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Edge Selection (Question/Request)


Corey

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Hi, it's my first time posting, but I'm grateful to all the contributors here.  I've been struggling with a very amateur, clumsy attempt to create a plugin that will enable the selection of just the edges of an object, with some degree of adjustability of the thickness of the selection, and with the selection including both interior and exterior pixels (i.e., if the effect is used with a value of 2, for instance, a selection would be made along all the edges of the object, with a "2"-level thickness both exterior and interior, and with the true edge of the object in the middle of that thickness).

 

Basically, the main goal would be to select all the edges of an object, of a specified thickness, and then use a Gaussian blur (or other effects or adjustments) on that selection.  It's something we all do manually with lasso select to blur object edges with the background, but this would make it easier and make the selection thickness uniform.

 

The Feather plugins here are excellent, but they'll only blur/feather the interior of an object or selection, up to the edge.  That's handy, but lasso-selecting some interior and some exterior allows a more realistic merging of object and background.  Plus, sometimes I'll add some noise or pixilation after I blur an edge, to better match the overall texture of the image.

 

I've tried using a Feather plugin on an object, and then inverting the selection and using it on that, but the effect isn't the same as blurring a selection that includes both interior and exterior.  Also, it doesn't seem to work on layers with complex objects.

 

I realize that a layer would have to be merged with the background in order for the selection to be applied to both the interior and exterior.  So, the plugin would have to be able to select the edges of an object, and then apply the exterior part of the selection to the background the object is merged with or flattened onto, maintaining the selection effect after the merger/flattening.

 

I just can't figure it out, but I'm a complete novice when it comes to making plugins.  Is this even possible to do?

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Welcome to the forum. Since you were not publishing a plugin, I have moved your thread to the appropriate place.

As for your questions...

First, to get more familiar with developing plugins, start here:

1. Download and install CodeLab http://www.boltbait.com/pdn/CodeLab

2. Read all the CodeLab tutorials http://www.boltbait.com/pdn/CodeLab/help/

3. Familiarize yourself of the limits of plugins http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/14566-

4. Ask specific questions in the Plugin Developers forum http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/forum/17-plugin-developers-central/

Hope this helps.

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