[Award Winner] Making Not so Random Coastlines in GIMP - alternative method

[RobA]

Good to see it can be applied in other software. (I used PSP back at version 4, but that was a while ago )

One other bit is to play with the curves dialog before blending the images. That will let you do things like the attached - and island ringed by a reef. (FYI - I just started with a blurry blob but used the curves adjustment to make the "ring" appear. I can grab the curves dialog if anyone wants, to show what I mean...)

-Rob A>

[RPMiller]

This is just rockin'!!

[mmmmmpig]

everything here can work in PS as well. Thanks for the method!

[OneSeventeen]

Care to elaborate, m5pig? I can't get interesting coast-lines using just Photoshop. I have done the texture-in-GIMP-then-import-to-PS thing, but that's cumbersome. I may post my results later, if I think of it and have time.


117

[mmmmmpig]

The process I used is basically the same.

Create white object on black background
Gaussian Blur
Create new layer of black
Filter-> Render-> Clouds on the solid black layer
De-saturated the clouds (Levels, Curves, Variations, however)
Set the original Black and White image to Multiply
Flattened and Thresholded
Filer -> Stylize -> Find Edges

Here is my result






Now we will see if I can post multiple images...

Woo Hoo the post worked!

[OneSeventeen]

Thanks for posting, m5pig. I think I may have figured out what my big problem was: resolution. I was working on a 10x7 inch piece with 100 pixels per inch.

When i cranked the size up to 2550px x 2550px I had much better results. What kind of resolutions and sizes do people work at? Specifically, I'm aiming at printing to an 8.5x10 sheet of paper and not taking up the whole thing (just so I don't have to muck with printer margins, etc.)


117

[mmmmmpig]

I very rarely work at less than 300 dpi for anything I am doing, whether it be maps or digital painting. When I go to print or post on the web, that is when I down-sample. Just an FYI, to minimize downsampling artifacts, only resample at most by half at a time. If you have a 600 dpi image and you want to get it to 96 dpi, start by resampling to 300 dpi, then to 150 dpi, and finally to 96 dpi.

[Xeviat]

The process I used is basically the same.

Create white object on black background
Gaussian Blur
Create new layer of black
Filter-> Render-> Clouds on the solid black layer
De-saturated the clouds (Levels, Curves, Variations, however)
Set the original Black and White image to Multiply
Flattened and Thresholded
Filer -> Stylize -> Find Edges

I'm having trouble with the "Set the original black and white image to multiply" step. Is that through the blur tool or the blur filter? Thanks.

PS: I downloaded the tutorial video, but all I'm getting is audio.

[Midgardsormr]

That's a blend mode, accessible from the layers window. The layer you want to change needs to be above the layer you are blending it with. Then click the drop-down box that currently says "Normal" and change it to "multiply." You should see the clouds layer reappear with the black areas of your original shape superimposed on it.

Honestly, I haven't been able to get this technique to work in Photoshop, either, but this is the first I've seen m5pig's translation.

For the sake of further reading, here's a tutorial about the different blend modes and what exactly each one does: http://www.cgtextures.com/content.ph...ame=blendmodes

[pyrandon]

(FYI - I just started with a blurry blob but used the curves adjustment to make the "ring" appear. I can grab the curves dialog if anyone wants, to show what I mean...)

Would you mind? That would be really helpful.