This screenshot below should demonstrate what I want to do:
I used to do it in other software with Drop Shadow but when I tried that effect in GIMP, I was only able to create blurry outline. There is only blur control unlike in other graphic designer.
Would like to know how to do this properly in GIMP, even if it takes other type of effect to achieve desired result.
12-02-2017, 06:05 PM (This post was last modified: 12-02-2017, 06:30 PM by Espermaschine.)
It doesnt look like a dropshadow to me.
More like an outline or a stroke.
Alpha Select the cartoon figure with the rightclick menu in the layers-tab.
Go to Selection -> To Path.
Deselect.
Go to the paths-tab, select the path you just created.
Stroke this path on a new transparent layer with white. There is a little button at the bottom of the paths-tab, that lets you do this.
Put the stroke you just created behind the cartoon image.
This will give you the best stroke without jaggy edges.
You can apply a bit of Gaussian Blur to soften it.
Thanks guys. It worked just great. I really wanted to have that outline actually and I got it. I just thought I could do all of this using Dropdown Shadow tool but all the solutions are pretty good to achieve desired result.
I noticed that the best result quality-wise is when using Select > Path because it can draw sharp outline thanks to "Antialiasing" option. This option is not present when Growing selection and filling from bucket which gives a bit pixelated effect. Gaussian Blue can help a bit but will most likely leave feather effect. See the difference below. First is Antialiasing, second is no Antialiasing:
I also learned to do second outline, overlayed on first outline by creating new layer, changing color, increasing stroke size and following same instructions:
Stroking a path is indeed better but the main advantage is the ability to keep sharp corners. As far as I can tell Select>Grow gives an anti-aliased result (unlike Select>Border) (in the image below, adding a black outline to the green circle):
Otherwise, kudos for your ability to go further than the explanations provided here...
(12-03-2017, 05:06 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: Stroking a path is indeed better but the main advantage is the ability to keep sharp corners. As far as I can tell Select>Grow gives an anti-aliased result (unlike Select>Border)
Maybe the not-so Antialiased result that I saw with Select > Grow was because I didn't adjust threshold at the bottom to the max when using Bucket Fill Tool?
Normally it should have been disabled because you were using "Fill whole selection", right? Otherwise, that may explain it, because one important thing to know is that the Magic-Wand selection and the Bucket-Fill tool (but only in "Fill similar colors" mode) have one thing in common: it's either all or nothing. They cannot do partial work on pixels, a pixel is either fully painted/selected or left alone depending on which side of the threshold it is. The consequence is that these two tools will mercilessly destroy anti-aliasing. This is a very common pitfall for beginners, dug and enlarged by countless ill-advised tutorials.
