Curmudgeon

well, for one thing, you're not meant to open them...Paint.NET opens them...you're intended to put them into the Effects folder, nothing more...

The Tile Image plugin I mentioned is part of Curtis Black's package here: http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22521 Do the textures need to be a certain size or file type for the Sketchup software? When taking pictures you intend on making into textures, make sure the lighting is adequate and consistent across the entire field of view. Also, it's best if you are perpendicular to the object so the perspective doesn't change (I.E. widening of the siding at one end). Using one of your pictures, I created a rectangular selection, and then used the Tile Image plugin, and then cropped to the selection, and this is what I got:

Perhaps someone else who still uses XP can answer, as Vista on my computer looks completely different. I would assue you no longer need the compressed file, nor the Paint.NET 3.36 application file in your documents & settings folder. The Paint.NET 3.36 application file in Program Files needs to stay, as well as the other 2 listings in the Program Files folder. You've got several shortcuts...some to the forums, and some to the application. You can decide which ones you want to keep of those.

it is rather simple...I've posted an example below only part you might get stuck on, is that you need to duplicate the layer, and flip it horizontal and vertical to get it to display right

First, you have to create a selection using either or :LassoTool: then image > crop to selection... familiarize yourself with the image menu by Clicking Here

easiest way would be to open up an account at a photo-hosting site, such as http://photobucket.com/ After you've created an account, you can upload the images there, and then you can copy the direct link url here between image tags

do you have some photos as examples already? if so, post one on up, and we can look. in the meantime, you can download and install the plugin's I mentioned earlier, by downloading the plugin's, and dropping the .dll files into the effects folder in your Paint.NET folder. Click here if you are unsure how just do a search for the plugins and it should show the proper threads

creating a seamless texture is easy enough, by using Madjik's Seamless Texture plugin, or through the Tile Image plugin with "join edges" checked up to you to come up with ideas for what types of textures you want to make though...

If the image was on a transparent background, it would be a great choice...but your original post was pretty vague as to the situation, so I tossed out the idea

or :LassoTool: and then dragging on one of the nubs

this tutorial should give you some clues Click Here

you can use the rectangle select tool set to Fixed Size mode, where you can tell it the exact dimensions you want, in inches, centimeters, or in pixels

1) please review the rules and adjust your thread title 2) then you can make a text layer, and do it in a color (not black or white) and use Conditional Hue/Saturation to adjust it, changing the text to the Fade Vertical or Horizontal, followed by glow or any other range of options

Then go here and translate from English to Portuguese http://translation.paralink.com/ Because this thread will surely be locked otherwise.

best bet would be to use the Alpha Mask plugin. for the example below, I spent about 10 minutes doing half the mask, so yes, it is labor-intensive, but certainly not 4 hours worth. If you are unsure how to use Alpha-Mask, there's an excellent example at Crazy Man Dan's website here: Alpha-Mask Tutorial

If you use the Posterize adjustment, you can limit the number of colors as well

We'll be glad to help, but first, you need to PLEASE READ the rules, paying close attention to numbers 1,3 and 6

or you could do a gradient on one layer, and another gradient on a different layer, and use layer blend modes, like multiply, overlay, etc.

right from the http://getpaint.net page

there is a tutorial for Alpha-Masking at CMD's website. That's where I learned how to use it. Click here Lots more tutorials are using it since it yields a higher quality cutout, so you can look at the tutorials section here too.

No, there isn't, but you can fake it using this tutorial's ideas: http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22096

an example would be nice, because a linear gradient all the way around a circle would be the same as a radial gradient

You should just be able to move the gradient layer behind the text layer so the text appears over the gradient by using the move layer up/down arrows in the Layers window.

this will save me tons of time instead of cutting out/alpha-masking...thanks a bunch

you can already do that... rectangle select in fixed size mode, then image>crop to selection