Any GIMP users here?

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 09:09am

Hi there. I recently started using the GIMP and wanted to create a .gif image out of some screenshots I took from a DVD.

So I took the screencaps, converted them to .jpg files and saved them. Then I added the images as layers and saved the whole thing as a .gif file.

However, all the pictures appear blocky and look fugly.

Can anyone please help me to increase the quality of the .gif image? (AKA How do I create gif images with the GIMP that do not suck?)

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 09:20am

Try manually converting them from RGB to Indexed and see if the colour palette works right.

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2008-01-21 10:06am

You can also try to increase the pallet size. Gifs don't lend themselves well to real world imagery though, because they are limited to 256 colors (including transparent), so unless you're trying to animate them, you may want to use jpegs. If you want to preserve your layers, you may try pngs, they work slightly better than gifs for real world images.

Post by **Edi** » 2008-01-21 10:07am

If you save as .tga or otehr bitmap in the intermediate stage, it will probably get you better results when you start playing around with creating the animations, but the original files will be really damned big.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 03:01pm

Alright, thanks everyone. A combination of the tips by EDI and Bounty really helped me out here.

Here's what I finally did - I used the original png screencaps, indexed them after the editing (thanks for the tip, Bounty, that was the winner) with Floyd-Steinberg, and abandoned the jpgs completely.

The 256 colors are still somewhat sucky, but I am amazed how good they still look. The only problem I now have is that they are somewhat 2,14 mb in size.

Does anyone know an image host for that size? Imageshack only accepts up to 1.5 mb.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 03:02pm

Thanas wrote:Alright, thanks everyone. A combination of the tips by EDI and Bounty really helped me out here.

Here's what I finally did - I used the original png screencaps, indexed them after the editing (thanks for the tip, Bounty, that was the winner) with Floyd-Steinberg, and abandoned the jpgs completely.

The 256 colors are still somewhat sucky, but I am amazed how good they still look. The only problem I now have is that they are somewhat 2,14 mb in size.

Does anyone know an image host for that size? Imageshack only accepts up to 1.5 mb.

If you have a Google Pages account, you can upload them to it and hotlink. Their limit is 10MB IIRC.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 03:27pm

Sadly I don't.

Does anyone know a site called Imagefilez? (http://www.imagefilez.com) Apparently they offer up to 3 MB storage space and 15 GB bandwith.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 03:30pm

Signups for Google Pages are open and free. Imagefilez looks like a slow adhole.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 03:46pm

Ok, giving Google page creator a try. However, it converts all the animated gifs to jpeg images.

So, no dice here.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 03:55pm

Thanas wrote:Ok, giving Google page creator a try. However, it converts all the animated gifs to jpeg images.

So, no dice here.

Eh? Just use Upload File on the right.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 04:03pm

I did. And that's what happened - it uploads the file, takes quite a long time and then I see: name.jpg. When I open it with firefox, I get a simple jpg image - and no animation.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 04:09pm

Then you're doing it wrong, because I can get GIF's to work just fine.

Just to be clear, make sure you're on the Site Manager page, then pick Browse on the right, upload the file, then click the URL.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 04:30pm

Here is what I did

As you can see from the image, it converts the gif immediately to .jpg.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 04:32pm

And the file works correctly on your PC?

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 04:37pm

Yes. I have no problems with it - in fact I just created it two hours ago.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2008-01-21 04:53pm

I use GIMP to make my YTMNDs. Try converting them into grayscale, saving them as jpg and then using the paint bucket tool to splash random color on them.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-01-21 04:54pm

OmegaGuy wrote:I use GIMP to make my YTMNDs. Try converting them into grayscale, saving them as jpg and then using the paint bucket tool to splash random color on them.

... holy shit, that's got to count as some of the worst advice ever.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2008-01-21 04:56pm

It works for me

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-01-21 04:58pm

well, nevermind, Bounty.

I fixed the problem. I had to uncheck "Optimize images" on the site settings panel. Apparently tht caused them to get converted to jpgs everytime.

Now everything apparently works as it should.

Thanks for your help, guys. A special thank you to you, Bounty, you have been a lifesaver today.