GIMP Basic Tutorial - How to create text with a transparent background

Friendly Greetings,
This is very simple to do and I only show the basics, Once you can do this you can branch out and add more detail to the text or even add some extra features to it.

Step 1:
Open up GIMP and hit File, then new.
You can set this to any size but I am just going to do it 500 by 500.
Further on you will notice there is alot of space at the bottom. I wont be using that extra space but you can to add some more detail if you wanted to. If you just wanted the text by itself, You could set it to something smaller like 500 by 200 or you can just have it 500 by 500 and resize any extra space out when your done.

Step 2:
The default is generally a White layer, We do not need that so press Ctrl + L to open up layer menu. Click on the layer (It will be the only one there) and then in the bottom right corner of that box, Hit the "Delete this layer" button. When you do this, There will be squares. Thats basically a transparent images, There is nothing on it and if you were to upload that, It wouldnt come up.
Now click the "New Layer"button in the bottom left. Make sure its set to transparency.

Step 3:
Hit the "Text tool" Its the icon with a "A"
Click and drag on your image to select the area you want the text to go.
You can make this bigger later if you wanted to. Type what you want in that spot and then you can later use the move tool to move it around. On the image to the right of this, I marked a red square. That area is used for changing the text, You can change the font, the size and even how far apart the letters are away from eachother. You will also see a color button, When you first create a text box, The color will be the the color you have selected at the top, but if you wanted to change the color, You use the color button at the bottom.

Step 4
When you are done changing your text and moving it to where you want, In the window where your image is, Go to "File" and hit save as. give it a name and you can even select a location, but when your naming it, Whatever you call it you need to put .png at the end. So if your image is about "Puppies" You'd need to name it "Puppies.png"
This allows GIMP to save it in such a way that it wont fill the background with white and mess up the transparent background. There is other save types like .tga but I find png would be the best.

Thats pretty much there is too it. If you have any questions feel free to post a comment below and I'll answer them.

-S

Off Topic:Tutorial: How to create a Signature

I know this isn't really gaming news or updates but I thought since many gamers are on some sort of forum that this would be a good way to help make the most out of their profile...

Friendly Greetings!
In this tutorial I'm going to show you how to create a signature for forums. You don't need to worry if you don't have the software
to do it everything will be explained.

Contents:
1: Software
2: How to download
3: Dimensions
4: Theme
5: Design

1: Software
You don't need to have the likes of Photoshop to create high quality signatures. There is loads of free software out there that will let you basically do the same stuff as Photoshop. The difference being PS has more tools and is really for more overly high detailed pictures.
We are going to use some software called GIMP. GIMP is short for the GNU Image Manipulation Program and GNU computer operating system
GIMP is 100% free and safe and has loads of the same tools that PS does.

2: How to Download
First of all goto: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
and Hit the download link. It will lead you onto another site and the site should automatically let the download come up. Click save file and if says there its a "potentially unwanted program" just click download anyway. It came up for me but yet GIMP suggested the site and McAfee had a green mark on the page so It will be safe. Run it and then its done.
When you run it first it make take a little while to load but that's just because its the first time

3: Dimensions
Some Sites might have a limit but I wouldn't suggest having it huge anyway.
Lets just start of with a nice size.
In this case we are going to start with 400 by 150 (Width 400). This is all up to personal choice but I think that looks good. When you have 400 by 150 entered in click "Ok" and your box should expand into that size. There is a little icon at the bottom that will allow you to either zoom in or out.




4: Theme
Avatars and Signatures are ways of showing of you. Whether it be your gaming style or something that reflects you personally or it can even be about a game you like or have an interest in. Its entirely up to you.
I am just going to use a Image I found online as an example.

To add a Image click File ---> Open as Layer. This will open the image as a layer instead of replacing the current dimension. Use the select tool to move it around.(Select tool is on the second row. Third one from the right)









5: Design
Now that you have a basic image created your next step is to make it your own. GIMP offers loads of different filters to change the image. Let add text first. To add text click on the A icon on the GIMP tool window and click on the image
(Don't worry if its not exactly where you want it to be, You can move it later)

To change the font and the colour. The text tool has a second section at the bottom half of GIMP. Mine has been set to Sans but by clicking on the Aa button a list will appear with all different fonts. Find the right one for you and then move down. You'll see a bar of colour. This will be the colour of your text. Pick anyone you want. In this case I went for Red. To move the picture just click on the select tool again and hold left mouse button while dragging.

Done!

And yes. I have used the same picture as I did for the background :)


Finished Product...
Keep in mind I put a lot more time into my signatures. This was only a tutorial on how to do it.

Feel Free to leave feedback
Remember to Keep up with the main Blog page
http://stretchg.blogspot.com/

-S