Nathan Carl Summers (rock@gimp.org) wrote:

We have decided to do this in two parts. First, we will issue a Call for Questions. Please send in all questions you would like to have in the new Gimp User FAQ to rock@gimp.org, and CC them to the lists for discussion.

Hmm. Looking at the impressive list of questions I get the impression that this is a synthetic FAQ - someone has thought a lot about what questions might get asked frequently.

While this is a valid approach I think it tends to be duplicate work when compared to the regular documentation. We should consider to just add the questions that really get asked.

I sifted through the questions and have marked them where I think they belong to.

Of course a synthetic FAQ is fine also, but we should be aware that we doing a synthetic FAQ then and might have more work with it.

1. What is the GIMP?
2. What does GIMP stand for?
3. What features does it have?

-> Web

3a. Does it support CMYK? 16-bit per channel images? Floating-point channels?

-> FAQ

4. What are the minimum system requirements? 4a. What operating systems is it available for? 5. Where can I get it?
5a. There are some binary versions on the GIMP website. Should I download them or build GIMP myself?
5b. Where can I get non-official gimp packages for foo?

-> Web

6. What version should I get?
7. What documentation is available?

-> FAQ

8. Where can I find other GIMP stuff? 9. Is GIMP a true GNU program?
10. What is the history of GIMP?
11. What is the relationship between GNOME and GIMP?

-> Web

12. Easter eggs are fun. Does GIMP have any?

-> FAQ (please don't list them...)

13. Does GIMP support digital cameras? 14. Does GIMP support scanners?
15. Does GIMP support Wacom tablets? 15a.How about other drawing tablets?

(not sure if it is useful to single out Wacom here)

16. Is there a GIMP mailing list? 17. How about an IRC channel?

-> Web (maybe FAQ, but I am not sure if that really gets asked)

18. Ok, I'm trying to compile gimp, and this `./configure' program complains about missing or old libraries. What gives? 18a.But I know I have the right version of libfoo! Why can't configure find it?

-> Web

19. How do layers work?
20. Channels?
21. Paths?
22. Selections?

-> Docs

23. How can I draw basic shapes (straight line, circle, square, etc.)?

-> FAQ

24. How can I change the color I draw in? 25. How can I make what I have selected into a separate image? 26. How can I add what I have selected into a new image? 27. How can I make part of my image transparent? 28. How can I change keybindings?
29. How can I do gamma correction?

Uh, no real idea, maybe FAQ. Does 24 really get asked? I'd add "27a. How can I make a certain color transparent"

30. What are plug-ins?
31. Where can I find new plug-ins?
32a.How can I add them to my GIMP?
33. EEEK! I downloaded the latest version of gimp, and my favorite plug-in has dissappeared!
34. Are Photoshop Filters/Plugins supported? 35. What is Script-Fu?
36. Where can I learn more about it?

-> Web

37. How can I call a plug-in in Script-Fu? How about another script? 38. What in the world is a "Procedural Database Error?" 39. Is there a macro recorder that automagically creates Script-Fu scripts for me?
40. Can I add my own brushes?
41. Can I add my own patterns?

-> FAQ

42. Can I give a copy of this gradient or palette I've created to a friend?
43. My fonts are ugly.
44. What font formats does GIMP support? 45. Where can I get more fonts?
46. The font that the GIMP uses for its menu text is nappy. How can I change it?

-> FAQ (what is "nappy"?)

47. What is this "XCF" file format? Why should I use it?

Isn't the real question "How can I keep all information in my image" or sthg. like that?

48. What other formats does GIMP support?

-> Web

49. I can't save my file as a GIF or TIFF. 50. I can't save my file as some other file format. 51. How can I add support for the foo file format to GIMP?

-> FAQ

52. What languages does GIMP support?

-> Web

53. Does GIMP support XInput?

This probably should be close to the question for tablet support.

54. Why doesn't text in my native language render correctly with the Text tool?
55. Does GIMP support bidirectional output? 56. How do I use batch mode?
57. Do I have to use an X server to run GIMP even in batch mode? 58. How can I call a Script-Fu script using batch mode? 59. How can I connect my web server to GIMP like flamingtext.com? 60. GIMP is slow. How can I speed it up?

-> FAQ

61. How can I see which bugs have been reported? 62. How can I report a bug I've found which hasn't been reported yet?

-> Web

63. I get an error about "MIT-SHM" or "XShmAttach." (does this still happen?)
64. I'm using . What problems specific to it do you know about?
65. I'm using . What problems specific to it do you know about?

maybe FAQ

66. Who wrote GIMP?
67. Who has contributed to the FAQ?
68. Who wrote the included plug-ins? 69. Who wrote the Script-Fu scripts? 70. Who made the brushes and patterns included with the GIMP? 71. Who made the gradients and palettes incluced with the GIMP? 72. Who created the artwork?

