FontSlab is my plug-in for manipulating both fonts and custom fonts along a path in Gimp 2.10. It has a long dialog that holds a lot of options and can be rather daunting to use, especially for new users.

I hope to produce a set of smaller guides, with a minimal amount of text, for each of the main aspects of the plug-in.

There is a zipped Resources folder to accompany this guide that includes:

FontSlab 0.12 plug-in
Chunky_SoftRaysLettersOnly custom font file
winding path path file



Unpack the resources folder and save it to your preferred location. The plug-in needs to be copied into your user plug-ins folder and the path file should be imported to the image (I used a new image size of 1000x800) you create for this project.

Fire up the Gimp and add a curving path to your image either by using the path tool or by importing the path file from the path tool dock.

Call up the FontSlab dialog:

Filters>>Custom Font Tools>>FontSlab v0.12

Step 1: Estimate the size to uses for the text
If you want to follow my settings, they are shown below. If you are using your own resources then enter values just for the options highlighted in red. Click on ‘OK’.



My first attempt left too much of the path unused by the custom font. I had to Press CTRL+Z to undo (or delete the layer) and try again.

Step 2: Refine your estimate

I then went with a text size of 150.



Too big by far…

Use CTRL+Z and try again until you are happy.

I found that a size of about 120 (124 gave the best result) filled most of the path – giving the nice, gradual reduction in letter size that I was after.

A view without the dialog clutter:



Step 3: Optional adjustment to letter positioning

If you are not quite satisfied with the outcome – some letters may overlap where the path curve is sharper there is an option available to add each character as a separate layer.



Delete the layer or use undo.

Open FontSlab with the ‘Retain layers’ option set to ‘Yes’ click on ‘OK’.



Select the character layer in the layer stack that you want to re-position and drag with your mouse or use the arrow keys to move it.



You can always use ‘Merge down’ or ‘Merge visible layers’ to make the finished layer easier to manage or move around.

The finished text with an added drop shadow.