Anmal--thank you for that post, it helped immensely. I have everything downloaded, got a good emap, I've found my two Bevel Reflect Dialogue boxes and I'm ready to go. Then, brick wall. Both of my Bevel Reflect Logo dialogue boxes are too big for my computer screen, I can't get down to the "OK" at the bottom to click it. I've done everything I can resizing with my screen, nothing works, and usually the Bevel Reflect Logo Dialogue box just winks out when I get too aggressive with it anyway. There is no scroll bar on either of these boxes to scroll down with (there are on the bevel reflect gimpchat thread, but mine don't have them). So my question is how do I install a scroll down bar on these Bevel Reflect Logo dialogue boxes, or, make them smaller so I can get to their bottoms. (Windows 8 was no help.) Thank you. (Expanding to the right does not reveal any scroll bar.)

Got it, thank you. (I'd either installed the wrong one or I hadn't extracted and applied it properly.)

Onward!

Am getting there! (I searched the net, couldn't find a mother of pearl pattern).

So, I am now currently circling the drain trying to add that nifty slight little shadow that sits below the letters. I did the thing where you put black over the pattern, blur it, move it to the side and trim and lighten it, but it looked wonky.

Off to find some shadow tutorials...

I really appreciate the help everyone gave me.

Could anybody tell me where I could find a Gimp tutorial on how to make an object (not text) look metallic? I've looked online and found a few but I couldn't follow them. I looked in the Index but couldn't find any so I assume that means I was in the wrong place or looking in the wrong way. Thank you.

Have a look at, Draconian Metal Wurx Series

Thank you but the only ones I could find there were for metallic text or backgrounds, not objects. Maybe I'm just not reading it right.

Any enclosed shape can be an object, including text. Metal (and other) techniques are what you learn with Draconian Metal Wurx Series that can be applied on any shape.

Oh, I didn't know that, thanks. I'm trying to turn a ribbon silver. I guess I'll just treat the ribbon like text in the tutorials.

I didn't really know how to use the Brush tool in Gimp, but I found a Brush on Gimpchat that I really liked so I downloaded it and re-did one of my book covers just to use it. It's the flower embellishment on the side. Pretty cool for a "brush"! I also discovered if you drag it across the page, it makes the most beautiful lace. I definitely give Gimp a "10" for discover-new-stuff!

Could somebody point me in the right direction for this?
I made some text via "Create" and an emap. I would like to curve that text, like a bridge over a stream. But I can't figure out how to do it. All the tutorials start off with "Click your text box..." I'm not using the text box. I can't get the Curve Bend Filter to work because it is supposed to have a "Modify Curve" window in it but it doesn't, it's just black. Maybe I need a plug-in? If anybody knows a beginner's tutorial on this, could you post a link? I have looked and looked, can't find anything other than the Curve Bend Filter and mine doesn't have the window in it that the tutorials all have. Thank you.

It may have something to do with the image.
Can you post the image that you would like to use Curve Bend on?

I don't think it's the image, I think it's me. I am once again hopelessly kerbolixed.

I kept researching and I am pretty sure that the Curve Bend Filter is powered by a Plug-in. I checked my plug-in folder, it was empty. So, I went looking for a Curve plug-in.

I didn't find any but I did find some other really neat stuff I tried to download. My computer said nope, they weren't supported. I figured that was because I recently switched to Windows 10 and Windows 10 wanted the newest version of Gimp. So, I downloaded Gimp 2.8.18. But nope, computer still says the stuff I try to download is not supported.

I did more research and all I can (probably pretty pathetically) figure out is that maybe I need Python-Fu and don't have it? I think I do; I have Filters>Python-Fu>Console. Does that mean I have Python-Fu okay?

So now I still don't have any curve plug-ins, I can't download a lot of the most popular stuff listed on Gimpchat's Registry, and I don't know whether I really have Python-fu or not.

And I thought I was doing so well figuring this Gimp stuff out.

AFAIK the Curve Bend is a standard Gimp filter, no need to download anything, it comes with the Gimp installation.
You should find it under: Filters/Distorts/Curve bend...

dropshot before


dropshot after

Thanks, but that's the problem. In the Modify Curves window, you have a curve. I have nothing and nothing I do hots it up. How do you turn on that window?

I have also figured out that I can't open the new stuff I downloaded because they are SCM files and I need some trick or app to open an SCM file which I don't have. Anybody know how to convince Windows 10 to open a gimp SCM file?

an .scm file? which one?
you have to launch the filter having an open image (.jpg, for instance)

having a text.jpg as source image

or, if you prefer, using a .png source image with transparent background