On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 12:34 AM, atticus wrote:

Hi. Is there a simple method (not using inversion, etc) by which I can create a floating image of a book. I know it can be done but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. I would be so grateful for some help. I've attached an image. What I would like to be able to do is select the volume in the upper part of the image and have it be able to float on a black or white background. I should add that I know how to do the few things I need to know how to do on Gimp, but nothing beyond that. Thanks very much.

Personally, I have a hard time figuring out what "floating" here means.

Alex

Hi. Is there a simple method (not using inversion, etc) by which I can create a floating image of a book. I know it can be done but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. I would be so grateful for some help. I've attached an image. What I would like to be able to do is select the volume in the upper part of the image and have it be able to float on a black or white background. I should add that I know how to do the few things I need to know how to do on Gimp, but nothing beyond that. Thanks very much.

Do a search for Gimp + remove background or Gimp + extract foreground, the two are roughly the same, depending on the image.

For a book with straight edges, use the free select tool clicking in the corners produces straight lines. as screenshot 1

When complete, Invert the selection, Select -> Invert fill with white (or black) screenshot 2

Then turn the selection off. Select -> none

Any number (and better) ways

Do a search for Gimp + remove background or Gimp + extract foreground, the two are roughly the same, depending on the image.

For a book with straight edges, use the free select tool clicking in the corners produces straight lines. as screenshot 1

When complete, Invert the selection, Select -> Invert fill with white (or black) screenshot 2

Then turn the selection off. Select -> none

Any number (and better) ways

Ok just re-read your post and you do not want to invert a selection (why??)

Make the selection

Copy it

Paste it into a new canvas of suitable colour.

On Thu, 2018-06-28 at 23:34 +0200, atticus wrote:

Hi. Is there a simple method (not using inversion, etc) by which I can create a
floating image of a book.

I think what you are asking for is to make the background be plain black (or plain white). For the image you have i'd select the red regions with the Happy Stick / Fuzzzy Select Tool (use shift to keep adding to a selection, clicking on different parts of the background). When you've got most of it, you can use the freehand select tool (again with shift), clicking on a point and then clicking again elsewhere to make a straight line along the edge of th ebook.

When everything outside the book is selected, use select->grow selection by 1 or 2 pixels, then feather the selection by 1.5 or maybe even 2 or 3 pixels, to give a soft edge, and then use control-, or control-. (control and comma at the same time) to fill the selection with the foreground or background from the toolbox (or drag the colour swatch onto the selection if you prefer).

You can use Undo if you make a mistake.

There are more complicated ways to do this with layers and layer masks, but they are much harder when you're just starting out with gimp. You could also try and use the erasor, but i don't recommend that because f you make a mistake early on and don't notice it, you're stuck.

Hope this helps.

slave ankh / Liam

Liam Quin - web slave for https://www.fromoldbooks.org/
with fabulous vintage art and fascinating texts to read.
Click here to have the slave rewarded with a dog treat.

Because when I use the fuzzy tool it invariably selects some of the book as well. I'm sorry to be dense, but none of the methods are working for me. Thank you for your kindness

Fuzzy select the background? Wrong tool to use for the type of image you posted. You would use that with a plain colour background.

The example I gave just traces the book outline using the free select tool, could not be simpler.

There are any number of ways to remove that background. From really basic - just use the eraser tool (carefully) - to probably what I would use, a layer mask and paint out the background.

On Fri, 2018-06-29 at 20:03 +0200, atticus wrote:

Because when I use the fuzzy tool it invariably selects some of the book as well.

That's OK, it did when i reied too, and i went back and tidied it up by subtracting from the selection with the freehand select tool.

slave ankh

Liam Quin - web slave for https://www.fromoldbooks.org/
with fabulous vintage art and fascinating texts to read.
Click here to have the slave tied up and tickled.

If you want to get it as exacting as possible, I'd recommend using the path tool, then locking the alpha channel and cloning the edges. I did your book from the first image real quick and made a 4 min video. I can explain more if this is what you're after.

I didn't compress the video so hopefully the quality will be good enough to see everything. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mu2nm8v8ovbwn53/book-render.mkv?dl=1

On Fri, Jun 29, 2018, at 2:03 PM, atticus wrote:

Ok just re-read your post and you do not want to invert a selection (why??)

Make the selection

Copy it

Paste it into a new canvas of suitable colour.

Because when I use the fuzzy tool it invariably selects some of the book as well. I'm sorry to be dense, but none of the methods are working for me. Thank you for your kindness

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akovia