Tips And Tricks

Bravo Wallpaper Fan for making it this far and so glad to see that I have wet your whistle and put a tickle in your pickle to the point that You Are Wanting To Do More!!!!

So with this said, here some tips and tricks that I would like to share with You with the hopes that they might help you to do even more....

First Are Some Tips:
Tip #1. I highly recommend to you since you have made it this far and if have not done so yet, and that is to download....

The Gimp User (help) Manual that comes in (11) different Languages and you can download it by clicking (Here)  Gimp's User Manual not only shares with you how each and ever tool is used, but also shows you how to use them.  It also shares with you how each and every feature within Gimp is used, besides the tools.  So I highly recommend you download it and install it on your Computer to run alone with Gimp.  A Big, Big Helper for SURE!!!

Tip #2. After browsing through the User Manual, then you might also like browsing through Gimp's Tutorials that they have for all levels of users as shown here...

You will find the Gimp's Tutorials by clicking (Here). These kind of Tutorials have always helped me in the past in how to do things with all My Professional Photo Editor's that I use when wanting to creating something new in a Wallpaper and goes way, way beyond what I have already shared with you so far.

Tip #3. When selecting a background from the net, well of course you want it to be somewhat near the size of the Wallpaper that you are wanting to make. DA and Yes We should all know that, but when selecting a Stud, well that is a whole different store and something you may not know about. So let me share this with you, of the 1,482 Studs I have extracted over the past five years that are currently on My Wallpaper blog, I have found that when using Studs that are at least 75 KBs in size or larger, they make for a more sharper and clearer extraction to use, and while sometimes I can get away with using Studs that are between 50 KBs and 74 KBs, depending on our clear the photo is. However anything under 50 KBs when trying to re-size them as We have just have done with "Sean" in Our "First Wallpaper" project is going to look some what BLURRED!!!  So the rule of thumb here is..."The Bigger, The Better"...as in real life...((((BIG SMILE))))....but then again that all depends on what you are planning on doing with it....((((EVEN BIGGER SMILE))))....for if you wanting to use a smaller photo of a stud and extract it and then place it within your Wallpaper that you are making and leaving it small, then it will work. Ok? Ok. Love and Hugs and hoping these tips help!!!


Tip #4. Do More With Gimp With Gimp Plugins! (Added 02/18/2014)

As I said I would do as I thought of any new "Tips and Tricks" that I thought would be helpful to You, I would add them here for You, well this one is for sure is a Great One and I just found out about it and that is with Gimp's "Plugin Filters"!!!  For I have been using many Plugin Filters within All My Professional Editors for years and they let me do things above and beyond what All My Photo Editors can do and come to find out that Gimp also as "Plugin Filters" and there are a whole bunch of them that will let you do all kind of things within Gimp!!!  Just use your favorite search engine for "Gimp Plugins" and you will see what I mean.  One of them I just found for Gimp and as been one of my favorite Plugin Filters known as "Kaleidoscope", for it is just endless for creating backgrounds for Your Wallpapers.  For example take Gimp's Stone Pattern and the Fill Bucket to create a background as shown here by Bryan W. in His 1st Wallpaper that He shared with all Of Us....

Well look at what Gimp Kaleidoscope Plugin can do to that same background and just by using all the default settings for a single image....

So if you are like me and you are wanting to do even more with Gimp, check out all the Plugins that are available and they are, like Gimp, they are all "Free".  You will find the Gimp "Kaleidoscope" Plugin by clicking (Here).

Once you have downloaded it and unzipped It, then please read the "KaleidoscopeReadMe.txt" in how to install it!!  Very easy to do and once you have none so then open up Gimp, create a background of your choice and then click on "Filters/Animation/Kaleidoscope Animation" and then select "Single Image" for "Create Kaleidoscope On" and Your Background will end up with (5) layers and the last one being the Kaleidoscope of Your Original Layer that you then can copy and paste for a new background!!!  And as you will see, the settings for Kaleidoscope are so many, making what you want for a background, SOME WHAT ENDLESS!!!  Hoping this information is of Help to someone and if you have any problems getting this to work with Your Version of Gimp, please feel free to ask me for HELP!!!!

Now For Some Tricks!!!
Trick #1.  Removing Water Marks, Blemishes, Small Tattoos and/or Photo Imperfections. 
Every now and then I run across a hot looking stud that I want to use in one of my wallpapers, and the stud has some kind of a Water Mark on part of his body, as shown here....

