Looking for help with Basic GIMP Concepts

[McBriggs]

So... This is my original map that I posted in my Intro thread. I am trying to go digital with it and I have no experience with GIMP or any other in depth imaging program, but have downloaded GIMP and have begun to play (a bit). I am looking for a basic tutorial on how this software works, and how to use it effectively. I am having trouble in particular at this point as far as scale is concerned. The continent is intended to be somewhere around the size of Europe and Northern Asia (Russia, Mongolia, China). It Was drawn on a 12x17.5 piece of paper. I am having trouble figuring out the size of the map on my monitor, Scaling the map, and PPI and DPI, and zooming. Any tips or TUTs are appreciated. Also, as of now I am simply using a mouse and pad, which seems unnatural, and am looking at tablet input devices, any help or advice is appreciated

[johnvanvliet]

first i am assuming you are using Microsoft Windows ( something 7,8,8.1,10 preview)

i do not

but there is a ton of documentation
http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.gimp.org/docs/
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

and
http://www.gimp-tutorials.com/

at this point as far as scale is concerned... Scaling the map, and PPI and DPI...

\

no offense but a lot of people just can not wrap there mind around

there really is no such thing !!!

this really only comes into play on PRINTING out a hard copy on paper ( and then only to a point)

it is basically non existent

the pixels in a image HAVE ZERO concept of size

and for displaying on a monitor
they also have ZERO CONCEPT and relation

there is also ZERO !!! relation to your monitor and printer
and zero relation to the size on the screen and the number of pixels



ppi( pixels per inch AKA DPI -dots per inch ) is ONLY in printing out on paper ( and scanning a image)
300 ppi is some the default on some printers
but 600 ppi is for high quality prints


now for a hand drawn image on 12x17.5 paper

most home scanners are not this big

have it professionally scanned at the MAX resolution ( flatbeds are normally 1200 ppi MAX )
so this would give you a image that is 21,000 x 14,400 pixels - a good size image but not TOO HUGE
( your telephone will give you a crappy image )


as to image format
DO NOT!!!! use "jpg" avoid that "lousy!" format at all cost!!!
and yes jpg iswhat is called a "LOUSY!!" format

in that is tosses in the TRASH a lot of DATA from the image to compress it -- and that LOST!!!! data is UNRECOVERABLE!!!
-- it is GONE FOREVER!!!! --

drive space is very cheep a 1 TB drive as default is COMMON now in even laptops
i have 5 TB just in the desktop ( not counting the extra and backup drives )

use the internal image format until you are DONE
For Gimp that is the gimp *.xcf format

I am having trouble figuring out the size of the map on my monitor

this ( dpi) is AUTO set but whatever YOU set the monitor to
-- likely 1920 x 1080

and has no relation to the number of rows and columns in the image nor how it is printed ( on paper)


now in GIS software there is scale issues
Meters per pixel ( or KM/pixel )
and pixels per degree

gimp and Photoshop have NO concept of those values
-- so not an issue

[Freodin]

First of all.... that is a nice map that you start from.

John might have been a little loud in his response, but he got all the facts correct.

He posted the links to the GIMP site, where you can find the complete explanation of all the functions: what you will most likely be looking for first are the drawing tools (brush and pencil and such) and the layer functions.

As for size and scale, again John got it to the point: it doesn't matter at all, as long as your art stays completely digital. Only if you want to print it does its size play a role, and even here the DPI and whatnot are irrelevant within GIMP. All that counts is: at what resolution do you want to print it? (Depends on your printer, not on GIMP) and how big does the image have to be then?
If you already know the desired printing size and resolution, you can use these values to have GIMP set the pixel size accordingly... otherwise, just forget this stuff. (For now at least )

Mouse, pad or tablet... simple tablets are rather cheap today, and are always a good investion just to try it out. You should be aware that you need some time to get used to them though... they are not as intuitive as pen and paper.

I hope that helped a little, and I look forward to see your maps here. If there are any other questions... people here are always willing to answer.

[McBriggs]

Thanks fellas. Those links helped John. And thanks for the no nonsense advice. Going to keep moving forward here.