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  6.     <title>Chapter¬†4.¬† Getting Unstuck</title>
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  14.     <link rel="prev" href="ch03s05s02.html" title="5.2.¬† Final" />
  15.     <link rel="next" href="pt02.html" title="Part¬†II.¬† How do I Become a GIMP Wizard?" />
  16.   </head>
  17.   <body>
  18.     <div class="navheader">
  19.       <table width="100%" summary="Navigation header">
  20.         <tr>
  21.           <th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter¬†4.¬†
  22.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Getting Unstuck</span>
  23.       </th>
  24.         </tr>
  25.         <tr>
  26.           <td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch03s05s02.html"><img src="../images/prev.png" alt="Prev" /></a>¬†</td>
  27.           <th width="60%" align="center">Part¬†I.¬†
  28.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Getting started</span>
  29.     </th>
  30.           <td width="20%" align="right">¬†<a accesskey="n" href="pt02.html"><img src="../images/next.png" alt="Next" /></a></td>
  31.         </tr>
  32.       </table>
  33.       <hr />
  34.     </div>
  35.     <div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  36.       <div class="titlepage">
  37.         <div>
  38.           <div>
  39.             <h2 class="title"><a id="gimp-getting-unstuck"></a>Chapter¬†4.¬†
  40.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Getting Unstuck</span>
  41.       </h2>
  42.           </div>
  43.         </div>
  44.       </div>
  45.       <div class="toc">
  46.         <p>
  47.           <b>Table of Contents</b>
  48.         </p>
  49.         <dl>
  50.           <dt>
  51.             <span class="sect1">
  52.               <a href="gimp-getting-unstuck.html#gimp-using-getting-unstuck">1. 
  53.     <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Getting Unstuck</span>
  54.   </a>
  55.             </span>
  56.           </dt>
  57.           <dd>
  58.             <dl>
  59.               <dt>
  60.                 <span class="sect2">
  61.                   <a href="gimp-getting-unstuck.html#gimp-using-getting-unstuck-general">1.1. 
  62.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Stuck!</span>
  63.     </a>
  64.                 </span>
  65.               </dt>
  66.               <dt>
  67.                 <span class="sect2">
  68.                   <a href="gimp-getting-unstuck.html#gimp-using-getting-unstuck-common-causes">1.2. 
  69.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Common Causes of GIMP Non-Responsiveness</span>
  70.     </a>
  71.                 </span>
  72.               </dt>
  73.             </dl>
  74.           </dd>
  75.         </dl>
  76.       </div>
  77.       <div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  78.         <div class="titlepage">
  79.           <div>
  80.             <div>
  81.               <h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="gimp-using-getting-unstuck"></a>1.¬†
  82.     <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Getting Unstuck</span>
  83.   </h2>
  84.             </div>
  85.             <div>
  86.               <div class="revhistory">
  87.                 <table border="1" width="100%" summary="Revision history">
  88.                   <tr>
  89.                     <th align="left" valign="top" colspan="3">
  90.                       <b>Revision History</b>
  91.                     </th>
  92.                   </tr>
  93.                   <tr>
  94.                     <td align="left">Revision $Revision: 2405 $</td>
  95.                     <td align="left">2007-07-15</td>
  96.                     <td align="left">romanofski</td>
  97.                   </tr>
  98.                 </table>
  99.               </div>
  100.             </div>
  101.           </div>
  102.         </div>
  103.         <a id="id2587206" class="indexterm"></a>
  104.         <div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  105.           <div class="titlepage">
  106.             <div>
  107.               <div>
  108.                 <h3 class="title"><a id="gimp-using-getting-unstuck-general"></a>1.1.¬†
  109.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Stuck!</span>
  110.     </h3>
  111.               </div>
  112.             </div>
  113.           </div>
  114.           <p>
  115.       All right, okay: you're stuck. You're trying to use one of the tools on
  116.       an image, and nothing is happening, and nothing you try makes any
  117.       difference. Your fists are starting to clench, and your face is starting
  118.       to feel warm. Are you going to have to kill the program, and lose all
  119.       your work? This sucks!
  120.     </p>
  121.           <p>
  122.       Well, hold on a second. This happens pretty frequently, even to people
  123.       who've used GIMP for a long time, but generally the cause is not so hard
  124.       to figure out (and fix) if you know what to look at. Lets be calm, and
  125.       go through a checklist that will probably get you GIMPing happily again.