And while yes, it is all the way down at the bottom and yes,  I could just use the upper part of the photo for my wallpaper above the Water Mark, but in this case I'm wanting to use as much of Him as I possibly can for my wallpaper and as you can see that after doing a complete extraction of Him, well still part of the water mark will still be showing on His leg!!!  Plus I also wanted to show you how to remove a Water Mark anywhere else on a studs body, along with any blemishes, small tattoos and/or any photo imperfections that may be on a photo of a Stud that you may be wanting use.   So how do we solve all these problems, well it is so easy with Gimp or with any photo editor and that is using the "Clone Tool"!!!

Step #1 of Trick 1.  First download the above photo and then open Gimp and open Him within Gimp.  Once opened, then select "Edit/Copy" and then close the Window.  Then select "Edit/Paste" and this will create a copy of him in a New Project, for we NEVER, EVER WANT TO WORK WITH AN ORIGINAL PHOTO. Now then select the "Clone Tool" in the Tool Box, as pointed out by the Blue Arrow as shown here...

Then select a Brush Size of somewhere around (30). Now zoom in (3) times, the short cut keys once again are your [Shift Key] and the [Plus key] and once done, move your mouse to right above the Water Mark on His right leg and while holding down your [Ctrl Key], left click your mouse on the clean part of His leg.  This takes a small round picture of the brush size of clean part of His leg. Now move you mouse down to the first part of the Water Mark and while Not holding down your [Ctrl Key], simply left click here and this is what you will see...

Part of the Water Mark is gone.  Now move your mouse right above the remaining Water Mark and once again while holding down your [Ctrl Key], left click your mouse and this takes another small round picture of His clean part of His leg and then move your mouse down to the Water Mark once again and left click here and this is what you will see...

And keep doing this till you are past the edge of His leg, as shown here....

Now don't worry about going past the edge of his leg, for when you are none doing the extraction of Him, this will be erased and no one will ever know that a Water Mark was ever there!!! Hoping this little trick becomes helpful to you some day in the future.

Trick #2.  How to make a reflection in a body of water.

Now lets say you have a background that has a body of water like this one....

And you want to place a stud within the water.  And since I went ahead and extracted that stud with the water mark on his leg as shown here...

A Note Here: While this stud looks like He is on an all black/gray background here, He is NOT!!! This is a "PNG" image and when posting a "PNG" image to a Web Site/Blog, the transparency is replace by the Web Site/Blog background.  However when you download Him and save him to your hard drive, it does have a transparency background all the way around Him and is ready to add to a Wallpaper Background.  So download both the background and this stud and save them to you hard drive if you want to try this next trick.

Step #1 of Trick 2.  Now create a new projection in Gimp and add the background to it and re-size it to fit your Wallpaper.  Now open up the Stud and click on "File/Copy" and close the Stud Window and click on "File/Paste As" and select "New Layer and paste this new layer on your Wallpaper Project with the background and then re-size the Stud way down till he about about 3/4 of the way filled within your Wall as shown here....

and then click on the [Scale] Button.

Step #2 of Trick 2. Now using the "Move Tool", shown below by the Blue Arrow move the Stud over to the far right and place him on the water.  Now click on "Layer" in the top menu bar and from the drop down menu, select "Transform/Flip Horizontally" as shown here....

I just think His pose looks better this way within this wall when flipped.  Now right click on the top lay in "Layer-Brushes" Box on the right, the one labeled Clipboard and from the drop down menu, click on "Duplicate Layer".  Now click on "Layer" in the top menu bar and from the drop down menu select "Transform/Flip Vertically and then using the "Move Tool", move this layer down till the bottom of His legs come together.  Then change the Opacity Level from (100) to (50) as shown here by the Red Arrow...

And as you can see, this layer then appears as a reflection in the water.  But to make the reflection look more realistic and that is by having this laying appear as it is laying on top of the water, rather than down in the water then use the "Perspective Tool", as shown below by the Red Arrow and then click on the refection of him and drag the bottom right corner box to the right a little bit and then drag the bottom left corner box to the left a little bit so that the bottom of the layer is somewhat wider than the top of this lay to give this layer the perspective of laying flat on top of the water, as shown here....

Now click on the [Transform] Button and TA DA, You are done.  Hoping this little trick becomes helpful to you some day in the future.

And for now this should be enough to get you started making some awesome Wallpapers, or at least I'm hoping so.  And if I have, hoping that you will share them with all of Us Right Here On This Blog and else where on the Net.  And as I think of any more tips and/or tricks, Well I will get them posted here for You.

Your Wallpaper Buddy Always

With Big Wallpaper Hugs

()( Brent )()

PS: You might also like to check out all the Posted Questions and My Answers for more Tips and Tricks by clicking (Here)