How-to: Creating an icon similar to this, *points to icon*, in Gimp

[blnchflr]

This tutorial is aimed at Gimp novices. It is my first tutorial, un-betaed, and I welcome feedback!

The font I'm using is Amadeus, but you can choose any font you like. (For Ubuntu font newbies = me 2 weeks ago: Installing fonts in Ubuntu.)

1. Start Gimp.


2. Click Ctrl+N or File > New… to create a new image. Set Width and Height to 100 pixels and Fill with to Transparency.
   
   


3. (If you prefer to save the image as you work on it, maybe even to come back to it later, hit Ctrl+S and save as .xcf, the native Gimp file format.)


4. In the Toolbox, choose the text tool.
   
   
   


5. (I like to work with icons in 400% zoom - View > Zoom > 4:1 (400%) - but do as you prefer.)


6. Use your mouse to mark a rectangle for your text. A small window for your text will pop up immediately - you can move it to the side if it's blocking your image.
   
   


7. I like to mark the whole icon, write my text, then play around with font, font-size, positioning, etc. (font color is irrelevant for this tutorial, don't bother changing it). I don't know anything about Hinting, Force auto-hinter, and Antialiasing - I check and uncheck to see what looks best, *hands*. I haven't found one setting always work best, but Hinting and Antialiasing usually work well.
   
   


8. When you're happy with your text, right-click the text layer in the Layers, Channels, Paths, etc. window, and choose Alpha to Selection.
   
   


9. Now your text should be outlined.
   
   


10. Now we're finally nearing the fun bit! Click Shift+Ctrl+N or Layer > New Layer… to add a new layer. Width and Height 100 pixels, and set Layer Fill Type to Transparency.
    
    


11. Click the little eye icon next to the original text layer to make it invisible. Afterwards, make sure you're standing on the new layer - it's highlighted in the Layers, etc. window.
    
    


12. In the toolbox, choose the blend tool.
    
    


13. For more fun than you can shake a stick at, choose a gradient (click on the black-over-grey-to-white rectangle for a menu of gradients).
    
    


14. With your mouse, draw a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line through your icon.
    
    


15. As soon as you release the mouse button, your chosen gradient will fill in the text outline, whee!
    
    You can always Ctrl+Z to choose another gradient/line.
    
    


16. When you're happy with it, click Shift+Ctrl+S to save as. For the transparent background to work, you must save it as .gif or .png! .png looks better for this particular icon (cf. below).
    
    1. .gif:
       
       
    
    
    2. .png:
       
       


17. Icon on different backgrounds:
    
    

    .gif
    .png

I'm not a Gimp expert, but I'm happy to help if I can: ask if you get stuck or have questions :o)

Comments

[kake]

Thank you for this! It was just what I was looking for to make an icon for my new series of posts.

[blnchflr]

Oooh, pretty - I'm glad you got the fonts working!