Working with Layers

[adlabs6]

This thread is a reply to karencullen2007 who asked about working with layers for different photographs.

Hi karencullen2007,

A quick way to get several photographs into GIMP as layers is the command "File>Open as Layers" from the menu. This command will open the selected photo as a new layer on top of your current work.

When you use this command, take a look at the layer stack toolbox. You'll see that the new photo is now the top layer, and that the other photo(s) are on their own layers below.

After getting a photo into your working file as a new layer, the first issue you'll encounter will probably be sizing each new photo to the desired fit into the overall final composition.

The first step here is using the "Scale Tool" from the main GIMP toolbox. Make sure you have highlighted the correct layer in the stack for the photo you want to resize. Then with the "Scale Tool" selected, click in the photo and drag the tool to the lower right of the window. You should see the photo begin to scale down. It may take several click and drag strokes to get the photo to the right size.

Also note that while you are click and dragging you will a dialog box appear titled "Scale". This is OK, just drag on the photo to scale to size. When it's about the size you want, move to the "Scale" dialog box and click the "Scale" button.

The second step is using the "Move Tool" from the main toolbox. Just highlight the correct photo's layer from the layer stack, then select the "Move" tool and click on the photo and drag it to where you want it.

From here, you might want to adjust the scaling some to suit your taste, just repeat the above steps to scale and move until you are pleased with the arrangement with each photo you add to the stack.

Hope this helps.