Cut, Copy And Paste

Edit And View

This chapter covers the basic functions found in the Edit and View menus. Some of these functions are well-known to users of similar software, but some features are quite unique to Gimp.


Cut, Copy And Paste
	These three commands (all located on the `right-click\|Edit` menu) are so common that they shouldn't need much explanation. As with ordinary word processing, cutting and copying a part of an image will place that selection in a local buffer. When you choose Paste, Gimp takes that selection from the buffer and turns it into a floating selection, which you can either anchor to a layer, or put into a layer of its own. Note that the default shortcut keys for these commands are the same as in most Windows programs: Ctrl+x for Cut, Ctrl+c for Copy and Ctrl+v for Paste. You may have noticed the fantastic possibilities of dynamic key bindings in Gimp. If you don't like the default settings, you can choose any shortcut key you like for a certain command by simply typing the new shortcut in the menu! Read more about it in "Default Shortcuts And Dynamic Key Bindings" starting on page 9. Paste Into `Right-click\|Edit\|Paste Into` is a very useful command when you want to insert an image into a defined shape in another image. To use it, you first need to copy or cut the image you want to paste. Then, you make a selection shape in the target image (if you use a little feather, you'll get wonderfully soft edges to your selection). Choose Paste Into and the image you copied will appear inside the selection. Click on the Move tool and you can place the selection exactly where you want it, before you anchor it by clicking elsewhere on the image. Cut, Copy And Paste Named You're probably accustomed to being able to cut/copy and paste only one image at a time. In other words, as soon as you copy or cut something new, the old copy will be replaced by the new one. Cut Named, Copy Named and Paste Named allow you to use a buffer that can hold a great number of cut images. If you're repetitively cutting/copying and pasting a lot of images, this is an extremely convenient feature. Select an image or part of an image that you want to cut or copy. Select the command `right-click\|Edit\|Copy Named` or `right-click\|Edit\|Cut Named`. A small dialog box pops up and prompts you to enter a name for your selection. After you enter a name and click on the OK button, your selection will be placed in a buffer. When you want to paste one of the selections you have named and put in the named buffer, choose `right-click\|Edit\|Paste Named`. This command brings up a dialog which displays a list of all the selections you have saved. To paste a selection, just choose its name and press Paste, and your selection will appear as a floating selection in the active image.



	Note: The named buffer only exists as long as your Gimp session. If you want to save a selection more permanently, you need to save it in a separate layer in your image. The option Replace Current Selection allows you to replace a non-floating selection in the image with a selection from your list. Replace Current Selection unchecked gives the same result as Paste Into, if you already have a selection in the image. If you try to use this option with a floating selection, the float will be anchored to the image. The selection from your list will turn into a new float in the same place as the old one. You can also delete a selection from the list if you no longer need it.

	Paste As New Image

	This is a very useful function. When you apply `right-click\|Edit\|Paste as New Image` to a selection, the image information within the selection will be copied and pasted into a new image with the same size and proportions as the selection. The selection itself will also be copied. If your image has several layers, all layers present within the selection will be copied into the new image (small layers outside the section will not be copied). All layer information such as visible layers, grouped layers, layer masks and alpha channels will also be copied to the new image. To learn more about layers read "Layers And Floating Selections" starting on page 315. Copy Visible `Right-click\|Edit\|Copy Visible` will copy all visible layers to a flat copy which you can paste into a new image. It's like executing both Copy and Merge visible layers at the same time. This function is quite handy when you don't want to alter the original layers, but only work with a quick copy. The copy can then be pasted into a new image.
Multiselect


	The `right-click\|View\|Multiselect` function is used to break up an image into several smaller images. This is ideal for preparing your work for being published on the Internet, since web graphics are often cut up in a grid system to make them fit in an HTML table. Before invoking the Multiselect command, you must prepare the image by dragging guides (See Rulers And Guides) to the exact position where you want the image to be partitioned off.

	When you apply the Multiselect command, the sections indicated by the guides will be selected and copied into new images. As with the Paste as New Image function, all layers and layer attributes are also copied. A layered image cannot be save as a JPEG file, so if you are designing for the Web, we recommend that you flatten the image (merge all layers) before applying Multiselect. This saves you the trouble of flattening all of the small Multiselect images separately.


Clear, Fill And Stroke
	Clear `Right-click\|Edit\|Clear` is a powerful command that cuts without saving what you cut away. Used in a layer, it will delete everything and leave an empty, transparent layer. Used on a selection, it will delete or cut everything inside of it, leaving only the "marching ants." Used on a non-alpha background, it will delete all background information, and leave only the background color that you see in the toolbox's background color swatch. If your image has an alpha channel (see Alpha Channels), the background layer will become transparent. Fill `Right-click\|Edit\|Fill` is the equivalent of the Bucket Fill with a maximum fill threshold. It's not as sophisticated as the Bucket Fill, but it's quick, easy and efficient. Note that this command always uses the background color in the toolbox color swatch, whereas the Bucket Fill uses the foreground color. Stroke `Right-click\|Edit\|Stroke` creates a colored edge around the selection. This edge, or contour, is based on what brush you're using and what brush options you have set in the Brush Selection dialog. Stroke can be used for creating simple drawings from selection shapes, or for manipulating selection edges by using Stroke with different artistic brushes and different settings for Spacing, Mode and Opacity.