  126.     </p>
  127.         </div>
  128.         <div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  129.           <div class="titlepage">
  130.             <div>
  131.               <div>
  132.                 <h3 class="title"><a id="gimp-using-getting-unstuck-common-causes"></a>1.2.¬†
  133.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Common Causes of GIMP Non-Responsiveness</span>
  134.     </h3>
  135.               </div>
  136.             </div>
  137.           </div>
  138.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  139.             <div class="titlepage">
  140.               <div>
  141.                 <div>
  142.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587277"></a>1.2.1.¬†
  143.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">There is a floating selection</span>
  144.       </h4>
  145.                 </div>
  146.               </div>
  147.             </div>
  148.             <div class="figure">
  149.               <a id="id2587287"></a>
  150.               <p class="title">
  151.                 <b>Figure¬†4.1.¬†
  152.           <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  153.             Layers dialog showing a floating selection.
  154.           </span>
  155.         </b>
  156.               </p>
  157.               <div class="figure-contents">
  158.                 <div class="mediaobject">
  159.                   <img src="../images/using/unstuck-floating-sel.png" alt="Layers dialog showing a floating selection." />
  160.                 </div>
  161.               </div>
  162.             </div>
  163.             <br class="figure-break" />
  164.             <p>
  165.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to tell:</em></span>
  166.         If there is a floating selection, many actions are impossible
  167.         until it is anchored. To check, look at the Layers dialog (making
  168.         sure it's set to the image you're working on) and see whether the
  169.         top layer is called ‚Äú<span class="quote">Floating Selection</span>‚Äù.
  170.       </p>
  171.             <p>
  172.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to solve:</em></span>
  173.         Either anchor the floating selection, or convert it into an
  174.         ordinary (non-floating) layer. If you need help on how to do this,
  175.         see <a class="link" href="glossary.html#glossary-floatingselection" title="Floating Selection">
  176.           Floating Selections
  177.         </a>.
  178.       </p>
  179.           </div>
  180.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  181.             <div class="titlepage">
  182.               <div>
  183.                 <div>
  184.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587352"></a>1.2.2.¬†
  185.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">The selection is hidden</span>
  186.       </h4>
  187.                 </div>
  188.               </div>
  189.             </div>
  190.             <div class="figure">
  191.               <a id="id2587362"></a>
  192.               <p class="title">
  193.                 <b>Figure¬†4.2.¬†
  194.           <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Unstuck show selection menu</span>
  195.         </b>
  196.               </p>
  197.               <div class="figure-contents">
  198.                 <div class="mediaobject">
  199.                   <img src="../images/using/unstuck-show-selection-menu.png" alt="Unstuck show selection menu" />
  200.                   <div class="caption">
  201.                     <p>
  202.               In the View menu, make sure that "Show Selection" is checked.
  203.             </p>
  204.                   </div>
  205.                 </div>
  206.               </div>
  207.             </div>
  208.             <br class="figure-break" />
  209.             <p>
  210.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to tell:</em></span>
  211.         If this is the problem, merely reading this will already have made
  212.         you realize it, probably, but to explain in any case: sometimes
  213.         the flickering line that outlines the selection is annoying
  214.         because it makes it hard to see important details of the image, so
  215.         GIMP gives you the option of hiding the selection, by unchecking
  216.         <span class="guimenuitem">Show Selection</span>
  217.         in the <span class="guimenu">View</span>
  218.         menu. It is easy to forget that you have done this, though.
  219.       </p>
  220.             <p>
  221.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span> If this
  222.         hasn't rung any bells, it isn't the problem, and if it has,
  223.         you probably know how to fix it, because it doesn't happen
  224.         unless you explicitly tell it to; but anyway:  just go to
  225.         the <span class="guimenu">View</span> menu for the image and, if
  226.         <span class="guimenuitem">Show Selection</span> is
  227.         unchecked, click on it..
