Help with the GIMP program

[Lyn Maliodis]

Hey guys & gals!

So here's the gist of it: I made a webcomic but when it's opened it's really small. So, since GIMP is very similar to photoshop (think early yahoo messenger & earky windows messenger) I was hoping someone would be able to tell me how to permanently enlarge an image. The help topic mentions nothing about it.

[Teh Donut]

Well, first of all, let's get some info on the image: is the original drawing a hand drawing that you scanned in, or was it done on the computer? how big is the original, and how big are you wanting it to be?

There are several ways of making an image bigger, but the thing you must always remember about resizing images is that there's always some degradation in quality when you do so. If you shrink a picture, colors tend to blur and you lose pixel definition (though, some methods of bitmapping, like the one I use, rely on this), while enlarging a picture causes pixelation, requiring you to go back and do some manual smoothing and anti-aliasing to fix.

If it's a scanned image of something you drew freehand, then the fix is simple: change the settings on your scanner (or the scanner might have accompanying software, like HP does, in which case you can change your scanner settings in the program) to scan the image to a larger size. If you drew the image directly on the computer, then I really have to suggest simply re-drawing the picture to the size you want; it'll be a lot simpler to redo it than to suffer through all the pixelation cleanup.

[Lyn Maliodis]

It's a spriting image I created on the computer. I got a message telling me how to do it so problem solved. thanks for the scanner tips though.

[Teh Donut]

Oh, a sprite comic. Well now, pixelation on those are a lot easier to fix.

Anywho, glad you figured it out.

[Lyn Maliodis]

I need more help with the program. Spriting issue again. I'm trying to scale an image to a smaller size but keep at least some of the detail in it without it becoming all fuzzy.

[Teh Donut]

Sorry for the late response. Have you already figured this out, or are you still needing help?

Sprites and other pixel graphics can usually retain a good amount of detail when shrunk, without having to clean them up (the issue comes when you try to make them bigger). If you really need to, there's three three ways I know to do it, each of which can be used under different circumstances.

The first and fastest way to do it is to reduce the size of your sprite image, and then manually clean up any distorted color and detail. This is the method I usually use, simply because 1) I'm lazy and 2) Paint is limited in its options. Depending upon how you want the end product to look, you'll need to learn how to either manually replicate or manually remove anti-aliasing, which in turn requires you to know color properties and gradients. Be sure to save and work with your sprites as bitmap images to reduce any possible distortion the program automatically makes when it reduces the size of the image; jpg and gif formats are the absolute worst to work with under normal conditions, and even more horrid when it comes to resizing, and I don't fully trust png images for use as anything more than a high-quality final image.

Depending upon your program's settings and features, you might be able to tell it to not automatically anti-alias or otherwise blend your details when the image is reduced, which could save you some time. All you'd have to do is go in and refine the details.

The second way is to work with the sprite before resizing, eliminating any excess detail and sharpening other objects that will just get jumbled in the smaller version. This is most useful for when you're reducing the image in pieces...you could reduce the outline of the character first, then reduce the size of the details individually, and piece them in to the final sprite. In any case, you're still going to need to clean up the final image. Also, you'll probably have to spend a bit more time with trial-and-error practice runs before you get the hang of it and know how much detail is the right amount of detail to eliminate. Again, this can go a lot easier depending on your program.

The final way is to take your sprite, redraw it using vector graphics, and then reduce it. This method takes the most time, but it also is capable of retaining the most detail. Actually, in theory, it retains all of the detail, depending upon how much of the original detail you decide to vectorize (is that a word?). If you're a stickler for detail and know your way around vectoring, and if your program is capable of it, then this is probably the way to go.

Sadly, I don't know much of anything about actually using vector graphics. I do everything in MS Paint, which requires a lot of cut/paste and alt+tab. In the long run, I recommend using vector graphics (especially for things like, say, webcomics, where graphics are sometimes repeated several times), as you can resize the image to your needs as often as you like, with no need to clean up any pixelation. If you want to learn more about vectors, I can't teach you, but Jillian Walters (aka MissNysha) has a great tutorial on vectoring.

I wish i could help more, but there's only so much info I can give without seeing and playing with the actual image, itself. >_>

Anywho, good luck.

[Lyn Maliodis]

That actually helped a lot! Thanks! Problem solved!