GIMP Version: 2.8.10
Operating System: Windows
GIMP Experience: Beginner Level

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Ello all my fellow editors and artists. I am having an issue with text allong path. I know how to do it and it works to a certain point. Here is my work flow:

Make a selection with elipse tool
Turn selection into a path
Create text and select option text to path
Select text path and turn it to a selection.

This is where the issue starts. It creates the marching ant but it is so choppy and ugly when i fill in the selection. Not smooth at all. I have tried diff fonts, diff resolutions and it still look bad.

Second issue is rotating the text along the path. Lets say we have circle path and i want the text to rotate around it. In inkscape it does this very well but in gimp im not sure how.

Thanks

1) strange.. the selection ought to be clean. If you do a text-to-path on your original text, and use that for the selection, is it better?

2) you can rotate the path using the Rotate tool in path mode, and specifying the center of the circle as the center of rotation.

I will try that out.

EDIT

It seems no matter which way i go, it still looks bad.

I just right click on text layer and said put text along path. then nder path dialog and highlight the text path and say path to selection and it still looks bad.

I also tried just a text to path (not along path. testing it first) and then add path to selection, it still is just as choppy as image below

What text size are you using? What you show looks like small size text zoomed in... At high zoom the selection always looks squarish because the ants follow the pixel borders; but that doesn't mean that the bucket-filled selection won't be OK:

When you select your text, then go to selection to path, Go to selection, NONE. You don't need that selection any more. Then go to the path dialogue and right click, text to path.

ok cool ill give it a shot. thanks for the help. one thing i did notice, if i used the "add to selection" rather than "path to selection", it seems to do a better job. interesting haha. Ill toy around with it more and see what i can get. I just need to get decent text for a professional work for photos.

thanks

I'd be curious to see the difference (ie, same text produced with each). If there is no existing selection, it shouldn't make any.

Ok, i will try and replicate what i did. haha. I will post back with images. might take me a few hours cuz im at work, but ill try and remember. thanks guys

Matt

EDIT

I also tried the rotate tool on the path and i can not get it to expand from center of circle. This is my procedure for doing it

once i have my text typed, i right click on text layer>text alongpath

then in path diaglog box, i highlight the path that looks like my text, then use rotate tool on that to rotate it.

thanks

The rotate tool should be in "Path" mode (right most icon, top option in the Tool option dialog. It is a wise idea to keep note of thje center of the initial circle (guides or else)

LT72884, can you attach an xcf file of your problem? The active path will remain in an xcf file.

I came prepared to defend ofnuts

I can not find the file, however I had a similar result and the selected font was the cause

OHHHHH, i thought there was an option for the rotate tool to auto find the center of the circle. Sorry, i have been using autocad the last month or so to design a curriculum for the students here. I thought gimp automatically found the center of the circle.. hahahahaha. ok i see what you mean now. i know inkscape, when you rotate the circle, it will rotate the text because the text is physically attached to the circle. haha. then i just hide it.

So different fonts will act differntly or be selected differntly when converted to a path? haha.

thanks

When the Rotate Tool* is used on a path, the rotation is initially centered on the current selection (if no selection is present then rotation is centered on the image). Therefore, if you "Select->From Path" before rotating, the initial center will be the center of the path (actually the rectangular bounds of the path). This subtlety is quite powerful once one understands it.


* Behavior is similar for any of the transform tools: rotate, shear, scale, perspective, or flip.

Ok, i will have to try it. Let me make sure i understand you first. In my paths dialog, i have two paths. One for the circle, placed in bottom right corner of page so just the quadrint 2 arc is on page, and a path that represents my text. If i want to rotate the path that looks like my text along the circle path so that it stays attached to the circle path which path do i select to rotate?

i hope that makes sense haha

thNKS

A: the circle path.

An example exercise:

• Make a circle with the Elliptical Select Tool
• "Select->To Path"
• Use the Text Tool to create some text
• Choose "Text along Path" from the text layer's context menu
• Set the "Affect:" option in the Rotate Tool to path
• Rotate the text to be at the top of the circle (your selection from the second step should still be active).
• Set the "Affect:" option of the Flip Tool to path
• Make your circle path active (by clicking on its thumbnail preview in the Paths dialog)
• Click in the image window to flip the path horizontal (this reverses the circle path's direction).
• Click on the icon at the bottom of the Paths dialog to select from the flipped circle
• In the Layers dialog, (again) choose "Text along Path" from the text layer's context menu.
• Using the Rotate Tool rotate the text to be at the bottom of the circle (the "Affect:" option should be set to path)

Thank you very very much for this. in fact i am going to try this now and im gonna record it so i have it on file as a reference.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place.
thanks much to all yall for the help.

Ok, so for the above it works great and thank you for that cuz now i know how to do that. Here is where im running into an issue is in this video i recorded. It could be a bug or something i will have to live wiht haha. let me show you