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Creating the Mask

• To create a mask, right click on the new layer and select Add Layer Mask. When prompted by the next dialog, select Black (full transparency). Make sure the newly created mask layer is selected by clicking on it on the Layer window. When first using The Gimp, it may not be obvious if the mask is selected or even how to select it. The image below shows you where to click to select the mask. When selected, a white border will appear around the mask. This is difficult to notice if you mask is already white.
  
• Using the Slection tool, select the area you want opened up for the picture. If you have a scanned image in the background, you can use that as your guide. You can also use the rulers along the top and side of the window to guide you. You will obviously want to make the mask slightly larger than the acutal hole in the frame. When the selection is made, select Edit -> Fill with BG Color. It should be white. At first, it won’t appear that anything has happened. To see the results, you will need to right click on your layer and select Show Layer Mask. Repeat to turn it back off.
  
• Repeat the previous four steps for each hole in the photo frame, creating a new layer, layer mask and selection for each. When finished, your layers windows should look something like the illustration below.
  

  Once all of the holes are created, we want to save this template in the Gimp’s native format. So just select File -> Save As.. and call it FrameTemplate.xcf. The extension is important because it keep the file saved so that we can come back later and make changes to each layer. If you were to save it as a jpg (for example) you would “flatten” the image and loose all the layering.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 19th, 2005 at 6:33 pm and is filed under The Gimp, Digital Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.