Tutorials for a special project

[pdnnoob]

From the site where you downloaded the image:

JPL Image Use Policy: Unless otherwise noted, images and video on JPL public web sites (public sites ending with a jpl.nasa.gov address) may be used for any purpose without prior permission.

To use a credit line in connection with images. Unless otherwise noted in the caption information for an image, the credit line should be "Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech." The endorsement of any product or service by Caltech, JPL or NASA must not be claimed or implied.

Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" from the U.S. Copyright Office.

Somewhere, then, you need to display the text "Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech." It needs to be visible, but it's ok if it is really small. As long as it is legible when the design is printed, you'll be fine.

[jim100361]

If I try to create the eclipse where would I get the highlight and lens flare plugins?

Below are the links where you can get the plugins

Lens Flare:

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=25128

Highlight:

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=21835

The only recommendation I have about the plugins is to play with the settings to get a "natural" appearance.

One of the things I encountered when I used the highlight plugin was that parts of the "highlight" effect were black and I desired all white. What I did to offset this was done in 2 parts:

First, the highlight was placed over something that was already white

Second, after adjusting the settings to my liking (size, position, etc.), I then adjusted the transparency of the layer down to show more of what was beneath.

Obviously, you don't even need to use the plugins if you don't desire, the image I presented was just my taste or perception in trying to provide a slightly unique view and still keep it somewhat natural.

Also, I didn't simply create a circle. Once I created the dark purple background, I duplicated the layer and then I used the Shape3D plugin which itself made a "globe" and I reduced the lighting on it (making it more black and reducing the lighting that the plugin applies to it). Though as you note, I guess it's appearance doesn't present much more than a filled circle.

The Shape3D is found under Effects/Render (I didn't find a download link, so I believe this comes as part of Paint.NET).

[nitenurse79]

The Shape3D is found under Effects/Render (I didn't find a download link, so I believe this comes as part of Paint.NET).

Shape 3D is a plugin that can be found here http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=18968

[Celestine]

I downloaded all 3 plugins, the lens flare, highlight and shape3D. If I try to open the lens flare plugin a I get a warning message about it being a .dll file and editing it could damage my system. Do I need to be concerned?

Also, how is the right way to open and use all 3 with images?

[Ego Eram Reputo]

You don't open the *.dll files. You install them by copying them to the Paint.NET/Effect/Folder.

[pdnnoob]

For detailed instructions on installing plugins, click here Edited November 2, 2012 by pdnnoob

[Celestine]

I didn't know when I downloaded the effects that they needed to go onto the desktop and they went into their own folders. Can I still use the instructions to move them into the paint.net effects folder? Instead of going onto the desktop just going into where the dll file is and following the rest of the instructions to move it over? I'm probably not as computer literate as many people here I just don't want to mess anything up.

[pdnnoob]

just move the .dll files out of the zip folder and into the effects folder

[Celestine]

I had another thought last night which was to try using the ellipse and freeform shape tools to do what I want. I was able to use the ellipse tool to create a black circle for the eclipse then on another layer I used the freeform tool to create a white corona around the circle which I then applied Gaussian blur to setting the radius to 50. I decided to put the eclipse back up in the upper left hand corner so I could list more cities I the body in the body of the shirt. On some shirts I'm going to combine states where the eclipse goes across one state and then includes a small piece of another state as will happen with Nebraska and Kansas, respectively. I think it would be harder to list out cites if I have the eclipse in the center and trying to arrange the city names around the eclipse while keeping the different states separate. Anyway I uploaded what I did last night does it look better? Hopefully I'm at the point where I can start creating the shirts for the individual states. I'll put more cities on than I have in the examples. When the eclipse comes in from the Pacific the first 3 states it goes across are Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. These should be easier to do because they don't have as many cities as other states. Oregon's population is concentrated in the western 3rd of the state and most of the rest is desert. In Idaho it will go across the central mountains mainly picking up small resorts. Wyoming just doesn't have many cities. I can probably include more small communities with these states. With the others there are more cities and I'll have to make more decisions about what to include and not include because of the space consideration. I'll try to have Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming done withing a week and post them.

[Celestine]

One problem that has come up is that I can't print any of the designs out. If I try to print right off of paint.net I get an error message that the printer is offline but it isn't off line and I can print anything else. If I try to print from Photobucket the only I can get it to print is by control P and then it comes out really small. If I try to print normally off of Photobucket it tries to set up the print as if it was a regular photograph and it asks me what photo size do i want. Is there a way so that I can print it normal size?

[Celestine]

Where did everyone go?

I worked out the printing problem. I've had different printers attached to my computer over the years (never more than one at a time) and for some reason when I went to print the document from paint.net my computer would try to print from a previous printer that isn't connected to my computer anymore, I have no idea why it would suddenly do that. I had to make sure my current printer was the default printer (which I thought it was already) and I finally got it to print.

Here's the next question. Is there a way in paint.net to create a document where the pixels are not set in stone after I save them? What I mean is, can I create what would essentially be a 'scratchpad'? I think I'm to the point where I can start creating the shirt designs for each state and that means entering the actual city and town names into the design. If I want to edit the city names to correct spelling or add new ones I don't want to have to go back and delete an old layer with the old list of cities create a new layer every time and re-enter all the names again just to correct or add a city. Can I edit a document or layer of a document after I save it?

