Help with GIMP Please

I am a beginner user with any photo/ texture program and I know even less about making clothes.

All the tutorials which are so well written BTW are using Photo Shop and I am trying to use GIMP, so I have no clue what the UV layer in Photo Shop is called in GIMP. Honestly, I have went through the user guide/ manual for GIMP but I can't seem to figure that out.

Would someone please tell me the layer name for GIMP that I'm looking?

Thanks so much!

Here's a tutorial to get started making clothes for SL in Gimp: http://seshat-czeret.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-make-sl-clothes-in-gimp.html by Seshat Czeret.

Sashia, I can feel your pain. I use GIMP too and found much the same confusion you have when I first started trying to make textures for clothing to use in SL. The PS turorials did not seem to relate at all..........and I got nearly no help at all here in these forums. Photoshop is "king" here and only a handful use GIMP. Paintshop Pro is popular too, but a distant second. I don't know what the GIMP equivalent to UV would be.......but if I knew what you were trying to do I might be able to walk you through the steps I use.

The best way to get proficient with GIMP that I know of is a book titled "Beginning GIMP from Novice to Professional" by Akkana Peck. I found my copy on Amazon.com for around $30 USD. The writing style of Ms Peck is very easy to understand and her tutorials and excercises are very easy to follow. Within a few days things started falling into place and I was on my to many hours of fun creating textures and experimenting.

Then I found I could understand what the tutorials and information in the stickies at the top of this forum were saying. It's not hard but you must get the basics down first. The book I recommended is, by far, the easiest and best way to get those basics down (for the few who cannot see it, that is entirely my opinion).

There are others who, I'm sure, can suggest more. But the GIMP users are in a minority here so it might take a day or two before much is posted.

Good luck and I'm sure you will enjoy your learning process as much as I have mine.

I'm thrilled to have 2 responses and thank you both for your help! I'm just trying to get through the create your first shirt tutorial, LOL! I will check out that website and also invest in the book!

Again thanks to you both!

I believe it's called Burn and Dodge. Though I haven't looked at the PS tutorials to completely understand what you need help with. But if shading is what you're looking for, that's what you'll need.

I, too, use GIMP and I've been trying to figure it out by myself. Others tutorials would loose me.

What exactly are you trying to use UV for?

I think, and I may be wrong, that you can't create UV layers in PS. They would be created in something such as Maya or Blender then imported. (I may be talking total C**P here). An example of UV's would be Chip Midnights or Robin Woods clothing templates. Do you mean transparencies when you refer to UV's? if so, just go to Layer>Transparency>Add Alpha Channel.
There are lot's of really good tut's out there for GIMP and clothing design. Also, remember that a lot of the PS plug-ins can also be used in GIMP. I've used it for over 3 years and love it!!

The UV maps are not a Gimp or Photoshop thing - they're an SL thing. Both Gimp and Photoshop users use them, and they use the same ones. (The Gimp will easily open the .psp files.)


Suzanne already recommended my tutorials, so I'll just say: if you still have problems after reading and working through my tutorials, ask me.

If you're using the most recent Gimp, the File (and other) menus are no longer on the tool window, but on the image window. Other than that, my tutorial is still correct.

I use GIMP. There is an in-world group for GIMP users.

Most tutorials for PS are applicable for GIMP -- once you learn your way around.

I learned a lot by just fooling around and there are many GIMP specific tutorials -- but not necessarily aimed at SL.