-> Web

73. Who is the GIMP FAQ team?
74. Who has contributed to the FAQ?

-> FAQ

Ok. I am not subscribed to gimp-user so I might have missed questions that really get asked frequently - IMHO these should be added to the FAQ - maybe just give a link in the Gimp Docs.

Comments?

Bye, Simon

On Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:19:28 -0800 (PST), Nathan Carl Summers wrote:

The gimp web team has desired that the current FAQ's be updated to reflect the current 1.2.x reality for some time.

Sorry to rehash a topic that has already been mentioned a few days ago on the gimp-dev list, but what is the gimp web team and how do I get in touch with it? I haven't seen the FAQ topic being discussed on the gimp-web list (which would be the appropriate place for this).

Also, I would be nice for me to know what is being planned, since I am the current maintainer for www.gimp.org and I have just updated some of the FAQ links on these pages (pointing to the GUG FAQs for the moment). Note that I will be away from the 'net for the next 10 days so it is a bit late for me to ask, but it would be nice if a bit more information was shared on the gimp-web mailing list.

We have decided to do this in two parts. First, we will issue a Call for Questions. Please send in all questions you would like to have in the new Gimp User FAQ to rock@gimp.org, and CC them to the lists for discussion.

I think that it would be nicer to have a list of questions that have already been asked than a list of questions that could be interesting but have never been asked in practice. The latter tends to duplicate the existing documentation.

Anyway, I think that the first question in the list (or the second one, just after "What is the GIMP?") should be "Where can I get more information?". The FAQ will never be complete, so it is important to point to other sources of information (help pages, documentation, web sites) so that the user know where to find the answer to some questions that would not be in the FAQ.

-Raphaël

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, Simon Budig wrote:

Hmm. Looking at the impressive list of questions I get the impression that this is a synthetic FAQ - someone has thought a lot about what questions might get asked frequently.

While this is a valid approach I think it tends to be duplicate work when compared to the regular documentation. We should consider to just add the questions that really get asked.

The thing is that in many cases, a question is frequently asked - but not on any of the GIMP mailing lists. I'm a reasonably proficient GIMP user - and I get asked LOTS of questions at work - some of them frequently enough to justify a FAQ entry IMHO. If you just do something like trawl through the last N years of GIMP user mailing list questions, I doubt that you'd get a realistic idea of things that could usefully be in a FAQ.

My #1 FAQ from people where I work is:

Q: I'm trying to paint and nothing is happening - what did I do wrong?

A: Eeek! There are about 1e6 things that could be: * You are painting outside of the selection. * You've picked some kind of 'do nothing' paint. * Your paint colour is the same as the background. * You are painting to a layer that's hidden. * You are painting to a layer that's rendered at 100% transparency.
* Try hitting 'Layers/Anchor'. * Try hitting 'Layers/Layer-to-Image-Size'. ...and lots of others...
* Look - just save the image, restart GIMP and load it back in again - I'm too busy to figure it out.

...and "How do I draw triangles/squares/.../stellated-dodecahedra?" is definitely second.

Just because something is in the manual doesn't mean it shouldn't be in the FAQ too. If the question is frequently asked then presumably it's being asked because the user didn't read the manual or couldn't find the answer clearly expressed within a reasonable amount of time.

FAQ's are a good shortcut route to answer newbies questions.

---- Steve Baker (817)619-2657 (Vox/Vox-Mail) L3Com/Link Simulation & Training (817)619-2466 (Fax) Work: sjbaker@link.com http://www.link.com Home: sjbaker1@airmail.net http://www.sjbaker.org

On 2002-12-19 at 1759.28 +0100, Rapha?l Quinet typed this:

On Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:19:28 -0800 (PST), Nathan Carl Summers wrote:

The gimp web team has desired that the current FAQ's be updated to reflect the current 1.2.x reality for some time.

Sorry to rehash a topic that has already been mentioned a few days ago on the gimp-dev list, but what is the gimp web team and how do I get in touch with it? I haven't seen the FAQ topic being discussed on the gimp-web list (which would be the appropriate place for this).

well, i want a working news and contest before i have an official team and any sort of official announcement of the new site (which is at http://mmmaybe.gimp.org now btw)

i need to get that eh, wiki off the front and the nifty news and contest i have seen and operated already to be there instead.

should be soon.

wish i could show some photos of the "semi truck" accident that has slowed things down some here.

contact me if you have ideas, wait for official announcements to fix typos and things.

sorry it isn't as organized as it should be.

