Layers in The GIMP vs Paint.NET

[dosdan]

I had some layer work recently which I had difficulty doing in both The Gimp (v2.6.7) & Paint.NET (v3.5 beta).

I was trying to use Curves to lighten up the shadowed part of the face & upper chest in this gallery shot. (The photo has now been processed so it's showing the result I was after.)

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

I couldn't find a Layers panel in the The GIMP that shows you a thumbnail list of the & enables you to switch the visibility of each layer on and off, but I'm sure that I've seen it before.

So I tried Paint.NET. It has a Layers windows (F7 hotkey) and I was able to do what I wanted but when I'd finished there was a discernible line around the treated region. I presume this it due to no feathering control (The GIMP has this) for the selection edge.

So I ended up doing it ( the version you see at the link above ) with Paint Shop Pro X.

My questions are:

1. Does The GIMP have a Layers panel/window?

2. In Paint.NET how are you supposed to get a smooth selection transaction between processed & unprocessed areas without feathering? Are you expected to apply an extra Gaussian Blur to the selection whenever you want this?

Dan.

[heliphoto]

You should be able to get the layers panel in the GIMP by pressing ctrl-L or through the windows menu->dockable dialogs submenu. At least, that's where I find it on my X11/Mac version... I hate the GIMP for lacking adjustment layers (ie, no curves layer or HSL layers etc.)

[dosdan]

Originally Posted by heliphoto

You should be able to get the layers panel in the GIMP by pressing ctrl-L or through the windows menu->dockable dialogs submenu.

Thanks for that. That's the one I was looking for.