thedeadparrot

So, I kind of love the Gimp. I know it has its flaws (boy, does it), and I know that it can be hard to love, but it is free (as in speech) and free (as in beer), and it is improving constantly. Plus, it works wonderfully in Linux, which is my operating system of choice.

The purpose of this tutorial to show a complete newb how to use the basic features of the Gimp to make an icon using some of the common techniques that a lot of icon makers use. If you're somewhat familiar with the Gimp already, this might be really boring, though some of the things I use later might be useful. The official Gimp tutorial is also quite good, so I will refer to it as much as possible.

For this tutorial we will be making this simple icon:



We'll be adding fancier stuff to it in a later tutorial, but that's going to involve some more advanced techniques. This particular tutorial will cover installation, cropping, resizing, layers, basic coloring/sharpening, text, and file types.

( On to the tutorial! Contains many images and swearing )

Dear flist,

Why am I reading fandomsecrets?

omgsaveme,
thedeadparrot


Also, a couple of Atlantis wallpapers both 1280x1024:


They're kind of abstract, but that's okay. I made them for myself, mostly. Gank as you wish.

I am, in fact, working on my commentary. It's just taking a while.

A meme stolen from somewhere else, Five fics you would rec to someone outside of fandom.

It's an interesting thing to consider, what kind of face you would want to put on to people outside of fandom. This more of a gen-ish list, for people who aren't in fandom at all, maybe trying to ween them into the fannish way of seeing things. So yeah, these aren't necessarily the best I've read, but they are certainly up there.

Anyway:
( the recs )

I was tagged by viciouswishes, Post a list of your top five favorite fics you've written, regardless of fandom or the reason you love them. This isn't about the BEST things you've written, but what you LOVE most. Then tag five other people to do the same.

( the stories and the explanations )

Tagging zauberer_sirin, savemoony, lykaios, luvinaoshi and ignited.


But wait! There's more!

So I've been messing around with the GIMP, and so I've made a couple fanfic covers for a couple people. (much of the credit goes to gender for the gorgeous textures)

The stories:

1. savemoony's From Princeton, With Love [cover] - An awesome House spy AU that crosses over with Alias. At the moment, it's still a WIP, but it's still a lot of fun.

2. queenzulu's Lights To Guide You Home [cover] - Five ways House found out about Cuddy's miscarriage. It's quiet and sparse and all the more powerful for it.