Welcome John. (2 ways to do this. Top one is better, because it's easier to colour the background)

1.) First open a new image (File>New...) with the desired size (in this case I thing you said 6.75 X 4.75) and the desired background colour, then open the "central image" (File>Open...), then copy the "central image" (Edit>Copy (make sure it's the correct layer if you have more than one in the "central image", or just flatten the central image, the flattening of an image means merging all layers together and it's done by right clicking on the layers dialog box and choosing "Flatten image")) and paste it into the "new image" (the one you just created with 6.75X4.75) by doing Edit>Paste in the "new image" and then finally you have to create a new layer in "new image" or choose "anchor layer" for the pasting to take place. The last thing, of course, would be the text.

OR

2.) You can open "central image", go to "Image>Canvas Size..." then choose the new size (6.75X4.75) and at the bottom a little preview should be there. Here you can drag the image around to tell GIMP where the new space is going to go (e.g. around the image, top left, bottom left, etc.)

-Gezim

So, I typed the text I wanted into the text tool window. The part of the text that lies on the image is visible, but the part that dangles off into the white space below is invisible. I can't see it.

Any guidance? Please... I have a deadline for this project. Thank you.

Hm, RTFM comes to mind - http://docs.gimp.org. What you want to do is to resize the canvas.

HTH,
Michael

John Grimmett and Loreta Medina wrote:

Hello, everyone. I'm brand new to GIMP for Mac, so first a hearty hello!

For my first project with GIMP, I'm trying to make a postcard for an art exhibition. I started by opening the central image that I want on the card, then I adjusted the size of the layer containing the image to 6.75 X 4.75 inches, the approximate dimension of most postcards, with a little extra at bottom for some text info.

Now, here's where I'm having trouble:

I want to place a text layer on the image, but with only part of the text on the image. The rest of the text should be dangling off the image, with a line of text in the extra white space under the image.

So, I typed the text I wanted into the text tool window. The part of the text that lies on the image is visible, but the part that dangles off into the white space below is invisible. I can't see it.

This seems to be a problem with the way the two layers--the one with the image and the one with the text--are interacting. It seems that after I enter a text layer, I can no longer see the entire image layer, including the extra white space at bottom. Likewise, it seems that whatever I put into the text layer dangling off the image itself, I cannot see.

Any guidance? Please... I have a deadline for this project. Thank you.

Regards John Grimmett

Hi John,

I am not sure to understand everything you said, so I will ask you a few questions:
What you want is a white frame (6.75x4.75 inches) around an image (smaller), and some text at the bottom overlapping both the image and the white frame, right?

You said you "adjusted the size of the layer containing the image to 6.75 x 4.75 inches", did you adjusted using "Layer boundary size..." (in the "Layer" menu or right-clicking on the layer in the "Layers, Channels..." window) or by "Canvas Size..." (in the "Image" menu) ? I suspect you have used the first one which would result in what you describe, while what you really want is not to use the second.

Sincerely,

Olivier.

Olivier Ripoll wrote:

You said you "adjusted the size of the layer containing the image to 6.75 x 4.75 inches", did you adjusted using "Layer boundary size..." (in the "Layer" menu or right-clicking on the layer in the "Layers, Channels..." window) or by "Canvas Size..." (in the "Image" menu) ? I suspect you have used the first one which would result in what you describe, while what you really want is not to use the second.

sorry for the typo in the last line. It should be: "describe, while what you really want is to use the second."

Sincerely,

Olivier.

Thank you, everyone, for the great amount of info I've gotten on this layer problem.

First, some apologies: Please understand that I'm totally new to GIMP, and I'm
not a designer. I'm starting at zero. I'm doing this postcard for my wife to
try to keep from paying a professional. But of course if I can learn how to use GIMP, I'll do a lot more with it.

I did consult the help documentation at gimp.org, but that documentation is obviously a work in progress, and is incomplete as far as I can tell. That's
why I went looking for this fine mailing list. Sometimes it's better to just
go directly to the people with experience than to wade through dubious help documents.

Now, to the point:

Olivier, Michael, and Gezim all suggested "resize Canvas" instead of "resize
layer." You were all right that I had used "resize layer."

OK, so I have tried using resize canvas. That added some space at the bottom.
Here's what I'm seeing now:

My central image has white space on three sides as a result of previous layer
resizing. The layer containing the central image has a yellow and black dotted line around it--that's the layer boundary. On the bottom, the image touches the layer boundary, and below this layer boundary there is a checkerboard pattern. That checkerboard is the result of the canvas resize you recommended. I suspect that the image might be extending into new canvas
space, but I can't see it.

Is that checkerboard pattern a background coloring that I should change, or is
it the default look of an empty canvas space? Is the bottom of the image hiding somewhere in that checkerboard? Where to go from here...

John

John Grimmett and Loreta Medina wrote:

Hello, everyone. I'm brand new to GIMP for Mac, so first a hearty hello!

For my first project with GIMP, I'm trying to make a postcard for an art exhibition. I started by opening the central image that I want on the card, then I adjusted the size of the layer containing the image to 6.75 X 4.75 inches, the approximate dimension of most postcards, with a little extra at bottom for some text info.

Now, here's where I'm having trouble:

I want to place a text layer on the image, but with only part of the text on the image. The rest of the text should be dangling off the image, with a line of text in the extra white space under the image.

So, I typed the text I wanted into the text tool window. The part of the text that lies on the image is visible, but the part that dangles off into the white space below is invisible. I can't see it.

This seems to be a problem with the way the two layers--the one with the image and the one with the text--are interacting. It seems that after I enter a text layer, I can no longer see the entire image layer, including the extra white space at bottom. Likewise, it seems that whatever I put into the text layer dangling off the image itself, I cannot see.

Any guidance? Please... I have a deadline for this project. Thank you.

Regards John Grimmett

John's Mac wrote:

[...]
Now, to the point:
[...]

>

OK, so I have tried using resize canvas. That added some space at the bottom.
Here's what I'm seeing now:

My central image has white space on three sides as a result of previous layer
resizing. The layer containing the central image has a yellow and black dotted line around it--that's the layer boundary. On the bottom, the image touches the layer boundary, and below this layer boundary there is a checkerboard pattern. That checkerboard is the result of the canvas resize you recommended. I suspect that the image might be extending into new canvas
space, but I can't see it.

Is that checkerboard pattern a background coloring that I should change, or is
it the default look of an empty canvas space? Is the bottom of the image hiding somewhere in that checkerboard? Where to go from here...

Hi John,

The checkerboard pattern is a visual representation (cue?) of the "ultimate" background. Think of the layer structures in terms of transparent plastic slides like they use when making anime or special effects in movies. When you see the checkerboard, it means this area of the image is transparent.

If you want to have a white background for your postcard, you can add a new layer of white colour. There exists also a function in gimp that transform the layered structure of the image (i.e. the many layers) into one single opaque layer: it is called "Flatten" in Gimp's jargon (image or layer menu, I do not remember).

However, if you are using a printer, I think you should not need to add the white background. I guess printers assume the paper sheets are white and transparent = white = no ink for printers.

Sincerely,

Olivier