Re: [Gimp-user] Space 49 small images around a circle?

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 07/08/2016 04:18 PM, Steve Kinney wrote:
> On 07/08/2016 12:21 AM, billlee wrote:
> > I'm designing the image to print on a CD.
> >
> > In this image, I'd like to arrange 49 copies of a small image evenly
> around a
> > circle.
> >
> > I'm a relative newbie, using GIMP 2.8.16 on Windows 10.
> >
> > Thank you very much!
> >
> > PS: I see a script for arranging text around a circle, but need to
> finish this
> > CD before such a learning curve.
> > If GIMP would display polar coordinates instead of rectangular, it
> might not be
> > too hard to do this by hand. I guess I could try making a spreadsheet to
> > generate the x,y coordinates.  Probably GIMP has easier way(s) to do
> this, and
> > I can learn something about GIMP too!
>
> Methods for doing this depend on the orientation of the images you are
> spacing around a circle:  Will they be upright relative to the center
> point, or upright relative to the viewer?
>
> If the finished product will have radial symmetry, you might:
>
> 1)  Scale the small image to fit.
>
> 2)  Create a new empty layer and paste a copy of your image into that,
> at the location where it will be in the finished picture.
>
> 3)  Duplicate that layer and do Layer > Transform > Arbitrary Rotation,
> and rotate the duplicate layer 9 degrees around its center via the
> dialog that pops up.
>
> 4)  Merge the rotated layer down into the first transparent layer,
> duplicate the resulting layer with two copies of your small image, and
> rotate that 18 degrees.
>
> 5)  Merge the rotated layer down into its source layer, duplicate and
> rotate 36 degrees, etc. etc. until the circle is complete.
>
> If you want the small images upright relative to the viewer, make an X
> or other small target on a new empty layer, make a circle of marks as
> per above, and manually place 40 copies of your small image on those
> marks guided by some small detail in the images you are putting in a
> circle.  (When aligning stacked layers, it can be useful to dial back
> the opacity of the top layer to about 70% via the slider in the Layers
> dialog dock, adjust the layer's position relative to what it's lining up
> with, then set the opacity back to 100%.)
>
> That's how I would do it, anyway.

Addendum:  Come to think of it, the process I described would work
perfectly for vector image content but would lead to loss of resolution
in bitmap editors like the GIMP.  Every rotated copy will be an
/approximate/ duplicate of the original model, then an approximation of
the approximation, etc.

So instead, rotate single duplicates of your first layer with the small
image 9, 18, 27 etc. degrees until the circle is filled.

Or try the 1st method, check to see if the results are satisfactory, and
do the slower, one at a time process if not.

:o)