[pdnnoob]

Save the image as a .pdn file with the city names on a separate layer. If you want to edit them, just select the layer, use the rectangle selection to delete what needs to be modified, then add a new layer and input the fixed version (merge the layer again when you are done).

Or you could keep each city name on a separate layer...might be a bit cumbersome, though.

[Celestine]

One of the shirts I would like to create is a shirt with a map of the entire US in it and then show the path of the eclipse as a ribbon across the US. Is it possible to create a ribbon effect with paint.net?

[Celestine]

Thank you William51!

I just uploaded the Oregon shirt to Photobucket but it looks like now we have kerning problems. The left column is even along the left edge but the center and right columns are off slightly. What do I do to make the edges even across the columns?

[pdnnoob]

ribbon like this?

Instead of typing all the text in one go, type each column separately (you should have a "text tool" for each column in the history window)

[jim100361]

The left column is even along the left edge but the center and right columns are off slightly. What do I do to make the edges even across the columns?

You can create a guide similar to the below to maintain spacing and alignment

1.) Create a new layer over your text layer and using the line tool, draw an "L" shape much like you see below:

2.) Duplicate this layer and then click on the "Move Selected Pixels" tool.

3.) Using the down arrow key on your keyboard, move this layer down below the previous shape so it's aligned similar to what you see below:

4.) Once you have this where you desire it (the final position where you stop at will determine the gap between the lines), then merge the two layers together. This will lock your guide so you'll maintain continuity with each line you add.

5.) Next, on the "Layers" pane, click on "Text" so that it is highlighted and is now your "active" layer.

6.) Then click on the "Add New Layer" button.

7.) Type your new line of text anywhere you desire on your new layer

8.) Once you've typed your new line of text, use the "Rectangle Select" tool and select an area around your text

9.) Once you have selected the text, switch back to the "Move Selected Pixels" tool once again (you will notice the outline has "nubs" around it's perimeter)

10.) Now you can click inside the area, and while holding in the left mouse button, move it into place as shown.

11.) When you've completed your move, deselect it so you won't inadvertently move it any further.

12.) Next, click in the "Layers" pane once again on "Guide" so it becomes your active layer.

13.) Go back to the "Tools" pane and once again click on the "Move Selected Pixels" and use the down arrow key to move to top line of your guide so it is under your second line of text.

Repeat the process from Step 6 forward. This will keep your lines of text aligned.

Edited November 11, 2012 by jim100361

[pdnnoob]

If you press enter while typing your text, it keeps your left margins straight automatically. Just type one column at a time and all of them should turn out straight.

[jim100361]

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that!

[pdnnoob]

I thought the enter key was for committing the text to the layer when I started too

@Celestine: I would also recommend you keep each column on its own layer to make editing easier later.

[Celestine]

I finally got the columns lined up correctly and uploaded it to Photobucket. I had to rethink this a bit, I came to realize I left off some cities that should be on there and took off some smaller communities so as not to clutter the thing up. I did the right hand column 1st then the left hand column and finally the center column, that seemed to work best for lining up the columns evenly. I discovered someone has already done a T-shirt for this eclipse but it has the whole globe with the eclipse as a ribbon across the oceans as well as North America so there's not much detail. You can see it here: http://www.cafepress.com/mreclipse.389517036 . I still want to do the state T-shirts because I think they might connect to people on a more personal level.

[Celestine]

I've uploaded the Idaho and Wyoming designs to Photobucket. Per the above suggestion for all three shirts I did put each column of city names on it's own layer which is how i got the columns to look more even. I even put the state name which follows 'Visible over' on it's own layer. Next up will be the Nebraska/Kansas shirt. The eclipse goes across central Nebraska from west to east and takes in a small piece of northeastern Kansas. It misses Omaha but does take in Lincoln.

[Celestine]

Now I have an upload issue. I redid the Wyoming shirt to include a few more cities and saved it under the same name which overwrote the old design (or so I thought since I got the question do you want to overwrite the old file). I went to upload it to Photobucket but when I saw it in my library it was the old design. If i bring it up not just in paint.net but from my computer as well it shows the new design. I've tried resaving it in Paint.net and uploading it to Photobucket again but I keep getting the same result. I didn't have this problem with Idaho or Oregon so I'm not sure why this is happening now,. I have the Nebraska-Kansas design ready to upload, what do I need to do to work out this problem?

[jim100361]

I've encountered this same problem w/photobucket. The way that I avoid this is to name each of the revisions consecutively i.e, photoattempt1.png, photoattempt2.png, photoattempt3.png, etc.

[pdnnoob]

The photo is uploaded properly. Just clear your browser cache and the right version should appear.

[Celestine]

When I looked at it today it's now showing the new design and I didn't do anything. Am I right to think just turning the machine off for the night and then on again today cleared the cache and that's why it's showing correctly? I've also uploaded the Nebraska-Kansas and Missouri-Illinois designs.