Editing Images - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - APPLICATION GUIDE 17-03-2009 Application Manual

GIF
Although very popular in the past for graphics with transparency, GIF is less often
used now because of license issues. GIF is also used for animated images. The
format can only save indexed images. See
for information about indexed images. The file size can often be quite small if only
a few colors are used.
PNG
With its support for transparency, lossless compression, free availability, and in-
creasing browser support, PNG is replacing GIF as the preferred format for Web
graphics with transparency. An added advantage is that PNG offers partial trans-
parency, which is not offered by GIF. This enables smoother transitions from colored
areas to transparent areas (antialiasing).
To save the image in the chosen format, press Save. To abort, press Cancel. If the image
has features that cannot be saved in the chosen format, a dialog appears with choices
for resolving the situation. Choosing Export, if offered, normally gives the desired re-
sults. A window then opens with the options of the format. Reasonable default values
are provided.

20.5 Editing Images

The GIMP provides a number of tools for making changes to images. The functions
described here are those most interesting for home users.
20.5.1 Changing the Image Size
Once an image is scanned or a digital photograph is loaded from the camera, it is often
necessary to modify the size for display on a Web page or for printing. Images can
easily be made smaller either by scaling them down or by cutting off parts of them.
Making an image larger is much more problematic. Because of the nature of raster
graphics, quality is lost when an image is made larger. It is recommended to keep a
copy of your original image before scaling or cropping.
Section 20.5.7, "Image Modes"
Manipulating Graphics with The GIMP
(page 218)
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