Mike Rankin shows the process of exporting and importing vector paths in GIMP. Mike also discusses how paths are saved as SVG files (Scalable Vector Graphics), and options like merging paths and scaling paths. How to move paths between GIMP and other applications are also discussed.
- [Interviewer] Gimp's ability to export and import vector paths can be a real benefit when you're collaborating with others, or just when you want to move paths between Gimp and other applications. So let's see how that works. In our exercise file, I have five paths. One that I converted from text, and four others that are simple shapes. And I can see their names here in the paths dialog. If I click on each one to select it, the path is shown in red, while the deselected paths are shown in blue. Let's say that I wanted to send these paths to some colleagues so they can use them in their work in Gimp.
Of course, I can just make this whole file available to my colleges, but if it was an especially large file, and they only needed the path, then that would be overkill. So instead, I can just export the paths to a separate file. To do that, I'll go to the paths menu and choose export path. This opens a dialog box where I can name my path file, and choose a location for it. So I'm gonna put it on the desktop and I'm just gonna call it my paths. Gimp exports paths as scalable vector graphics files, or SVG files, but it doesn't add the file extension.
So let's do that here. .SVG. Also notice at the bottom of the dialog box, there's a pop-up menu where you can choose to export just the active path, or all the paths in the Gimp document. This can be really handy if you have a whole bunch of paths that you want to export. Since you can save them all in one file and only have to do it once. So I'll export all the paths and click save. Now to pretend I'm my colleague, I'll create a new document. I'll use the templates dialog and double-click 1024 by 768.
This contains no paths right now. But in the paths dialog menu, I'll choose import path, find my SVG file, and notice the two options here: to merge the imported paths, and to scale them to fit the image. Merging combines all the exported paths into one. I want them to remain independent, so I'm not gonna select that, but I will select scale imported paths to fit image, and click open.
All the paths are added to this document, but they're not visible. So I can turn them on to see them. Note that they kept their same names and order as was in the original document. And if you wanted to use paths created in Gimp in a vector graphics application, like Inkscape, you can use this same method. Here we saw how you can share vector paths using Gimp by exporting them as SVG files and then importing them into another document.
Author
Released
6/13/2017- Navigating the GIMP interface
- Creating and saving documents
- Working with selections
- Using Quick Masks
- Adjusting images with Curves and Levels
- Working with text and paths
- Working with colors and brushes
- Configuring brush keyboard shortcuts
- Enhancing photos with filters
- Outputting images
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Introduction
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Welcome43s
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1. Getting Started
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Exploring GIMP preferences3m 52s
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Exploring GIMP tools4m 30s
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Creating new documents3m 56s
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Saving documents3m 52s
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2. Working with Selections
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Using the Free Select tool4m 32s
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Using the Fuzzy Select tool3m 55s
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Using Quick Masks6m 28s
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Saving selections2m 11s
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Using the Selection Editor2m 49s
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3. Working with Layers
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Understanding layers5m 28s
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Adding layers3m 1s
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Arranging layers3m 11s
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Blending layers9m 14s
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4. Working with Masks
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Creating layer masks6m 43s
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5. Working with Paths
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Creating and modifying paths9m 13s
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Paths and selections5m 2s
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Stroking paths4m 15s
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Transforming paths3m 3s
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Copying and merging paths2m 33s
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6. Adjusting Images
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Adjusting canvas size4m 28s
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Adjusting print size4m 19s
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Scaling images3m 29s
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Rotating images4m 44s
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Cropping images4m 2s
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Using perspective3m 27s
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Using Cage Transform3m 23s
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7. Using the Paint Tools
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Working with colors6m 50s
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Working with brushes7m 19s
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Using brush dynamics5m 43s
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Using the Brushes dialog4m 54s
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Creating a Parametric brush3m 56s
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Creating a Color brush3m 53s
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8. Retouching Photos
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Using Levels7m 29s
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Using Curves6m 8s
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Sharpening images5m 47s
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Blurring images6m 34s
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Using Dodge and Burn2m 6s
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Using the Clone tool7m 42s
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Using the Healing tool3m 38s
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9. Working with Filters
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Using the Distortion filters3m 15s
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Adding drop shadows3m 23s
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Adding noise3m 17s
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Fixing red eye5m 52s
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10. Working with Text
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Adding and editing text5m 10s
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Transforming text3m 10s
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Converting text to paths3m 14s
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Putting text along a path2m 59s
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11. Outputting Images
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Printing from GIMP1m 43s
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Exporting for web4m 15s
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Exporting for print4m 14s
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Conclusion
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Next steps1m 7s
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Video: Importing and exporting paths