  228.       </p>
  229.           </div>
  230.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  231.             <div class="titlepage">
  232.               <div>
  233.                 <div>
  234.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587453"></a>1.2.3.¬†
  235.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">You are acting outside of the selection</span>
  236.       </h4>
  237.                 </div>
  238.               </div>
  239.             </div>
  240.             <div class="figure">
  241.               <a id="id2587464"></a>
  242.               <p class="title">
  243.                 <b>Figure¬†4.3.¬†
  244.           <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Unstuck select all</span>
  245.         </b>
  246.               </p>
  247.               <div class="figure-contents">
  248.                 <div class="mediaobject">
  249.                   <img src="../images/using/unstuck-select-all.png" alt="Unstuck select all" />
  250.                   <div class="caption">
  251.                     <p>
  252.               Click ‚Äú<span class="quote">All</span>‚Äù
  253.               in the Select menu to make sure that everything is selected.
  254.             </p>
  255.                   </div>
  256.                 </div>
  257.               </div>
  258.             </div>
  259.             <br class="figure-break" />
  260.             <p>
  261.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span>
  262.         If doing this has destroyed a selection that you wanted to keep, hit
  263.         Ctrl-Z (undo) a couple of times to restore it, and then we'll figure
  264.         out what the problem is. There are a couple of possibilities. If you
  265.         couldn't see any selection, there may have been a very tiny one, or
  266.         even one that contained no pixels. If this was the case, it surely is
  267.         not a selection that you wanted to keep, so why have you gotten this
  268.         far in the first place? If you can see a selection but thought you
  269.         were inside it, it might be inverted from what you think. The easiest
  270.         way to tell is to hit the Quick Mask button: the selected area will be
  271.         clear and the unselected area will be masked. If this was the problem,
  272.         then you can solve it by toggling Quick Mask off and choosing Invert
  273.         in the <span class="guimenu">Select</span> menu.
  274.       </p>
  275.           </div>
  276.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  277.             <div class="titlepage">
  278.               <div>
  279.                 <div>
  280.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587536"></a>1.2.4.¬†
  281.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">The active drawable is not visible</span>
  282.       </h4>
  283.                 </div>
  284.               </div>
  285.             </div>
  286.             <div class="figure">
  287.               <a id="id2587547"></a>
  288.               <p class="title">
  289.                 <b>Figure¬†4.4.¬†
  290.           <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Unstuck layer invisibility</span>
  291.         </b>
  292.               </p>
  293.               <div class="figure-contents">
  294.                 <div class="mediaobject">
  295.                   <img src="../images/using/unstuck-layers-dialog-invislayer.png" alt="Unstuck layer invisibility" />
  296.                   <div class="caption">
  297.                     <p>
  298.               Layers dialog with visibility off for the active layer.
  299.             </p>
  300.                   </div>
  301.                 </div>
  302.               </div>
  303.             </div>
  304.             <br class="figure-break" />
  305.             <p>
  306.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to tell:</em></span>
  307.         The Layers dialog gives you ability to toggle the visibility of
  308.         each layer on or off. Look at the Layers dialog, and see whether
  309.         the layer you are trying to act on is active (i.e., darkened) and
  310.         has an eye symbol to the left of it. If not, this is your problem.
  311.       </p>
  312.             <p>
  313.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span>
  314.         If your intended target layer is not active, click on it in the Layers
  315.         dialog to activate it. (If none of the layers there is active, the
  316.         active drawable might be a channel -- you can look at the Channels tab
  317.         in the Layers dialog to see. This does not change the solution,
  318.         though.) If the eye symbol does not appear, click in the Layers dialog
  319.         at the left edge to toggle it: this should make the layer visible. See
  320.         the Help section for the
  321.         <a class="link" href="gimp-dialogs-structure.html#gimp-layer-dialog" title="2.1.¬† Layers Dialog">Layers Dialog</a>
  322.         if you need more help.
  323.       </p>
  324.           </div>
  325.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  326.             <div class="titlepage">
  327.               <div>
  328.                 <div>
  329.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587624"></a>1.2.5.¬†
  330.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">The active drawable is transparent</span>
  331.       </h4>
  332.                 </div>
  333.               </div>
  334.             </div>
  335.             <div class="figure">
  336.               <a id="id2587635"></a>
  337.               <p class="title">
  338.                 <b>Figure¬†4.5.¬†
  339.           <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Unstuck layer transparency</span>
  340.         </b>
  341.               </p>
  342.               <div class="figure-contents">
  343.                 <div class="mediaobject">
  344.                   <img src="../images/using/unstuck-layers-dialog-transparentlayer.png" alt="Unstuck layer transparency" />
  345.                   <div class="caption">
  346.                     <p>
  347.               Layers dialog with opacity set to zero for the active layer.
  348.             </p>
  349.                   </div>
  350.                 </div>
  351.               </div>
  352.             </div>
  353.             <br class="figure-break" />
  354.             <p>
  355.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span> Move the
  356.         slider.
