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Thread: French Curves

  1. 12-06-2011, 07:49 PM #1
    maxsdaddy
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    Default French Curves

    I'm still a bit old school. I have set of "french curves", which are set of drafting/drawing tools made
    from (in my case plastic) metal or wood. I use them quite often when drawing anything that has
    curves I know I'll need to repeat either as a mirror image, or need to scale up or down. Without scanning the multitude of threads on this site, is there a module that can be plugged into GIMP that has the same function? I'm having alot of trouble with making smooth curves in that program. I'm trying to convert some ship drawings I have to a more modern digital format and possibly create some newer ships. Thanks in advance for any links or help.
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  2. 12-06-2011, 09:29 PM #2
    Hai-Etlik
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    The GIMP has a feature called "Paths" which is based on Bezier Splines. You set up the path by editing a set of control points and then "stroke" it to apply it to the image. You can also turn paths into selections.

    If you want to do a lot of work with paths and splines, a vector graphics editor like Inkscape would be a better choice. It eliminates the "stroke" step and is just better set up for this sort of task.
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  3. 12-06-2011, 09:29 PM #3
    bkh1914
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    The best thing I've found for getting nice smooth paths is the Smooth Path plug-in for GIMP: http://registry.gimp.org/node/20069
    Last edited by bkh1914; 12-06-2011 at 09:31 PM.
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  4. 12-06-2011, 10:00 PM #4
    maxsdaddy
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    Thanks Hai-etlik and bkh1914! I'm heading home from work now and will try your suggestions asap.
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  5. 12-07-2011, 12:06 AM #5
    maxsdaddy
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    Got home update. Thanks again bkh1914. That was exactly what I was looking for! rep
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  6. 12-07-2011, 12:23 AM #6
    maxsdaddy
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    And thanks Hai-Etlik for giving me yet another program I'll have to fight with my wife and son for computer time at home!
    Inkscape will be the new home favorite for old MS paint projects. Thanks for the heads up!
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