MJW

I don't have time to download and look through the code, but I think HyReZ is on the right track. It looks like the line is being antialiased against a white background, then the modified pixels are copied onto a transparent background. The white outline consists of pixels with partial coverage. Since I don't know what you're doing, I can't say exactly what's happening, but I suspect it's something similar.

Great work by @Woodsy and @lynxster4, and @Pixey, too! I was pleased lynxster4 mentioned the solder. I was hoping it was clear that was the effect I was going for. My original intent was to have a leak in the pipe, between the T-joint and the valve, spraying water. I wish I could have done that, but ran out of time before I could come up with something that looked decent. In some ways, perhaps the more subdued version was better, anyway.

Oh, I see! I thought it was an odd question. (But then, a lot of odd questions get asked.) Computing the actual length instead of the pixel count might be a good idea. Off hand, I don't know the formula for length a Bezier curve; but since it's a parameterized cubic curve, I expect it isn't too difficult to compute. It is, of course, up to Rick Brewster, and he may have a reason for using the pixel-count version.

Ten pixels on the diagonal is correct. What do you expect, an irrational number of pixels? That would be quite a trick! The pixels are always in the same place, in a grid pattern, much like your illustrations. You can take solace in the fact that the diagonal distance between two corner-connected pixels is the square root of two, so it all works out. With raster graphics, you won't be able to get the length of lines by counting the number of pixels. If you have a single-width aliased line, you could get a rough approximation by stepping along the line, adding one for each horizontal or vertical step, and the square root of two for every diagonal step. For antialiased lines, you could probably get a rough approximation by adding the intensities (treated as zero to one), then dividing by the width.

Thank you, Dwimepon. Glad I could help. I always use the second method of using the ball to move in the general direction first. I really have no idea how to initially set the sliders to, for instance, rotate along the X-axis. As I think you probably now know, holding down the keyboard shift key while moving the ball restricts the rotation to X or Y.

I'm confused about the "round football" theme. Is a "round football" what we Americans call a soccer ball, or is it a non-flat American football? I'm guessing the former, but the example images are of both.

The Rotate/Zoom slider controls are a bit confusing. They aren't X, Y, and Z; they're something like pitch, yaw, and roll. To rotate along the Y axis counterclockwise, move the bottom slider rightward. To rotate along the Y axis clockwise, move the middle control all the way right to 180, then move the bottom control rightward. Another way is to first move in the general direction by moving the graphic roll-control while holding down the Shift key to constrain the rotation, then use the bottom control to adjust the amount of rotation.

When you paste it, it will be a selection. Just put the mouse on the corner or side of the selection border and hold down the left mouse button. Then move the mouse to stretch it. Hold down the keyboard Shift key if you want to keep the original aspect ratio. (You also might want to try my Paste From Clipboard plugin.)

I'd say that's a much better method for recoloring text or other objects than using the Magic Wand or Paint Bucket. I had it installed (no doubt as part of Red ochre's plugin pack), but had never used it. Though I think it's slightly confusing, I will use it from now on.

In my opinion, the polite response would be to explain more clearly what you want to do. You're the one asking for help. It's not up to those willing to give you help to puzzle out what you mean by your vaguely-worded question.

I hope I'm not out of line posting my completed-too-late entry here.

Congratulations to @welshblue for a superb entry, and also to @Pixey and @HyReZ. I really liked and admired the bold off-angle view of Pixey's Strat-style guitar. HyreZ had a fine entry, too; but if I may offer a bit of constructive criticism, I would say it would be much improved if the proportions were more accurate. The individual components are very well executed. I apologize for choosing such a difficult theme. When I chose it, I thought I might be able to complete two entries; which goes to show my lack of insight in selecting subjects. EDIT: After looking at a number of images of bass guitars, I realize I was too hard on HyreZ. Bass guitars have rather unusual proportions compared to "regular" guitars -- often including very large tuning keys.

Glad you're feeling better, Pixey. Sorry to hear about your health problems.

Yes, I must accept the dubious distinction. I should make a mental inventory of the number of separate parts making up an object before committing to a theme. I would have realized the the tuners alone make the guitar a very difficult subject. EDIT: Not that I don't think about the complexity to some extent. There's a certain balancing, though. If I spend too much time thinking about how hard it would be for me to do, using my techniques, I end of choosing themes specifically suited to me, which isn't really fair.

Obviously, if I'd known ahead of time how difficult it would prove to be, I would have selected a different theme. Until I've actually attempted to produce an object, I have a hard time anticipating how difficult it will be.

I'm very sorry and disappointed to say I won't have an entry in the Guitar theme. Believe me, I spent many hours working on one, but I can't finish it by the deadline. I wasted too much time in the beginning on details that wouldn't even be visible in the final image, so that even by cutting a few corners, I can't get it done in time. A Guitar is, I think, a poor choice for a theme. I realized (too late) that it's one of those themes -- like the Watch -- that requires a seemingly unending number of rather difficult components. I certainly applaud those who did complete entries..

You'll need to ask what file format is acceptable. Most likely it will be something like PNG or BMP, which are called "lossless" formats because they represent the image data exactly as it appears in the image editor. Formats like JPEG are not lossless. When you save the image in Paint.NET, you can select the format. For images with only one layer, the default format is PNG. BTW, the alternative to RGB is called CMYK. RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue; CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (printers call the black layer the "key" layer). Some printers, for reasons sensible and not so sensible, require images to be in CMYK format. EDIT: I see in another thread that the printer wants PNG format. Very convenient, since that's PDN's default.

Off hand, I don't know. But it seems odd to me that the Placement is -2.00, 2.00. I'd expect it to be very near 0, 0; with perhaps a slight offset so that the hostess image doesn't go to the edge of the plane. Are you sure you have the entire plane layer copied to the clipboard?

There's another method that's more complicated, but often better. First, install BoltBait's plugin pack. Copy the airplane layer to the clipboard. Make the hostess layer the active layer. Run Object>Paste Alpha Set The Alpha Source to Clipboard Alpha, and the Paste Method to Minimum of Alpha and Clipboard Alpha.

Or if you do it repeatedly, Copy Merged then paste into the flattened version of the image with Ctrl+V, Ctrl+D (to deselect). I suppose can I understand why you might prefer a slightly more direct method, and it is annoying to have it switch to the Move tool, but it seems like a pretty minor inconvenience.

I think I agree with the original comment (and appreciate the fact that the first sentence didn't begin with "So..."). What I do to save a flattened version of an image, and what I think is a good idea, is to Copy Merged then Paste Into New Image; then I save the flattened version as a JPEG or whatever. The shortcuts are Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Alt+V.

What do you mean by "fit the shape"? If you just want to change the angle and size, you could try using my Paste From Clipboard plugin. The selection will restrict the area that gets changed. If you mean somehow conform to the shape, that would be difficult, considering the complex, non-convex shape of the selection.