possible function that might help... Once you see that a particular panel does not line up,  (making sure that the "bad panel" is still selected)...  go to "Layer/Transform/ Arbitrary Rotation" and you should get a little control box like the following:



You can use the up and down arrows next to the "Angle" line, or the slider just below that to rotate the misaligned layer...often a fraction of a degree is sufficient to make the adjustment that you need.

Sometimes the  proper axis of rotation needed for a proper alignment is not at the exact center of the layer you are working with, and you can move the axis of rotation up/down or sideways using the "Center X" and "Center Y" controls....to get the perfect axis location.

Trial and error are often needed a number of times to get the alignment needed.

Don't be shy about using the "ctrl-z" undo function if your first attempt at rotation doesn't quite get you where you want to be.  You can always undo your previous rotation, and try again with a more aggressive angle.

Again, I'd sure prefer working my way through it with gimp than have to go the "paper and scissors" route that you mention.

[Mac101]

(01-15-2021, 06:03 PM)rickk Wrote:

(01-15-2021, 05:39 PM)Mac101 Wrote: Thanks rickk .That sounds like it might work. I will give it ago .
 The main thing I found about this program its use words That I have never heard of . and I found and used the skew
Like the old TV picture setting . And its spelt wrong so that trough me off . And the pop up boxes with just 4 letters and one is
meant to know what they stand for .
I guess that this program was written in a non English language and the descriptions are a hybrid of unknown science.
 But as its FREE and open Source I think I will bit my tongue and say thanks and have to figure out the new terminology.

Thanks.  I will follow your instructions . Printed them out .

gimp is an incredibly capable program, unfortunately it is not all that intuitive in it's visual organization, and ...yes  the "lingo" that is used isn't always that descript as far as the name for a particular function and what it actually does. (Geekspeak vs layman's terms)

But each time you use it, you get a little more familiar with it..and gradually you start to "think gimp"....for better or worse

Took me about 5 years to reach the point where I didn't feel overwhelmed with all the options available.

Are the pages you are copying primarily text, or pictures?  Just curious, because if as you mention it is a manual, and primarily text, then your best bet might actually be to use an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program, scan it all into a word processing program,  make it all look pretty, and then use something like LibreOffice to assemble it all into a .PDF file (just a thought)

One other thing that I'll suggest, but if you expect to use gimp often, there are a number of published "hard cover" manuals that do a fairly good job of translating the graphics "geek speak" into the everyday language used by the rest of us.

I bought this one several years ago, and really like it.  After having checked out several alternatives at my local library, I chose this one as my favorite because the  author seems to understand the divide between layman and experienced artist about the best

https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-GIMP-No...1590595874

I bought a used copy, and the one I got looked like it had NEVER been opened, even once.

(01-15-2021, 09:56 PM)rickk Wrote:

(01-15-2021, 07:14 PM)Mac101 Wrote:  I did mange joining the top row of 4 but one section was horrible
aligning manually has to be as I know how the link should be .
The other way I thought of was to print it all out and with a paper slicer trim and stick it to gather again jigsaw job .
And then Photograph it . (old school way )


Thanks .

gimp should be MUCH easier than a paper "cut and splice" proceedure....don't be afraid to make a few mistakes, you can always start over. Sometimes the 2nd or 3rd time through you'll have an "AHH-HAAA!" moment, and suddenly it will all make sense.

If you are having trouble getting your "wires" to all mate up,  there is a possible function that might help... Once you see that a particular panel does not line up,  (making sure that the "bad panel" is still selected)...  go to "Layer/Transform/ Arbitrary Rotation" and you should get a little control box like the following:



You can use the up and down arrows next to the "Angle" line, or the slider just below that to rotate the misaligned layer...often a fraction of a degree is sufficient to make the adjustment that you need.

Sometimes the  proper axis of rotation needed for a proper alignment is not at the exact center of the layer you are working with, and you can move the axis of rotation up/down or sideways using the "Center X" and "Center Y" controls....to get the perfect axis location.

Trial and error are often needed a number of times to get the alignment needed.

Don't be shy about using the "ctrl-z" undo function if your first attempt at rotation doesn't quite get you where you want to be.  You can always undo your previous rotation, and try again with a more aggressive angle.

Again, I'd sure prefer working my way through it with gimp than have to go the "paper and scissors" route that you mention.

Thanks I Did it .. what you suggested worked. I was using the sheer to align . worked sort of good . Then I found Scale .
as the paper had been deformed or stretched and scale shrunk it to the final . did the top section now readable .

Just one question I could not figure out how to unlock the first layer . so I redid it without making the same mistake . after each
section completed I flattened the image so I would not mess the good bit up again . and then passed another page a per
your advice .
The main Problem that the scale of each print had distortions But the scaling thing worked pretty dam good .
Ok its slow but checking all the Buss wires was worth it .
Just another 100 pages  . Good job I'm a pensioner and have plenty of time to Kill & the Lock Down .

I thank you for your guidance and Help      O Yes the "ctrl-z" was well used almost rubbed the Z off .

Thanks Again Be well stay safe