Zoom


	If the Magnify tool is active, you can click in an image to zoom in, and Shift+click to zoom out. To zoom a specific part of the image, drag diagonally across that part (draw a rectangle), and release the mouse button. You can also pan a zoomed image by clicking and dragging on the image with the middle mouse button. Even if the Magnify tool is not active, you can zoom with the `right-click\|View\|Zoom in` and `right-click\|View\|Zoom out` commands. The default keyboard hotkeys are `-` (the minus sign or hyphen) for Zoom out and `=` (the equal sign) for Zoom in. Since Gimp supports dynamic key bindings, you can change = to + (the plus sign), if you like that better. Pressing `1` on your keyboard will return the view to 1:1 scale. The `right-click\|View\|Zoom` command allows you to choose from nine different zoom scales: 16:1, 8:1, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8 and 1:16. 16:1 is the lower limit and 1:16 is the upper limit for zooming in Gimp. Pressing - zooms in smaller steps than zooming using the scales. In other words, to display your image in a scale of 1:3, press - three times. Magnify Options Allow Window Resizing means that the canvas size will always adapt to the amount of zoom you use, so you'll always be able to see the entire image regardless of zoom level. If you don't want to use this option, you can press Ctrl+e for Shrink Wrap, which will also adjust the canvas to the image size.


Rulers And Guides
	Rulers At the top and left sides of the image frame, you'll see the Gimp rulers. As you drag the cursor over an image, a horizontal and a vertical arrow will appear inside the rulers, showing the current cursor position. In Gimp, all images are measured in pixels by default, so the ruler unit is pixels. You can change the ruler unit to millimeters or inches by editing your`.gimp\|gimprc` file (see "Gimp Start Flags And rcfiles" starting on page 785). However, there is not much point in doing so, because in Gimp v.1.0 you can't set image resolution and canvas size the way you can in Photoshop. Size (and therefore resolution) for a printed image is determined by the Print dialog or Save as (Postscript) dialog (see Printing Images and PostScript And EPS). The reason for this is that Gimp is hard coded to handle all images in 72 ppi (dpi) which is the default for things like web images, but is quite insufficient for printing. Guides Horizontal and vertical guides can be dragged straight from the left or top rulers. You can easily adapt the size, shape and position of a selection to the guides by drawing it within the frame of two vertical and two horizontal guides. You can also use the guides to set the exact point of origin from which you want a selection to start. If you press the `Ctrl` key and start dragging close enough to the point where the guides cross, that spot will be the center of the new selection. Without `Ctrl`, the selection will start from the cross and continue in the direction you drag.

	To change the position of a guide, use the Move tool. Notice how the move cursor symbol changes into a pointing hand when it touches a guide, and that the guides will change color from blue to red when they are touched.

	Toggle And Snap `Right-click\|View\|Snap To Guides` is enabled by default. If this option is checked, moving any kind of selection close enough to the guides automatically causes the selection to "stick" or snap to the guides. If you don't want to use guides and/or rulers, they can be toggled on and off with the `right-click\|View\|Toggle Guides` or `right-click\|View\|Toggle Rulers` commands.
Undo And Redo
	These options should be self-explanatory. Because you'll use them often, you should learn their keyboard shortcuts by heart. The shortcut for `right-click\|Edit\|Undo` is Ctrl+z and the shortcut for `right-click\|Edit\|Redo` `is` `Ctrl+r`.
New View, Shrink Wrap And Window Info
	New View The `right-click\|View\|New View` command opens a new window that displays the same image you're currently working on. This enables you to watch your creation from several windows, each with different focus and zoom if you so desire. However, it is still the same picture, and the changes you make will appear in all of the New View windows. If you want to try out different versions of your image, press Ctrl+d to Duplicate. Unlike New View, duplicate windows are separate, changeable copies of your original image. Changes made in one window won't appear in the other windows. Shrink Wrap `Right-click\|View\|Shrink Wrap` will cause the canvas size to expand or shrink based on your zoom, so you'll be able to see the entire image regardless of zoom level. If you want this to happen automatically every time you change the zoom level, click on Allow Window Resizing in the Magnify tool options dialog (double-click on the Magnify tool to display the Magnify tool options dialog). Window Info The Window Info dialog (`right-click\|View\|Window Info`) displays up-to-date information on the active window, such as Dimensions, Scale Ratio and Display Type.