GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Windows
GIMP Experience: Basic Level

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I have a pattern of narrow lace that i want to put around the edges of a selection. When i stroke pattern set to .5 inch it places it across the top, fine, but then it just duplicates it several times down the sides, it doesnt turn it to follow the path.

How do i get it to actually follow the path?

You can fill path with pattern, but You cannot stroke a path with a pattern!

Unless... you are using a plugin (which one is it?) or make that pattern as a brush.

To make that pattern a brush, right click on that pattern (in the pattern dockable dialog) > open as image > Ctrl+A > Ctrl+C > now it's a brush (clipboard)
Select paint brush tool > Go to your brush setting > select this brush(Clipboard), then > Dynamics > Track Direction

Now you can go back to the tab of your main project and > Edit > Stroke the path... > Select paint brush...

Play with the angle of the brush /Spacing / Fade options /Repeat options, ...

It is possible but hardly worth the effort.

Make a gimp-image-hose (gih) brush. Greyscale, repeatable pattern, like this:



Stroke the path using paint tool and emulate dynamics on. Set the brush to suitable size, FG colour etc same as any other brush.



...but then what do you do with the corners

I will attach that brush as an example:

Ahh, so its just like in the old photo draw, the corners are odd, some of the bushes there did get the corners though. Thank you. I tried it with copy and paint the one brush, and it was an ugly lace that way, so i did something else, but i will do as above to learn, i dont want your time wasted.

For the corners i can use just one copy and rotate it and tuck it in, although then have to blend the edges in, hmm, yes not worth it! yikes.

I see, thank you. Yes it is also a brush.

I cant find this: ' then > Dynamics > Track Direction'

I don't think you are going to get a neat result with stroking as it's a wide brush so won't be nicely centred on the picture or have good corners.

If you don't mind doing it manually:
I had a play with tiling the pattern to make a long line of lace:
Filters -> Map -> Tile
Then duplicated it three times, moved it by hand into place rotating the sides:
Layer -> Transform -> Rotate 90 etc.
Finally cut the ends off at 45 degrees to tidy the corners.

Thats amazing. I started to do that, not in that way as im too new, and i got frustrated with how ugly it was looking. Thank you!

Thank you i will study it!

Also, ofn-brush-strokes-on-paths, that tweaks the spacing to have an exact integer count of strokes.

I tried this several times, and the first times i stroked with the bottom option, but it filled the image, i read your tut again and stroked with line, pattern. Nothing happens. I dont know what the heck im doing wrong, i will try tomorrow. Im stubborn and it will pick at me till i get it right. I did get it to go all the way around once, but it was just like before, it stacked them on top of each other on the sides. it didnt run them around.

I have been toying with just stroking a straight line and then bending it around the image, but that just more research to see if it would work after its been stroked. that sounds so funny.

It's in the tools option of the brush, but after reading teapot's solution, I think it's the neatest as you can have very neat corners.
anyway it's always good to know, dynamics

Yeah i saw that, mine says 'all off' I clicked on it thinking there must be a menu, but no menu. I clicked the pen to the right of it, and there are a bunch of empty boxes, i guess i can pick from. Non of them use that term, direction forward? so yeah

I clicked the icon i dont have track anything, I can type it in the blank, but that does nothing too.

Have added a green arrow to PixLab's image to show where to click to get the menu.

I tried again, i give up, it is still stacking them on the sides. Not sure how you got yours to go around. thanks for trying to help me.

yep i clicked there and i do not have that option. its alphabetical and its not in the list, thank you though =) those are nice arrows! mine are always crooked.

Have you scrolled right to the bottom of the list? Track Direction should be there. The list has the writable ones first in alphabetical order and after those the non-writeable ones in alphabetical order. Track Direction comes with gimp and is non-writable. If Untitled is the bottom of your list then you've likely got loads missing as that one is usually writeable so usually comes before all the gimp preset ones

yep that was the bottom of the list. I looked in the top and it wasnt there either, i checked in the load directory to make sure i have the ones that came with gimp checked and it is. I have two checked, one for the paint thing and the one that came with gimp. I can uncheck the one to see if there is more.

take a brush, make 1 dot, hold Shift key down, move it somewhere else and while holding the Shift key down make your second dot (continue with the arrow's tip)