fanart.tv forums

I wanted to send up some cd art but I am having an issue with eliminating the center hole.
I am in step 7 of the tutorial.
I don't have a split ring but I figure I still need to do something in this step to make the center hole transparent.

I can do the very basics in a program like this but step 7 is just very confusing...

What I tried...
I duplicated the layer with my artwork
Selected ellipse tool with settings specified
Created ellipse where I need the hole
Bucket filled with black as specified... this doesn't do anything on the white circle on my layers items like in the tutorial picture

All this is doing for me is keeping the hole black... not making it transparent...

What am I doing wrong?

Hi Lordhutt.
I am proficient in gimp, but I've never done a cdart before. I'm about to head out for the day, but if someone else is unable to help I will tackle this when I get back. It would be great if you could post a link to the disc you are working on.
I'm sure we can get you going without too much trouble.

Hey thanks akovia.
I think I have it solved, although not exactly how the tutorial explained it.
Its uploaded so we will see if its approved.

I have another question though to make future discs easier... I really have to head out the door right this second though... to be continued.

Well let me know. Should be home for the evening so I'll answer anything I can.

Ok so what I was looking for an easier way to do is to rotate the cd.
When I scan its not perfectly turned...hard to lay it down on the scanner straight when you can't see the face!
I was using Microsoft Office Picture Manager to do the rotation... it doesn't have many editing features but one thing I can do with adjust the rotation like 1/100 of an inch if need be.
What makes it take longer though is there is no grid or anything for me go by. So what I did was to rotate till it looks pretty good then I select the crop tool and drag the crop line down to an area of text or something I know will be at a 90 degree angle and see if it lines up... if not, make a minor adjustment and repeat till its just right.

I just tried this in gimp... I had the grid popped up. But from what I can see I can only make 90degree adjustments in rotation... Is there anyway I can use gimp to rotate in small increments... preferably on the fly just using the arrow keys?

Thanks for the help!

Hi again,
I'm not sure what you are doing wrong, but gimp will rotate at any angle. I've attached a video to show what I mean.

I'm also attaching a script-fu script that lets you rotate by just placing a line with the path tool, which is what I normally use.
Auto-Rotate

Let me know if you are still having trouble.

Hey!
Wasn't expecting a video...Best reply to a forum question ever!
Thank you... simple enough. I was using the drop tab ... image>transform>rotate
Here you only have the option to go at 90 degree increments. I guess I should have explored the interface a little more.

I would like to use the auto-rotate also... what exactly do I do with the script you attached?
Here is what I tried... I saved your script text to a notepad file. Renamed the extension to .scm
Copied the file to my scripts folder... in the program files folder not the user folder
Filters>script-fu>refresh filters

Made a line with path tools
Layer>autorotate.... click this and nothing happens.

Did I set this up properly?

If the layer you want rotated is active then I'm not sure. Might have something to do with unix line endings possibly but I doubt it.
You might try this windows extension pack I found that looks like it has this script. (Auto rotate with a vector)
I've never used this software, but it seems up to date if you're using 2.8 and it looks like a decent pack.

If you are still kinda new to gimp, you should really check out my Gimp From Scratch videos. It might help you get some footing.

Let me know if you are still having troubles and we'll figure it out.

Here is the problem I am having.

Here is the image I uploaded... said my central hole is too small.... which I'm not really sure why this is an issue since this is exactly what the cd looks like. It does not have the extra inner ring like the second image which I am assuming is what he wants.


Here is an image from fanart with similar artwork


Using the supplied template I don't know how to get that extra inner ring that is similar to the outer ring.

It looks like you are having an issue with the layers
The template is layered so that you have a transparent disc and two borders - the inner ring and outer ring.
Where you are placing your image is below the layer for the outside ring but above the inner ring.
(you need to place your layer below the layers that serve the transparency)
If you think you have the layer in the correct place - make sure you haven't turned off the layer for the inner circle.
You shouldn't have to do any drawing of the inner circle or resize it if the image fits the template correctly.
Try again with a fresh download of a new template and create a new layer that is all one color, say orange - then move this layer until you get the composition correct - an inner ring and an outer ring.
Once you have an orange disc with all the correct layers - rename your layer to 'put image here' - then save template as cdart template new.
Next time you open it you will have your orange disc - then you just add your disc image above the orange layer ...et voila.