How to make nail designs in Gimp

Following the latest release of our prim nails, there might be some interest on how to use these templates to make your own designs; and as I wanted to explain that to my partner anyway, I might as well write it down for everyone here.

First off, if you haven’t already done so, please get yourself a copy of gimp, the open graphics software. With gimp, make yourself a copy of the file named “03a47bba-514b-4d6a-ad73-2231503df5fd” and add the extension .j2k to that copy. While Imprudence exports textures along with the xml files neccessary to re-import them, the texture files are saved without file extensions (though they are in JPEG 2000 format) and need to remain in this state for the import to work properly! Thus, whenever you edit a file from our packages, please make yourself a copy first.

We’ll make a dual-tone nail that allows you to add your own designs to it. First, open the file in gimp; it should look similar to the above picture. The left-hand panel shows your tools, while the right-hand panels displays layers and tool settings. Layers are especially important to us, as they allow for the editing of different parts of an image without affecting other parts. As a base rule, leave the layer ‘background’ unedited as a reference and instead create copies of it for you to work on.

Duplicate the background layer first, clicking on Layer > Duplicate. You will see a new layer named ‘background copy’ on the right hand panel. Select that layer, if it isn’t already selected. First off, we will get rid of the black background and replace it with transparency. To do so, first add transparency to the layer (Layer > Transparency > Add alpha layer) then click on Select > By colour (or click the according tool in the tool panel) and click somewhere on the black background. You will see an outline all around the black parts of the image. Remove them by clicking ctrl+x. As the background image is the same as the edited one, you won’t see a difference right away. Click on the eye symbol next to the background layer to turn it invisible. Now you can see the nail surrounded by grey squares, which illustrate transparency.

Remove the selection again by clicking on Select > select nothing, then duplicate the layer once more. Now, make a circular selection like shown in the above picture, and remove the selected portion of the new layer with ctrl + x again. You now have two different layers you can edit individually for different parts of the nail. To do so, select the layer you want to work on and click on Colours > colourize. You can change the colour, saturation and brightness of the according layer. Use it on both layers to create a dual-tone nail. Then, it’s a good time to save your progress. Also, you can apply filters to your layers individually, maybe creating nice effects.

As a further step, make two more duplicates of your whole-nail layer. Since textures are being ‘wrapped’ around sculpties, your nail would look nice from the upside, but black from below, if you would simply use the default black background with this map. Thus, moving one of your duplicate layers to each side of your central nail will make the lower side of your nail look the same as the upper side. Finally, make the background layer visible again, and save the image as a .png or .jpg file to upload into your grid of choice.

In addition to the above colouring, you can edit your nail design further by painting on it, or applying other textures. A good source for textures is Filter Forge.¹ To add a texture, create a new ‘empty’ layer. Then, open the texture file. Make sure the texture is the same resolution as your nail file (512 x 512 pixels). Select all and copy the texture with ctrl + c, then switch to your nail file and insert it by pressing ctrl + v. You will have to anchor the inserted layer first by clicking Layer > Anchor. By default, it will overlap all layers below, but by selecting ‘multiply’ as a mode in the layer panel, it will add to the layers below. You can edit your nails further with custom brushes, and also with prim attachments, such as gems, created inworld.

[Edit 24th June 2010 - I made a new nail-sculpt with improved shadow map, making some of the above steps unneccessary.]

(Deutsche Version)

1. In the above example I used Insect Metal Abstract. [↩]