Saulgoode - Can a curve even be applied to an alpha channel? I want to make sure I'm not missing something. If it can, for what purpose?

need any more proof ?

OK, how about some clarification. I don't get any change whatsoever when I try to apply a curve to the alpha channel of an existing layer.



I only see changes if I move the end points of the curve.

hm Drac, dunno, there is really no big secret
i start with a letter, duplicate the layer and change the color to the hue i want my outer glow to be
then i blur by 20 (i think)
and then i open curves, choose alpha and have fun with the curve to get the contours
the curves even dont have to look exactly like in the photoshop layerstyles diagrams as you can see

EDIT: actually i did the outer glow in a different way, but that doesnt matter
it works with gaussian blur, just the same i just explained
FYI, i make a selection from alpha, grow (say by 12) and then feather by the same value

i know all of this from a tutorial how to get rounded text:
just blur your text and then apply an alpha curve to your letter until you get a sharp but rounded shape

this link may also be interesting for you:
http://www.mahvin.com/2009/08/gimp-tuto ... affle.html

The end points of the curve correspond to the fully transparent and fully opaque parts of your image. The only parts of the image affected by the interior parts of the curve (when editing the Alpha channel) are those pixels that are semi-transparent -- and it appears that in your example image that would only be those few pixels around the perimeter of the text (owing to anti-aliasing).

A better exposition of the effect of editing the curve of the Alpha channel would be to use the Blend Tool to paint a FG to transparent gradient across the image, and then edit/play around with the curve.

Thanks guys. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what/how to use this new information.

why ?
you can use those techniques to shape your outer glow exactly the way you like instead of trying a million values in layerfx

calling it outer glow is probably misleading, i think most of the shapes are less a glow but a contour in general, that could be used for lots of effects other than a glow