Kapittel 5. Getting Images into GIMP

Innhald

1. Bilettypar
2. Å lage nye filer
3. Å opna filer
3.1. Opna frå menylinja
3.2. Opna frå ei nettadresse
3.3. Opna tidlegare brukte filer
3.4. Using External Programs
3.5. File Manager
3.6. Dra og slepp
3.7. Kopier og Lim inn
3.8. Biletutforskaren

Dette kapitlet handlar om dei ulike måtane du kan bruke for å legge bilete inn i GIMP. Korleis du kan lage nye bilete, korleis du kan laste inn bilete frå biletfiler og korleis skanne og lage skjermdump.

But first we want to introduce you to the general structure of images in GIMP.

1. Bilettypar

It is tempting to think of an image as something that corresponds with a single display window, or to a single file such as a JPEG file. In reality, however, a GIMP image is a a complicated structure, containing a stack of layers plus several other types of objects: a selection mask, a set of channels, a set of paths, an "undo" history, etc. In this section we take a detailed look at the components of a GIMP image, and the things that you can do with them.

The most basic property of an image is its mode. There are three possible modes: RGB, grayscale, and indexed. RGB stands for Red-Green-Blue, and indicates that each point in the image is represented by a “red” level, a “green” level, and a “blue” level; representing a full-color image. Each color channel has 256 possible intensity levels. More details in Color Models

I eit gråskalabilete er kvart biletpunkt representert med eit tal som viser lysverdien dette punktet har. Lysverdien går frå 0 (svart) til 255 (kvit). Verdiane mellom desse ytterpunkta gir ulike gråtoner.

Figur 5.1. Komponentar i RGB- og CMY-fargemodus

Komponentar i RGB- og CMY-fargemodus

In the RGB Color Model, mixing Red, Green and Blue gives White, which is what happens on your screen.

Komponentar i RGB- og CMY-fargemodus

In the CMY(K) color model, mixing Cyan, Magenta and Yellow gives Black, which is what happens when you print on a white paper. The printer will actually use the black cartridge for economical reasons and better color rendering.


Conceptually, the difference between a grayscale image and an RGB image is the number of “color channels”: a grayscale image has one; an RGB image has three. An RGB image can be thought of as three superimposed grayscale images, one colored red, one green, and one blue.

Actually, both RGB and grayscale images have one additional color channel called the alpha channel, which represents opacity. When the alpha value at a given location in a given layer is zero, the layer is completely transparent (you can see through it), and the color at that location is determined by what lies underneath. When alpha is maximal (255), the layer is opaque (you cannot see through it), and the color is determined by the color of the layer. Intermediate alpha values correspond to varying degrees of transparency / opacity: the color at the location is a proportional mixture of color from the layer and color from underneath.

Figur 5.2. Eksempel på bilete i RGB-modus og som gråskala

Eksempel på bilete i RGB-modus og som gråskala

Eit fargebilete i RGB med tilhøyrande kanalar for raud, grøn og blå.

Eksempel på bilete i RGB-modus og som gråskala

Eit gråskalabilete med tilhøyrande kanal for lysverdiar


In GIMP, every color channel, including the alpha channel, has a range of possible values from 0 to 255; in computing terminology, a depth of 8 bits. Some digital cameras can produce image files with a depth of 16 bits per color channel. GIMP cannot load such a file without losing resolution. In most cases the effects are too subtle to be detected by the human eye, but in some cases, mainly where there are large areas with slowly varying color gradients, the difference may be perceptible.

Figur 5.3. Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Raudkanal

Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Grønkanal

Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Blåkanal

Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Alfakanalen bestemmer kva for delar av biletet som skal vere gjennomsiktige, og kor mykje gjennomsiktige dei skal vere.

Eksempel på eit bilete med alfakanal

Eit fargebilete i RGB-modus med alfakanal.


The third type, indexed images, is a bit more complicated to understand. In an indexed image, only a limited set of discrete colors are used, usually 256 or less. These colors form the “colormap” of the image, and each point in the image is assigned a color from the colormap. Indexed images have the advantage that they can be represented inside a computer in a way which consumes relatively little memory, and back in the dark ages (say, ten years ago), they were very commonly used. As time goes on, they are used less and less, but they are still important enough to be worth supporting in GIMP. (Also, there are a few important kinds of image manipulation that are easier to implement with indexed images than with continuous-color RGB images.)

Some very commonly used types of files (including GIF and PNG) produce indexed images when they are opened in GIMP. Many of GIMP's tools don't work very well on indexed images–and many filters don't work at all–because of the limited number of colors available. Because of this, it is usually best to convert an image to RGB mode before working on it. If necessary, you can convert it back to indexed mode when you are ready to save it

GIMP makes it easy to convert from one image type to another, using the Mode command in the Image menu. Some types of conversions, of course (RGB to grayscale or indexed, for example) lose information that cannot be regained by converting back in the other direction.

[Notat] Notat

Er filteret du ønskjer å bruke markert som utilgjengeleg på menyen, kjem dette oftast av at biletet, eller meir nøyaktig: laget du arbeider på, er av feil type. Mange filter verker ikkje på indekserte bilete. Andre kan bare nyttast på RGB-bilete eller bare på gråskalabilete. Noen krev også at alfakanalen er i bruk, eller at han ikkje er i bruk. Skulle du oppleve noe av dette, skift til ein annan modus. Som oftast vil dette seie RGB-modus.