Rapha?l, any more questions? sorry it is going like this. i dunno any other way though. ;)

carol

"Stephen J Baker" writes:

My #1 FAQ from people where I work is:

Q: I'm trying to paint and nothing is happening - what did I do wrong?

Yeah, me too. How hard do you think it would be to have a 'novice mode' where gimp detects this and pops up a tip on how to fix things?

Tim

On Fri, Dec 20, 2002 at 01:14:01PM +1100, Tim Lambert wrote:

"Stephen J Baker" writes:

My #1 FAQ from people where I work is:

Q: I'm trying to paint and nothing is happening - what did I do wrong?

Yeah, me too. How hard do you think it would be to have a 'novice mode' where gimp detects this and pops up a tip on how to fix things?

And we could also add an obtrusive animated paperclip (or paintbrush) giving users funny advices...

But seriously, there's a zillion things user can do wrong, if he/she is clueless, and when you finally find them all, the first user you test your novice mode on will find a new one.

IMHO novice mode (if ever implemented) should restrict the things user can do to some sane set (simplifying the interface), and not try to turn the Gimp into Eliza

Regards,

Yeti

On 2002-12-20 at 1314.01 +1100, Tim Lambert typed this:

"Stephen J Baker" writes:

My #1 FAQ from people where I work is:

Q: I'm trying to paint and nothing is happening - what did I do wrong?

Yeah, me too. How hard do you think it would be to have a 'novice mode' where gimp detects this and pops up a tip on how to fix things?

i dunno. i worked through it. really, if i can, anyone can.

carol

Thus spoke "David Necas (Yeti)"

IMHO novice mode (if ever implemented) should restrict the things user can do to some sane set (simplifying the interface), and not try to turn the Gimp into Eliza

Most of the time that I've heard of problems like this it has been when the wrong layer has been selected or a layer with transparency is in use and the user doesn't understand why you can't draw in a transparent area. Novice mode might be as simple as forcing users to use a single layer that doesn't have transparency enabled by default, allowing them to learn the rest of the programs features without complicating their experience with layers.

Just a thought. I'm not convinced that a "novice mode" is worth it though, for all the same reasons mentioned already (like every novice will think something in "novice mode" is still to difficult to understand).

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, Michael J. Hammel wrote:

Thus spoke "David Necas (Yeti)"

IMHO novice mode (if ever implemented) should restrict the things user can do to some sane set (simplifying the interface), and not try to turn the Gimp into Eliza

Most of the time that I've heard of problems like this it has been when the wrong layer has been selected or a layer with transparency is in use and the user doesn't understand why you can't draw in a transparent area. Novice mode might be as simple as forcing users to use a single layer that doesn't have transparency enabled by default, allowing them to learn the rest of the programs features without complicating their experience with layers.

In my experience, it's most frequently been when some kind of select/cut/paste operation has created an un-anchored extra layer. In that case, the novice (who realises that layers are a complication - and is ignoring them for now) has the implications of layers forced upon them.

Just a thought. I'm not convinced that a "novice mode" is worth it though, for all the same reasons mentioned already (like every novice will think something in "novice mode" is still to difficult to understand).

I dislike the idea of novice mode too.

---- Steve Baker (817)619-2657 (Vox/Vox-Mail) L3Com/Link Simulation & Training (817)619-2466 (Fax) Work: sjbaker@link.com http://www.link.com Home: sjbaker1@airmail.net http://www.sjbaker.org

Most of the time that I've heard of problems like this it has been when the wrong layer has been selected or a layer with transparency is in use and the user doesn't understand why you can't draw in a transparent area. Novice mode might be as simple as forcing users to use a single layer that doesn't have transparency enabled by default, allowing them to learn the rest of the programs features without complicating their experience with layers.

Personally, a problem I very often have is that I after I save a selection to a channel then I cannot paint (or filter, or adjust color, etc.). The problem is that after a save-selection-to-channel the default channel is the one just saved. This is a fine default if the next thing one does is to modify the channel but most the time I save-selection-to-channel to make a checkpoint of the selection to go back to later. The default channel is changed to that channel even if the layer/channel tool box is not visible -- which I think is *extremely* confusing for new users who would not have an obvious way to set the channel back to RGB. Who would guess that one needs to select "LAYER" from the menu to get the window that manipulates channels to pop up, or even that the setting of the channel is their problem.

I personally think that a less confusing behavior is to have save-selection-to- channel leave the channel selection untouched. If someone wants to further modify the channel they will already likely have the layer/channel toolbox available and know what they are doing. Or if the present behaviour is really desired, at least make save-selection-to-channel pop up the layer/channel tool if not already visible, preferably set to show channels.

Bill Sebok Computer Software Manager, Univ. of Maryland, Astronomy Internet: wls@astro.umd.edu URL: http://furo.astro.umd.edu/