A Guide for Text & Typography in GIMP

Jul 20, 2017 18:20

Requested by rizbef.


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Comments 11

rizbef July 21 2017, 01:47:13 UTC
Ahhhh <3 <3 <3 Thank you soooo much! This looks like it will be a huge help for me! Especially with the Overlay and Kerning, which I was aware of but not really sure how to use. I don't think I'm great at text composition, but hopefully by being better at simple text, I can be more inspired :D Thanks again so much! I'll have to try these tips out the next time I make icons <3 ( ... )

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cool_spectrum July 21 2017, 03:39:55 UTC
I'm glad that this was helpful~ I can't wait to see your results <3

Interpolation has something to do with how the computer handles the information when sizing your image down. Like all techincal/computer-y things, I don't fully understand how it works, but I do know that it can make a huge difference on the final icon.

Locking the layer means that any brushes or effects you use will only apply to the visible portions instead of the whole layer. I generally use this if I want to apply effects directly to the text layer without getting them onto the background. Give it a try, it really opens up a world of possibilities!

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rizbef July 22 2017, 21:36:56 UTC
Ooooooo I'll definitely have to try that! Thanks again :D

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vai_rin July 21 2017, 05:37:00 UTC
I'm not using GIMP, but I find this tutorial is overall a pretty useful text tutorial!
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts about typography :O

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cool_spectrum July 21 2017, 06:58:40 UTC
I'm glad you found it useful! It's hard to know what will end up being most helpful, so these things tend to get a little text-heavy, LOL.

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sietepecados July 21 2017, 07:29:34 UTC
This is so great! I love how you showed different compositions and I love the tricks! Also thank you for using my icons as examples I'm honoured because I suck at text :)

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cool_spectrum July 21 2017, 08:02:31 UTC
So glad you like it! I'm a VERY visual learner, so I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite typography icons as well as my own examples.

Aww, you know I love your type work <3

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novindalf July 22 2017, 12:02:54 UTC
This was a fascinating read, and such a well put-together guide!! Definitely adding to Memories for future reference!

I'll have to check if Hinting and Fore Auto-Hinter are switched off, and also experiment with Linear Interpolation when resizing. I usually work straight onto a 100x100px canvas because I find it very over-sharp and pixelated when resized down that much. On that note, do you create an icon on a 300x300px canvas slightly blurry to compensate for when it is resized, or do you not need to do that?

I would recommend doodling the basic shapes onto a piece of paper. - This is one of the main reasons why I always have PowerPoint open when making an icon - so I can draft out the text compositions I want to use and play around with them multiple times until I am happy!

Thank you for including that Elsa icon of mine in the examples!

If you’re into fonts with more flair, be sure that you’re picking ones that go with the mood, era, or style of the rest of your icon so as to create a cohesive design. 1000% agree. I keep seeing ( ... )

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cool_spectrum July 23 2017, 09:11:47 UTC
Aw, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can't wait to see your typography results <3

I used to have trouble with over-sharp looking icons before I changed the Interpolation settings. Switching it to Linear gave me the opposite problem, it makes my icons more blurry-looking (thus the 'soft' effect in many of my icons).

I finally learned that I really need to be using the sharpening tool, so I've been applying a small dose after I size down to 100x100 so that the final product looks more balanced. I've been shy about over-sharpening, so that's all I'm brave enough to attempt for now... in fact, if you have any hacks for sharpening with GIMP, I'd actually really appreciate it.

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applepips16 July 23 2017, 17:39:05 UTC
Wow, this is such a concise and well-written guide! I loved your use of examples to illustrate your points. Great job! :)

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cool_spectrum July 23 2017, 20:24:32 UTC
Aw, thank you! I got a little excited and wrote probably way too much, but I'm glad you found it to be concise. That's super encouraging to hear <3

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