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Freeware program to create "text" graphic for... - 4/14/2008 4:35:13 PM
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psaulm119
Posts: 213
Joined: 5/11/2005
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I decided to create my own wallpaper--a Bible verse that I wrote in a text box and turned into a jpeg with Paint. However, it looked incredibly distorted and there were shadows/black lines all around the text, when I stretched it.
What program can I use to do this, but to get it looking much cleaner? I've heard Pain.net is a decent program. I'm really not into any sort of advanced photo editing, just this one use. What would be able to deliver what I'm looking for?
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/14/2008 4:47:19 PM
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gengwall
Posts: 215
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: MN
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quote:
ORIGINAL: psaulm119
I decided to create my own wallpaper--a Bible verse that I wrote in a text box and turned into a jpeg with Paint. However, it looked incredibly distorted and there were shadows/black lines all around the text, when I stretched it.
What program can I use to do this, but to get it looking much cleaner? I've heard Pain.net is a decent program. I'm really not into any sort of advanced photo editing, just this one use. What would be able to deliver what I'm looking for?
A free online service for creating "headings" is flamingtext.com
A freeware program that I use a lot in conjunction with paint (especially because of its good shrink and stretch algorythyms) is Ultimate Fx. It is no longer available from its creators, (and of course, comes with no support), but I can email you the zip install if you like. Just pm me. (I also am not sure if it contains spyware, but I have never had a problem with it.) This is a simple to use program for manipulating images (but not painting on them or creating images from scratch). It does not support layers, but does support photoshop plugins. The included filters are pretty cool too. But most of all, I like using it to shrink and grow images.
There is also a free version of the program Ultimate Paint, which is kind of Ultimate Fx's better cousin. Here is the dowload site for that one: ultimatepaint.com This program allows you paint as well as manipulate. The free version doesn't have as many filters as Ultimate Fx and does not allow import and use of photoshop plugins. So, less ability to manipulate but the ability to paint on the image are the tradeoffs.
I also would not save stuff as jpg if you can get by with gif. I find that jpg always does some wierd dithering even on solid colors.
< Message edited by gengwall -- 4/14/2008 5:17:20 PM >
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/15/2008 1:52:04 PM
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Terath
Posts: 117
Joined: 2/23/2008
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Don't use .jpg in Paint, period. Sometimes .gif will work, probably will for text, but in Paint, there's only one format that really works: .bmp. It has a larger filesize, but for something like this, it works fine. If you don't want something more complicated than Paint, you probably shouldn't use the GIMP, despite the fact that it's the working man's Photoshop. Paint.net would be my reccommended free editor. It's close enough to Paint for you to use it for just about anything, and it handles files a great deal better than Paint.
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/16/2008 1:46:24 AM
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Bettawrekonize
Posts: 1204
Joined: 4/17/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: psaulm119
I decided to create my own wallpaper--a Bible verse that I wrote in a text box and turned into a jpeg with Paint. However, it looked incredibly distorted and there were shadows/black lines all around the text, when I stretched it.
Often when you try to stretch or manipulate a raster image (bitmap) it tends to get distorted. You should probably try to deal with a vector image if you want to manipulate the size.
Here is a list of vector editors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_vector_graphics_editors
Inkscape is a pretty decent, free editor released under the GPL. Just be sure to create (and save) your image in SVG format (which is a vector format).
If you insist on using a raster image I would recommend PNG over JPG for images, "that contain text, line art, or other images with sharp transitions."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics#Comparison_with_JPEG
You want to stay away from JPG when dealing with text, line art, and images with sharp transitions.
However, you would need a program that is compatible with PNG images. The Gimp is compatible with PNG files (I'm not sure if inkscape is but wikipedia says it can export to PNG images).
I just realized that you might not be able to use an SVG or PNG file as a background image. For manipulating sizes, what you could try to do is to make a vector image (ie: with inscape), manipulate that as you please, and then save the manipulated version as a raster image format that you can use as a background image. I wonder if there are any vector image formats that can be used as a background.
Another tip is that if you do want to edit the size of a text from a raster image (ie: without dealing with vectors instead) just increase or decrease the font size (ie: within paint) instead of stretching it (I think you can choose a font size in paint before you type). Or you can try to change the font to a font that you can more easily read. If you insist on stretching the raster image, choose a font size closest to (if not exactly, preferably slightly bigger and not smaller) how you want it to look after you stretch it, that way you won't stretch and distort it as much.
< Message edited by Bettawrekonize -- 4/16/2008 11:11:37 AM >
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/16/2008 1:47:03 PM
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Terath
Posts: 117
Joined: 2/23/2008
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I have a feeling that going into PNG's and vectors is just a little more complicated than Paint. I have a better solution:
psaulm119, just tell me what verse you want, and either tell me the translation or give me the text. I'll make something for you. If you have any requests as to font, color, whatever, just let me know. I'll also need you to tell me your screen resoution. Here's how you find it, just in case you don't already know:
Find an empty spot on the desktop and right click it.
Click properties.
Click the settings tab.
Find the number in the middle, left side. It should be something like 1024x768 or 1280x1024. Here's a picture of where it is: Picture
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/16/2008 3:45:32 PM
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psaulm119
Posts: 213
Joined: 5/11/2005
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Thanks for the replies. Terath, no I'd rather do this myself. Thanks very much for the offer.
Anyways, I d/l Paint.net and my first reaction was, "Gee this is why I uninstalled GIMP." Lots of windows and options. It seemed like a lot of overkill just for what I want.
I was able to get more of what I want by increasing the size of the original white space in MS Paint, and then saving at as a bitmap. It came out much clearer than with the jpeg.
Thanks for the links for image editors. I'll have a go at them if my needs ever get beyond what I need to do now.
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Paul
www.paulrittman.com
Clean up your computer @ www.paulrittman.com/ComputerFirstAid.html
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/16/2008 6:39:50 PM
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Terath
Posts: 117
Joined: 2/23/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: psaulm119
I was able to get more of what I want by increasing the size of the original white space in MS Paint, and then saving at as a bitmap. It came out much clearer than with the jpeg.
That...would have been the problem. Even JPG shouldn't give you lines going through things in most cases, unless it's getting stretched. The problem was matching the image to the resolution.
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 4/16/2008 11:42:24 PM
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Bettawrekonize
Posts: 1204
Joined: 4/17/2005
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I thought psaulm119 was referring to the feature within paint that lets you stretch something within an image.
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RE: Freeware program to create "text" graphic... - 5/13/2008 5:59:12 AM
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JonCo54
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Unfortunately there is limited freeware in windows. If you are interested check out the Linux Graphics Users Forum. There are lots of quality freeware programs for Linux Here is the link. http://linuxgraphicsusers.com/
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