  357.       </p>
  358.           </div>
  359.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  360.             <div class="titlepage">
  361.               <div>
  362.                 <div>
  363.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587684"></a>1.2.6.¬†
  364.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">You are trying to act outside the layer</span>
  365.       </h4>
  366.                 </div>
  367.               </div>
  368.             </div>
  369.             <p>
  370.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to tell:</em></span>
  371.         In GIMP, layers don't need to have the same dimensions as the
  372.         image: they can be larger or smaller. If you try to paint outside
  373.         the borders of a layer, nothing happens. To see if this is
  374.         happening, look for a black-and-yellow dashed rectangle that does
  375.         not enclose the area you're trying to draw at.
  376.       </p>
  377.             <p>
  378.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span>
  379.         You need to enlarge the layer. There are two commands at the bottom of
  380.         the Layer menu that will let you do this: Layer to Image Size, which
  381.         sets the layer bounds to match the image borders; and Layer Boundary
  382.         Size, which brings up a dialog that allows you to set the layer
  383.         dimensions to whatever you please.
  384.       </p>
  385.           </div>
  386.           <div class="sect3" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  387.             <div class="titlepage">
  388.               <div>
  389.                 <div>
  390.                   <h4 class="title"><a id="id2587731"></a>1.2.7.¬†
  391.         <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">The image is in indexed color mode.</span>
  392.       </h4>
  393.                 </div>
  394.               </div>
  395.             </div>
  396.             <p>
  397.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to tell:</em></span>
  398.         <acronym class="acronym">GIMP</acronym> can handle three different color
  399.         modes: <a class="link" href="glossary.html#glossary-colormodel" title="Color model">RGB(A), Indexed
  400.         and Grayscale</a>. The indexed colormode uses a colormap,
  401.         where all used colors on the image are indexed. The <a class="link" href="gimp-tool-color-picker.html" title="6.2.¬† Color Picker">color picker</a>in
  402.         <acronym class="acronym">GIMP</acronym> however, let you choose RGB colors.
  403.         That means, if you try to paint with a different color than
  404.         it is indexed in the colormap, you end up in very
  405.         undetermined results (e.g. it paints with the wrong color or
  406.         you can't paint).
  407.       </p>
  408.             <p>
  409.         <span class="emphasis"><em>How to fix:</em></span> Always use the
  410.         RGB Color mode to paint on images. You can verify and select
  411.         another color mode from the <a class="link" href="gimp-image-mode.html" title="9.3.¬† Mode">Mode</a> menuitem in the
  412.         <span class="guimenu">Image</span> menu.
  413.       </p>
  414.           </div>
  415.         </div>
  416.       </div>
  417.     </div>
  418.     <div class="navfooter">
  419.       <hr />
  420.       <table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer">
  421.         <tr>
  422.           <td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch03s05s02.html"><img src="../images/prev.png" alt="Prev" /></a>¬†</td>
  423.           <td width="20%" align="center">
  424.             <a accesskey="u" href="pt01.html">
  425.               <img src="../images/up.png" alt="Up" />
  426.             </a>
  427.           </td>
  428.           <td width="40%" align="right">¬†<a accesskey="n" href="pt02.html"><img src="../images/next.png" alt="Next" /></a></td>
  429.         </tr>
  430.         <tr>
  431.           <td width="40%" align="left" valign="top"><a accesskey="p" href="ch03s05s02.html">5.2.¬†
  432.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">Final</span>
  433.     </a>¬†</td>
  434.           <td width="20%" align="center">
  435.             <a accesskey="h" href="index.html">
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  438.           </td>
  439.           <td width="40%" align="right" valign="top">¬†<a accesskey="n" href="pt02.html">Part¬†II.¬†
  440.       <span lang="en" xml:lang="en">
  441.         How do I Become a <acronym class="acronym">GIMP</acronym> Wizard?
  442.       </span>
  443.     </a></td>
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  449.