Sometimes one picture is worth of a thousand words, they say. One word what might be worth of? In digital image editing, text can be used in two ways basically:
- as text by itself (signature, description etc.)
- as a design element (drawing, graphic etc.)
GIMP offers expected possibilities to use text in your images both ways.
Bitmap data vs. vector data
As vector information a text element can be created with the Text Tool. This reminds of the Path Tool in a sense. This is possible since a letter is yielded as geometrical information coming out of a specific font information. So for example, the letter a represents two different geometrical forms in two different fonts.
A text element may be fearlessly handled as a vector item at any size. When you save your work in a XCF or PSD file, this text information is saved as vector data.
You can convert a text element to bitmap information. By doing this, vector information is lost and you shift under the resolution rule:
- you can not edit the text element as text,
- you can not enlarge it without (some) loss in detail.
So this converting action should better be your last action on your text element, after finishing with resizing etc. and knowing that you will not be able any more to edit the text with the Text Tool. Of course when exporting to a usable image file, in any case yout text element will be incorporated in your image as bitmap information.
Transforming manipulations of a text element imply that the specific text layer is converted to a bitmap layer. If you want to keep the text information inside your project, you can duplicate your text layer before the conversion, keeping a copy of your layer for later use (i.e. as a disabled layer).
Importing text
You can import unicode text from a file. The textfile should be in UTF-8 encoding. So you create a text frame -or you can use an existing one-, RightClick inside the frame and from the context menu you select Open text file..., browse to the file, there you have it.
Formating the text in a text frame
On top of the text frame you can see a semi-transparent area with some icons reminding those of a text editor. Its functions are absolutely intuitive and as expected, just mouseover your pointer on the items and take a look at the tooltips. You can select any part of the text dragging your pointer or with the SHIFT + arrow keys and perform various editing or formatting actions on any part of the text.
For more formating options, you can access the Text Tool options by double-clicking on the tool's icon. The dialog is quite intuitive and easy to use.
Manipulations of a text layer
Inside the Layers dialog, a text layer is indicated with an icon with a capital T.
If you move a text layer -with the Move Tool as mentioned-, nothing happens to the layer itself: it remains a text layer and you will be able to edit the text in the future with the Text Tool directly. But if you perform transformations with tools like the Scale Tool or the Rotate Tool, the text layer is converted to a bitmap layer. However GIMP remembers the layer's origin and if you ever return to the layer clicking on it with the Text Tool, GIMP offers to you two logical options:
- to create a new text layer with the text as it was before the transformations
you have performed, either - to undo those transformations.
Your safest bet might be the first. Anyway you will be able to work on your text with the Text Tool.
Running a text along a path
OK that's tricky anyway... but if needed you can do the mess. If you are interested, check the documentation and get ready for some trial-and-error. Firstly you must have created or imported or edited your path. You select the path in the Paths dialog, you select the text layer in the Layers dialog, you click on the text object with the Text Tool, you give the command Text along Path. After all that you can activate and select the new path and with the Path Tool you can edit it, if you want.
Using text as a graphical/design element
You can create a path out of a text layer with three ways:
- Inside the Layers dialog, select it and rightclick and Text to Path.
- From the Menu, Layer > Text to path.
- When inside the text with the Text Tool, Path from Text.
Having your path then you can use it as your heart desires (see Lesson 15).
You can still convert your path to a selection, and then do all those crazy things you have learnt in Lessons 8-16.
Converting text to bitmap data (rasterization)
You can convert a text layer to a normal bitmap layer in two ways:
- Inside the Layers dialog, select it and rightclick and Discard Text Information.
- From the Menu, Layer > Discard Text Information.
After that you no longer have text, but you have pixels. If your intention is to keep your text for the future, you may first duplicate your layer and disable it.
Using fonts in the GIMP
When you start the GIMP application, it loads fonts picking them from specific locations. By default there are two locations for this purpose, which you can see with Edit > Preferences > Folders > Fonts. According to the documentation it is preferable to use the [Documents and Settings]/[User] environment variable to place font files -- in that Preferences dialog clicking on the items in the list you can see a "green light" for that folder. Possibly you can open a file selector to browse to extra folders with font files. You probably have some experience on font problems: font issues in some operating systems are hard to resolve sometimes and can make your life really difficult when trying to use various fonts in various applications.
So to be practical, hence you may find yourself in the following challenge: you want to use a specific font in the GIMP, but you do not have the font file, or for any reason in this world you simply can not load a specific font in the GIMP. Consider the following solution (possibly):
- In a computer, in an application, in a webpage... or anyway in any condition where you can work with the specific font, do what you want to do with your beloved text, and try to enlarge your work so as to fill a quite big area on the screen (the bigger monitor you work on, the better) and hit that magic key on your keyboard: PrintScreen.
- Hey, did you realize? - you have copied your text form as image data (bitmap data). Now inside the GIMP, import that as an image or paste that (as a new layer in your image, or as a new image) or anyway use it as your heart desires, scaling it down as needed. For example you can make a selection out of it. Congratulations, you have done the trick. Job done.
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