Re: [Gimp-user] gimp users matter

[Richard <strata_ranger hotmail com>]

Short answer:  The problem is with your workflow, not GIMP.

> Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:27:17 -0500
> From: etters h gmail com
> To: liam holoweb net; gimp-user-list gnome org
> Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] gimp users matter
>
> First In gimp 2.6:
> open or create new file. Name it.
>
>     I now have (e.g.) village.xcf
>
> Work on it for weeks, saving every few minutes with
>
>   file > save
>
> I now have village.xcf with all layers preserved
>
> I finish the picture, and do two steps:
>
>   file > save, and then
>
>   file > SaveAs > village.png
>
> I now have two copies of my creation, one with layers, and one flattened.
>
> The village.png is now the one I see on my screen; title bar confirms
>
> I then do
>
>   Image > scale image > change X & Y resolution to 72 and pixel to some
> small size
>
>  and click Scale.
>
> I now have one large village.xcf with all properties preserved,and one
> small flattened village.png for mailing or uploading.
>
> All is well.

No, you don't.  According to these steps, you saved the PNG file *BEFORE* scaling it to a lower resolution, 
so unless you issue another Save command to the PNG file (possibly when closing the image and GIMP 2.6 asks 
you to "save changes?"), your PNG file is a flattened copy of the XCF file at its original HIGH resolution, 
not the lower resolution you want for distribution.  You should be resizing the image BEFORE outputting the 
PNG.

>  Now, in gimp 2.8
>
> open or create new file. Name it.
>
>     I now have (e.g.) village.xcf
> Work on it for weeks, saving every few minutes with
>     file > save
>
> I now have village.xcf with all layers preserved
> I finish the picture, and do two steps:
>
>    file > save, and then
>
>    file > export
>
> I now have a flattened image named village.png
>
> So I need to scale it, make it small enough to email or upload

Again - why are you exporting FIRST and resizing the image SECOND?  It should be the other way around.

> But unlike in 2.6, I can’t simply proceed to do that. I have to re-open
> village.png
>
> ( Can't work on an image that's now showing on the monitor)

(Is that a typo, e.g. "now" or "not"?  I need to make sure how I'm reading the sentence before responding.  
And yes, I've seen people actually make that specific typo before.)

> So I go to
>
>    File > Open Recent > and click village.png
>
> But of course when it opens it's no longer png
> It opens as [village](imported)

That is a titlebar display issue (which was pointed out earlier), when you open a non-XCF file in GIMP it 
doesn't display the file's extension (for what reason I don't understand either).  It does not actually 
affect the fact that GIMP knows this image was opened from a PNG file.  In other words, it's harmless and you 
shouldn't pay it any attention.

> Now I can of course scale this one down, but I can't save it as png
>
> so I have to export it again after I scale it.

Look on your File menu and you should notice the "Export" command has changed to "Overwrite [village.png]" - 
notice that yes, it does include the PNG extension.

> But then I have to rename it because I already have a village.png.
>
> Is this the intended work flow for creating a small, flattened png copy of
> a large multi-layerd xcf?
>
> It seems to be creating difficulties for a number of users. I don't think
> we'd have had this mountain of complaints over something as trivial as an
> unwanted save warning.

You're right this is not the intended workflow.  The intended workflow is that Export should be the FINAL 
command in the process.  If you need to open the exported file, make FURTHER changes then export again, well, 
"ur doin it wrong".

Now since you are specifically exporting a lower-resolution version than what you saved to the XCF file there 
IS a risk that you don't want to accidentally Save the resized version over the XCF after exporting it.  So, 
I guess your intended workflow should look something like this:

0 - Save the XCF as needed.  Then when it comes time to Export the image...
1 - Duplicate the image (Image > Duplicate).  This blocks you from accidentally saving the resized version 
over the XCF file.  You may notice the titlebar on this second window says "[Untitled]" rather than 
"village.xcf".  Don't concern yourself about that.
2 - Resize the image as needed.
4 - NOW export the image as a PNG.
5 - You are done!  There is no need to re-open the PNG file.
6 - Ignore what the titlebar looks like (e.g. "[village]" not "[village.png]").  That is not important.
7 - Close the image window.  You will be prompted if you want to save changes on this window but you can 
ignore it - it's just a copy of your image you made exclusively for resizing and exporting, and you do NOT 
want to save this over your original high-resolution XCF file (this is what step 1 was for).
8 - Since the resize command was issued to a duplicate of your image and not the original (which has no 
further changes), you can close the original image without being prompted to "save changes".

-- Stratadrake
strata_ranger hotmail com
--------------------
Numbers may not lie, but neither do they tell the whole truth.
Short answer:  You have a workflow problem.