RobA   
Administrator

Here's a preview (linear taper for now):

http://www.ludicity.org/images/taper.png

Need to add a dialog window with taper options.

OK thanks. Problem is turning out much more difficult than I first thought.

Sorry to keep annoying you, but I had an idea for making a better-looking tapered stroke. No offence intended, but your tapered path script produces aliasing effects which can be ugly depending on the brush sizes chosen. Instead of using brushes of different sizes like you have in your script, my idea is to create the outline of the tapered path (by transforming the original path), convert it to a selection, and then fill with foreground color. I think this may avoid ugly aliasing effects, but I'm not sure; only way to be sure is to try it out.

So here I am spamming you and criticising your work (sorry, sorry), but would you have a problem if I created and released such a plugin? I was thinking of using the name "Stroke Path with Taper", so it wouldn't be too easily confused with your "Tapered Stroke Path". I don't want to steal your thunder, so to speak, so let me know what you think.

Alright I'm done, I hope there's no major bugs: Download.

I've read that it's a pain to compile GIMP plugins on Windows, but if you can do it that would be great.

Meanwhile, I've decided to add an option to allow users to preserve sharp corners (e.g. which allows them to draw things like crescent moons). So I'm still working on the dialog for that.

Once I'm finished I'll send you a link to my source code so you can try to compile it. Then I'll release the plugin to an unsuspecting public.

I fixed the undo problem. For some reason I can't add the plugin to <Vectors> (i.e. where you put your Fractalize Path script), so I put it in <Image>/Edit, same place as your Tapered Stroke script. Do you know of anyone who can compile these plugins on Windows? I'm pretty much ready to release but I'll wait if someone wants to compile for Windows.

Here's a crazy image I created in a couple of minutes with my plugin:

http://www.ludicity.org/images/crazy.png

I did it! Here is a screenshot:

http://www.ludicity.org/images/smooth.png

The only thing I can't get working is undo. Don't know why, since I call the gimp_image_undo_group_start() and gimp_image_undo_group_end() functions.

I use Linux. I suspect I'll have to rely on someone to compile a Windows executable.

I've decided to create a GIMP plugin (in C) for this functionality. My curiosity about GIMP plugins got the better of me. By the way, in case your interest has been piqued, my pseudocode neglects to mention one crucial thing. In my pseudocode, the control points of a Bezier curve are associated with the curve joining the two anchor points.

In the GIMP, the control points are associated with only one anchor point and the 2 curves (sometimes 1 curve if it's the first or last anchor point of a non-closed path) either side of the anchor point. One control point affects one curve, the other control point affects the other curve.

Here's another way to see the difference (A = anchor; C1, C2 = 1st and 2nd control points):

Pseudo: A-C1-C2-A-C1-C2-A-C1-C2...
GIMP: C1-A-C2-C1-A-C2-C1-A-C2...

Sorry for the extra complexity. I will work on my plugin tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

Are you sure? I will describe the algorithm in pseudocode and words, because I don't want you scratching your head over my spaghetti Pascal or C code (which has a lot of extra confusing baggage added to it). OK done. Here is my description/pseudocode of the algorithm:

http://www.ludicity.org/files/algorithm.txt

If it seems like too much work, don't worry about it, or just send me a starting template of script code, and then maybe I can try to do it myself. Whatever the case, thanks for your time.

Actually, looking at the source code of your fractalize path script, I believe my request would involve too much work on your part. I didn't realise the complexity and amount of work involved. So just ignore this request, sorry to bother you and have a nice day. Oh and thanks for those map tutorials!