Problem using Gimp Software

[michaelp]

I am obviously going wrong somewhere but cant figure out where,  I am able to scale down images and save resized images ok but when i come to print them off the print preview is showing them as blurred and too large and that is how they print.

Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong please.

 

Thanks in advance

[jamesg]

I can't seem to reproduce the problem here, but I guess the DPI is being set incorrectly when you go to print the image.  Perhaps the information is being lost in saving and reopening the file.  In GIMP, you can set the DPI for the image by going to the 'Image' menu and selecting 'Print Size'.  You can also override the DPI per print from the print dialog on the 'Image Settings' tab, which should be reflected in the preview.

 

Once the DPI is set, you can change the rulers around the image to a paper measurement (cm or in) from the menu at the bottom left of the image next to the zoom percentage.

[michaelp]

I can't seem to reproduce the problem here, but I guess the DPI is being set incorrectly when you go to print the image.  Perhaps the information is being lost in saving and reopening the file.  In GIMP, you can set the DPI for the image by going to the 'Image' menu and selecting 'Print Size'.  You can also override the DPI per print from the print dialog on the 'Image Settings' tab, which should be reflected in the preview.

 

Once the DPI is set, you can change the rulers around the image to a paper measurement (cm or in) from the menu at the bottom left of the image next to the zoom percentage.

 

Thanks for that, I will have a look to see if that helps.

[HLT 0109]

Michael,

 

Are you scaling down in order to print, or are you simply trying to print an image that has already been scaled down?  I also note that you refer to "saving" resized images.  Now I am not an expert with this software but my son is and, when he showed me how to use GIMP, he told me that images should be Exported after amendment.rather than saved.  I can't remember why(!) but I wonder if that could be causing the problem.  Secondly, if you are reducing the image size in order to print smaller pictures, I would say that is the wrong thing to do - the print size should be set in the printer properties (eg A4, A5, 6"x4" etc and then choose the appropriate setting to make the image fit the page.  What are the original and final file sizes of the pictures you are resizing, and what size prints are you making?  When I adjust photos I take, after exporting the amended image and giving it a new title, I then close the original file without saving the image - thus retaining the original properties of the image.

 

I hope some of this helps.

 

Harold.

[michaelp]

Hello Harold,

I think i have being doing it wrong, i am trying to resize some images to print off and make into 00 gauge signs so quite small.

I thought all i had to do was to select 'scale image' and reduce the height and width to what i thought was correct then click 'save as' then go to the printer and print it of but the image is still way too big and quite blurred but i am grateful for any pointers.

Cheers

[Mim]

These days, saving an image in Gimp will save it as its own xcf format. This preserves things like layers, masks and so on, but it is a format only Gimp uses. You need to Export the image to a jpeg, png or whatever image format you require. This can be the same file name as the image you opened, or a different one. As others have said, Image > Print Size then width/height and resolution are the things to alter to print at a particular size and keep all the detail, not Image > Scale Image, which leaves resolution (dpi) unchanged and blurs and pixelates the picture as you scale down.

 

Gimp has a pretty steep learning curve. A downside of its excellent functionality. It can do very many things very well, but learning how to do the thing you want takes time!

 

Mim

 

Michael,

 

Are you scaling down in order to print, or are you simply trying to print an image that has already been scaled down?  I also note that you refer to "saving" resized images.  Now I am not an expert with this software but my son is and, when he showed me how to use GIMP, he told me that images should be Exported after amendment.rather than saved.  I can't remember why(!) but I wonder if that could be causing the problem.  Secondly, if you are reducing the image size in order to print smaller pictures, I would say that is the wrong thing to do - the print size should be set in the printer properties (eg A4, A5, 6"x4" etc and then choose the appropriate setting to make the image fit the page.  What are the original and final file sizes of the pictures you are resizing, and what size prints are you making?  When I adjust photos I take, after exporting the amended image and giving it a new title, I then close the original file without saving the image - thus retaining the original properties of the image.

 

I hope some of this helps.

 

Harold.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Mim

[michaelp]

These days, saving an image in Gimp will save it as its own xcf format. This preserves things like layers, masks and so on, but it is a format only Gimp uses. You need to Export the image to a jpeg, png or whatever image format you require. This can be the same file name as the image you opened, or a different one. As others have said, Image > Print Size then width/height and resolution are the things to alter to print at a particular size and keep all the detail, not Image > Scale Image, which leaves resolution (dpi) unchanged and blurs and pixelates the picture as you scale down.

 

Gimp has a pretty steep learning curve. A downside of its excellent functionality. It can do very many things very well, but learning how to do the thing you want takes time!

 

Mim

 

Thanks, whereabouts is the resolution setting in Gimp, if I know roughly what size to resize to how would I know which way to set the resolution?

[Mim]

Hi Michael,

Like this:

I'll use your profile picture as an example. Say we wanted to print your profile picture out so that it is 4mm wide to use it on your model. When we open it up in Gimp you can see on the top of the image that it is 300 by 196 pixels in size. To see and change the print resolution click on Image, then Print Size

 

 

You'll then see that the X and Y Resolution is currently 72 dots per inch, which is 72 pixels per inch and that the image will currently print out at around 105 by 69mm.

 

 

To reduce the print size to 4mm wide simply overwrite the 105.85 in Width with 4. The Y dimension and the X and Y resolution will all adjust automatically to the new width as they are all interrelated. In this case it comes out as 3.99mm, which is due to the number of pixels available, but is only 10 microns out and a tiny error.

 

 

Click on OK and the change is made. X and Y resolutions are now 1907 pixels per inch, which is hugely in excess of what most printers can do and the human eye resolve, but that doesn't matter. The printed image will be at the best resolution that your printer can manage. As a rough guide, 72 pixels per inch (or dots per inch dpi, which is the same thing), is good for display on a screen. 300, to 600 dpi is good for a printed page. You can print directly from Gimp with control P, or File > Print, or click File > Export to export it as a png, or jpeg format image. Saving the file will give it an xcf, Gimp only format extension.

 

Mim

Edited October 14, 2017 by Mim

[michaelp]

Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to post this for me, I think that's what I needed, a step by step guide to using Gimp.

[jamesg]

GIMP has a reputation for being confusing to new users, you're certainly not alone.

 

What I've done before to print out signs is to create a new image with the 'A4 (300ppi)' template from the 'File' > 'New...' dialog.  Multiple smaller images can be added to this and duplicated any number of times for printing onto one page.  I'd create the new A4 image and load images in using 'File' > 'Open as layers', then scale and move the new layers in cm, mm or in.

 

 

If you have the image you want to add in the clipboard instead (because it's been copied from another image), it can be added as a new layer from the 'Edit' > 'Paste as' menu.

 

One other thing that might help - by default, GIMP runs in lots of separate windows.  This can be annoying on smaller laptop screens, going to the 'Windows' menu and selecting 'Single-Window Mode' gives you one window with a row of tabs for each separate image you have open.

[BG John]

One other thing that might help - by default, GIMP runs in lots of separate windows.  This can be annoying on smaller laptop screens, going to the 'Windows' menu and selecting 'Single-Window Mode' gives you one window with a row of tabs for each separate image you have open.

I've been using GIMP for ages, and hadn't come across that! Separate windows are annoying on a big screen when I've got several other programs open!