Question

A few tips to the people making owls:
1. Don't use ms paint.
2. DON'T use ms paint.
3. DO NOT USE MS PAINT.
4. DO. NOT. USE. M. S. PAINT.
5. Use http://www.getpaint.net/ or gimp or something.
6. ALWAYS save as a png, and nothing else. Not jpg, bmp, or gif. Only a png. Trust me, pngs look a lot better.

Answer 1

Well, bmps can look as good... they are just huge in comparison.

Also, there are some online photo editing tools for those that don't have the ability to install a program on their machine.

Answer 2

gimp is a free download and i use it for all my owls. i definitely recommend it

Answer 3

shhhhhhhhhh

png > bmp
png > anything else

@e.mccormick has a good idea tho if you can't install stuff.
This looks like a good one: http://apps.pixlr.com/editor/

Answer 4

Either way, DO NOT USE MS PAINT FOR ANYTHING EVER

Answer 5

EVER.

Answer 6

Oh, I am not implying BMPs are good. It was Microsoft's answer to a TIFF.

Answer 7

tiff? o.o

Answer 8

i use this one website: www.sumopaint.com

Answer 9

http://www.sumopaint.com

Answer 10

yeah. that

Answer 11

ehh, you probably want something that supports transparency better than that

Answer 12

because solid white backgrounds are usually not fun.

Answer 13

yeah, im on a computer, and it can't download anything. :(

Answer 14

tagged image file format, tiff. And there was Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter; TARGA, on Truevision Graphics Adapter, TGA, cards.

All sorts of old files are out there.

Answer 15

SHUN THE M.S PAINT

Answer 16

Im on mac so I use http://paintbrush.sourceforge.net/ it seems to work pretty well

Answer 17

Gif is for simple colors. PNG is more for shading and stuff, if I recall from Year I HTML.

Answer 18

Looks like a few of the online ones do support PNG transparency.
http://techpp.com/2010/10/05/3-tools-to-edit-png-files-online-while-retaining-transparency/

Answer 19

The thing I don't like about GIMP is you have to export all your files if you want to save them and use them later. Pixlr is okay, I've used it. But images are bound to lose quality when you scale them. It really can't be avoided.

Answer 20

@poopsiedoodle , also, you can always scale an image, cut the owl, and paste it on a transparent background, then export it .PNG.

Answer 21

That's how most renders are made.

Answer 22

And that SumoPaint one does support transparency.

Answer 23

You don't have to export them in GIMP. You can use the native xcf format to save them, or use an older version before the author got conceited and removed auto exporting from the save function.

Answer 24

If you use .xcf, it won't allow you to upload it to external sites. It simply allows you to modify and open the image in gimp.

Answer 25

Yes.

See, gimp used to save in anything, without export. it did export if needed. Then the author got all upity about it and said something like, "That is not really saving! That is exporting, so you can no longer do it from save!" However, there is a flaw in that logic. The new versions still Open all these other file formats. He did not also force people to import. So he is basically doing a stupid change to try and force people to use xcf when they have exactly the problem you are pointing out.

However, older versions of gimp still work very well and export as part of the save and save as. This avoids the stupid change.

Answer 26

I still have GIMP 2.6 and this problem is consistent. It's nonsensical to create a format that can't be used externally. Plus this makes it a pain to upload to sites like DeviantArt because images lose their quality the more they're exported. Instead of having the option to open an image under jpg, png, gif, etc, it automatically opens it as .xcf, which can be a pain if you're trying to make High Quality Images.

Though, my loophole is by using Lightshot. I'll take a screencap of the image and paste it into a document that will save it as jpg, png, gif, etc, as the native.

Answer 27

The change was made in 2.8, so any 2.6 chain should auto export and ask if you want to flatten or merge if needed.

Answer 28

Also, there is only quality loss if it is saved in a lossy format.

Answer 29

2.6 still has the export options, and all mine are saved in .xcf

Answer 30

As for why xcf was made, it is to save other information. There is a very good reason why you would want a format that can handle paths, etc. and that does not take a license fee when making a free and open program.

Answer 31

Yes, export is there in 2.6, but you can get to export through save.

Answer 32

@poopsiedoodle you crack me up

Answer 33

Yeah, if you use the 'save' option in GIMP it only allows you to save it as an xcf..that's why you have to Export them..but GIMP is amazing, you just need to know how to use it. I use it for my owls..

Answer 34

i don't mind having to export in gimp. it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. i love how all of my owls turned out and i know that i wouldn't have been able to create them using a different program. to me, gimp is simple to use and easy to figure out

i save all my owls as xcf and png. that way, if i want to make a change to my owl, i can open the xcf in gimp and edit the layers

Answer 35

^^

Answer 36

And..it's FREE!

Answer 37

YES.

also, in school i took a graphic design course and all we used was photoshop. and while i agree that it's great, it's mostly for professionals i think. i took a whole year of this class and left without even remembering one thing about ps. gimp is much much simpler and in my opinion, more for the average joe who wants to create something amazing

Answer 38

I didn't get a lot of tips from here. lol

Answer 39

paint.net is also free :>
and it's easy to use
AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO EXPORT! :O

Answer 40

to OWL-makers
1. YOU CAN USE MS PAINT :)
2. USE whatever you want.
3. don't listen to doodle
4. USE sketchbook express (free, Mac)
5. USE Chasys draw (free, Windows under 16MB)
6. I am kidding about doodle. paint.net is good (pukes) specially for would-be amateurs.
7. Sketchbook Pro (Mac and Windows) is far better. The current version is not free, however, the older ones are. I use sketchbook express and pro from 2 years ago and have uploaded quick works here on openstudy using the express version.
https://www.sketchbook.com/desktop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUWspKTvt0#t=187

Answer 41

I forgot to mention GIMP is a very good all-around image editing software if you can't afford or do not know where to get free Photoshop (older versions of course).

as for image compression, doodle does not know what he's talking about
LAUGHING OUT LOUD

Answer 42

I bet you he will respond after this one

Answer 43

don't use MS paint for anything ever.
Nin shush.
And stop using the lol shortcut.
h8 u.

Answer 44

I've made great stick figures using ms paint when I was 5

Answer 45

doodle hates Microsoft Windows products, yet he uses Microsoft Windows operating software

Answer 46

I like office and visual studio too :>
just not paint and IE.
The snipping tool is pretty nifty too.

Answer 47

oh we have command+shift+4 to select any area in the desktop we want to capture
or we have command+shift+3 to do an entire desktop print screen

OS X > Windows

Answer 48

How to draw a fish in 3 seconds
http://youtu.be/ZDUWspKTvt0?t=20m6s

Answer 49

Yah, the free Sketchbook I got with my tablet does not have the mirror thing.

Answer 50

the sketchbook I have for iPhone does

Answer 51

i use ms paint and the stuff i paint looks amazing

Answer 52

yah, well, MS Pain will never get any love...
http://www.businessinsider.com/ms-paint-artworks-2014-7?op=1

Or this one:
http://diamonster.deviantart.com/art/powerdraw-17908194

Or these:
http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=ms+paint

They can't exist because MS Paint can't do that...

Answer 53

I used paint.net for all the owls I made. @poopsiedoodle

Answer 54

@firewolfspirit, looks like that one came from deviantart. Also, it was originally a jpeg, not a bmp. soooooooooo

Answer 55

i found this one on the internet and edited it do make it look more like its glowing

Answer 56

It has lower quality than the original.