[Courses][gimp] Lesson 9: Layer Effects, including more text tricks

[Akkana Peck]

Julie Sloan writes:
> fun - - especially once I learned how to draw on the layer mask  ;-)
> 
> http://www.bobsloansampler.com/gimp/mow2.jpg

Neat!

> > Now I'm going to use the white text as a bump map for the woodgrain
> > pattern.  I select the woodgrain background layer in the Layers
> > dialog, then go to Filters->Map->Bump Map...
> 
> In the patterns dialogue?  I'm still using Gimp  1.2.5  so you may have 
> something I don't   :)

No, just in the Filters right-click menu of the image.
It's there in 1.2 too.

> > The Bump Map dialog comes up (in Gimp 2.2, it includes a preview).
> 
> In Gimp 1.2.5 also preview.

Yes, so it does!  Good, that makes it much easier to decide on the
right settings.

> 
> > Play around with the parameters, and try it.  The background layer
> > will change to include the "bump" generated from the text layer.
> > The text layer is still visible: you may want to toggle it off
> > so that you only see the bump map.
> 
> I'm not managing to do this.  I can make the text "bump" but when I toggle 
> it off it's gone.

In the example in the lesson, I started with two layers, the
background layer (filled with a pattern) and the text layer (just
white text).  I made the background layer the active layer, then
called up Bump Map.

In the Bump Map dialog, I made sure the text layer was the one
selected as the bump map; fiddled with the settings as needed, then
pressed OK.

Bump Map bumps the background layer, but if the white text layer was
visible before, then I still see the white text layer covering up
most of the bumped background.  But if I toggle off visibility of
the white text layer (leaving the background layer visible), then
I can see the raised text without any white getting in the way.
(The white text layer was used as the bump map but the layer isn't
itself directly visible in the final image.)

> http://www.bobsloansampler.com/gimp/cousins.jpg
> http://www.bobsloansampler.com/gimp/cousins.xcf  (warning - nearly 1Mb)

Did you start with a colored text layer, or with text that came from
one of the logo scripts?  It looks like your text layer is already
bumped (and perhaps has other effects on it), and separated from
the background.

If I use your text layer as the bump map, though, and the pretty
gradient as the background, what I get initially (with the text
layer still visible) looks pretty much like nothing happened.
But if I turn off visibility on the text layer, so the text is no
longer covering the bump, now it looks different:
http://shallowsky.com/images/gimpcourse/lesson9/cousins-bumped.jpg

	...Akkana