Any GIMP users here?

Suspect it is layers, transparency etc. etc.

HTH BIEID

Avpx

Bit of a bugger really. Need to make both transparent then cut and paste from one to the other should sort it

Make each image its own layer. Adjust transparency IIRC, then image flatten. I don't have a lot of experience with this method.

NT

As others say, it's all to do with layers, but I can't be more specific. I find that all answers are in the guide, but it takes a lot of time to find them.

Good luck, it is worth it. And make notes of the technique rewuired when you wok it out.

It's very easy in Photoshop, CorelDraw, etc. Layers, transparency, etc. Don't combine the layers though; there's no point and you might want to adjust later.

Bill

ISTR that there's a version of GIMP called Gimpshop - it's interface is similar to Photoshop.

That link simply redirects me to the official Gimp site, i.e. the unmodified Gimp. I don't think the interface is anything other than the normal one.

Another Dave

If its just an old single sided board, I seem to recall there was a transparent option in a context menu. I have no use for such software these days though. If its a multi layer pcb, good luck. Brian

Start gimp; file=>open as layers. Then in the layer panel adjust the transparency of the top layer. You can drag the top around until it lines up.

file, open the "bottom" image

file, open as layers the "top" image

select the "top" image in the layers dock (it probably will be already)

drag the opacity slider to allow the "bottom" image to be seen through the "top" one

You might need to use tools, transform, move to slide one image over the other to align them (or scale one layer, or do a shear or transform to match distortions in the images)

image, flatten image

file, export as to save as the "merged" image

Or go really OTT:

I can't seem to find any opacity control! I'd have thought it would be under layer/transparency/ but there's just a load of guff about "alpha" whatever that is. :-/

It's just below the "Mode" in tyhe layers dock, you can either use the up/down spinners at the right, or drag your mouse left/right over the whole grey rectangle, and it displays as a sort of bargraph.

Open each image with gimp. Gimp will place each one in a separate window or tab, depending on whether or not you configured gimp to use single window mode.

Select the window or tab for the top image and click CTRL+A then CTRL+C to copy the image.

Move to the window or tab for the bottom image and click CTRL+V to paste the top layer onto it.

The layers tab in the toolbox will now show two layers, the top layer will be highlighted and marked 'Floating Selection (Pasted Layer)'.

Click on the new layer icon at the bottom left of the layers tab to make this a permanent layer.

Drag the opacity slider at the top of the layers tab to obtain the desired transparency to let you see the bottom layer through the top one. It can sometimes be tricky to hit the right point to drag the slider but you can also click on the numeric value and edit it with the keyboard.

You might need to do a bit of scaling and dragging of the top layer to get everything to line up correctly

Save the new image. This will create an .xcf file with the layers preserved for future use. This enables you to temporarily hide the top layer if you want to view just the bottom layer. If you want to use the pencil tool to highlight certain tracks you can select the appropriate layer to put the lines on. Or even create a new transparent top layer for your track marks etc.

Alternatively you can export the image as a .jpg, .png or whatever with everything flattened into a single layer.

Ditto PaintShopPro. Keep the layers to avoid obscuring the bottom one.

A lot of computer boards are multi-layer these days :-(

Not seeing any of that on mine for some reason. There is no "mode" option under the layers tab. There's a "mode" option under the image tab, but it's only to do with greying the colours out. Still no further forward. Sigh....