merging XCF into multiple GIFs (and automated processing in general)
OK, maybe I am a bit too much of a programmer, and also using GIMP
the wrong way (I am new to graphics generation), but I can't seem to find
my answer in the 1.2 2nd edition users guide or the FAQs.
I need to create 15 GIF files. The design of these files is such that
I can create an XCF with 4 layers, and each of the 15 GIF images represents
one of the possible combinations of the 4 layers (there are 16 ways to choose
the layers, one of them is "none", which is an unneeded case as it just gives
a blank image 8-).
I thus have two questions:
1. How do I make the 15 GIFs? The documentation indicates that I need to
merge the layers, and make the image indexed, at which point I can save
it as a GIF. However, this changes my source "image" (the XCF file). Will
I have to close the image without saving changes and then reopen for all
15 images???
2. Q1 might be more of a programmatic issue. As I said, I am think a bit
too much as a programmer, and I am think of the XCF file as a source file,
and the GIFs as "compiled" images. That having been said, perhaps the
standard model in the graphics world is that you don't spend time saving
time and just do the work 15 times.
If not, the my second question is, given the XCF file and its 4 layers,
is there any way to have gimp process it into the 15 GIF files in an
automated way? I.e., without starting up a gimp GUI, but instead from a
command line where I want to specify which layers to merge, and with which
other parameters (# of colors, etc.) I want to build each GIF.
In other words, I want to "edit" the "source" XCF file, and then put
gimp commands into my Makefile to "compile" the "source" file into the
15 final images (probably with one command for each image).
This is really icing, as it means that if I ever have to change some
aspect of the 15 images, I only have to change 1 file instead of manually
regenerating 15, not to mention that I only check in one source file into
CVS instead of 16 files, all of which have to be changed whenever one is
changed...
Am I thinking too much like a programmer, and not enough like a
graphics designer, or I am missing something?
