Ornate Typographic Illustration Tutorial

Average: 4.6 (322 votes)

Let's learn how to create a richly ornate typographic illustration with the Gimp. We'll be using a few ornate pattern freebies from GoMedia, a few stock photos, and a few textures. This tutorial is based off of a Photoshop tutorial by Alex Beltechi at PSDTuts. Anyway, let's get started!


Please note: This tutorial may be a bit hard to follow since some of the steps were difficult to explain. Please refrain from making comments about how the steps were written.

Step 1

The first thing we'll do is add in a large wooden texture. Create a new document in the Gimp that is 1600x1200 pixels. Be sure it has a white backround. Download this texture and in your document go to File > Open as Layers and select the texture. Rename the layer to "wood texture 1."

Step 1

Step 2

Now let's give the wood texture more depth and a darker color. Create a new layer above the wood_texture_1 layer and name it wood_texture_1_gm. Fill it with black. Change its layer mode to Overlay and lower the opacity to 50%.

Step 2

Step 3

Create a new layer above the rest of the layers. Name it "wood_texture_darkening." Fill it with #633a1c and change the layer mode to Multiply.

Step 3

Step 4

Create a new layer above the rest of the layers. Name it "wood_texture_gradient." Change your foreground color to white. Apply a white to transparent gradient from top to bottom. Lower the opacity of the layer to 10%.

Select the entire canvas by hitting CTRL-A and go to Edit > Copy Visible, then go to Edit> Paste As > New Layer. Rename the new layer as "wood background." Delete all of the other layers, except for the original Background layer, in the layers dialog.

Step 4

Step 5

Let's add the type into the piece. Download this free font and install it. Save and restart the Gimp. Open up your document.

Type each letter of whatever you would like to spell on different layers. The colors do not matter as we will be replacing them with textures. I typed mine with different shades of blue to show what order they are in.

Step 5

Step 6

For this next part we will be needing some Gimp Layer Effect plugins. Download them here. Install them by placing the .scm file in your Gimp scripts folder (usually located at My Documents\.gimp-2.6\scripts). After you have done that, in Gimp, go to Filters > Script-Fu > Refresh Scripts. You should have a menu next to the Filters menu named Script-Fu with abunch of layer effects underneat it.

Use the layer effects we downloaded on the first letter in your text. The colors used for each effect are these: Drop Shadow #000000; Outer Glow #007eff; Bevel & Emboss #00d8ff and #122a79; Stroke #007eff.

Rearrange the layer order of each of these effects in this order: 1)letter-stroke 2)letter-highlight 3)letter-shadow 4)letter 5)letter-outerglow 6)letter-dropshadow

Step 6

Altogether your effects should look like this.

Step 6

Step 7

Repeat step 6 for the rest of the letters.

Step 7

Step 8

Now we have about a billion layers, but that's ok. Type in an "&" symbol. Make the size large and place it behind the rest of the letters. Again, the color of it doesn't matter. Do the same effects to it that we did to our other letters.

Step 8

Step 9

Create a new transparent layer above your first letter (and all of its effects). Name it (in my case) "s-texture." Open our wooden texture from earlier as a new layer. Right click the original S (or your corresponding letter) layer and hit "Alpha to Selection". Click the wooden texture and hit CTRL-I to invert the selection. Hit delete. Merge the wooden texture (now in the shape of our first letter) with the s-texture layer.

Step 9

Step 10

Create another layer ontop of that one named "s-texture2." Right click the s-texture layer and hit Alpha to Selection. Go to Select > Shrink. Shrink by 5 pixels and hit ok. Select the s-texture2 layer again. Fill it with white. Grab the elliptical select tool and select the bottom part of the s-texture2 layer like in the picture below. Hit delete. Go to Filter > Gaussian Blur. Blur by 2 pixels and hit ok. Lower the opacity to 40%.

Repeat steps 9 & 10 for each letter including our "&" symbol.

Step 10

Step 11

Download this and this screw from sxc.hu. Resize them and cut them out. You can do this a number of ways. I prefer the paths tool. Go to Colors > Desaturate and hit ok. We'll use the first screw for large ones and the second screw for smaller ones.

Apply the effects shown below to our first screw. When done, hide all of the layers that do not make up this screw and merge visible. Hide the screw and unhide the other one. Apply all of the effects to this screw and then merge visible. Unhide everything.

Step 11

Let's call our first screw "large screw" and our second one "small screw." Take the large screw and place it over our fist letter like I have. Resize if needed. Make it look like it is holding the letter in place.

Step 11

Step 12

Duplicate the screws and place them over the rest of our letters. Use variations in rotation and size for each screw.

Step 12

Step 13

Download this free ornate pattern. Open it as a new layer in our document. Use the Hue/Saturation, the Colorize, and the Color Balance tools to match the color of the pattern with the colors we used for the glow around the text. Try to get it as close as possible.

Step 13

Step 14

Apply the layer style shown below to the ornate pattern. Yes it looks odd now, but we'll fix that here in a sec. The color used for the glow is #007eff.

Step 14

Step 15

Create a new transparent layer above the pattern and name it "ornate-pattern-flourish." Change your foreground color to #8dcbff. Right click the pattern layer and select Alpha to Selection. Get out the brush tool and choose the largest soft brush. On the ornate-pattern-flourish layer, paint the edges of the selection like I have done below.

Step 15

Step 16

Group the layers making up the ornate pattern by clicking the little chain icons next to the thumbnail in the layers dialog. Duplicate the group. Position it accordingly. Resize, rotate, and place the groups on different areas around the text. You can even put some of the pattern groups in front of the "&" symbol.

Step 16

Step 17

Seeing as we can't use adjustment layers in Gimp, we'll have to make do with what we have and improvise. Create a new layer at the top of the layers window and name it "gradient map 1." Download this gradient and add it to your Gimp gradient folder, which is in the same area as your Gimp scripts folder that we located earlier. Refresh your gradients and it should show up.

Apply this gradient to the layer that we created using the gradient tool from left to right. Change the layer mode to Burn and lower the opacity to 15%.

Step 17

Step 18

It looks like the piece needs additional color. Create a new layer above one of the groups of the ornate patterns. Right click > Alpha to Selection on one of the layers from the patterns. Using this color, #bbffbe, paint parts of the selection with a soft brush.

Step 18

Step 19

Now let's do the same for our text. Take the selections from the texture2 layer of each letter.

Step 19

Step 20

Download this pattern. Copy it into your patterns folder (located in the same area as the scripts & gradients folders). Refresh your patterns. Create a new layer named "bg_pattern" above the wood background. Fill the background with the ornate pattern. Set the layer mode to Overlay. Duplicate the layer.

Step 20

Step 21

Create a new layer above the bg_pattern layers. Name it "bg_highlight." Get out the gradient tool. Make your foreground color white and your background color black. Set the gradient to radial and apply it from the center outward. Set the layer mode to Dodge and lower the opacity to 30%.

Step 21

Step 22

Use the same light green color we used earlier and paint a few light green spots in the background. Make the spots subtle.

Step 22

Conclusion

And we're done! Be sure to click the image below to view it full size!

Click here to view full size!

Tutorial by: Sarah Davison (SGlider12) ~2009 sglider12.blogspot.com

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Gimper's picture

not a fan of the blue colour

5

not a fan of the blue colour being used :P still an awesome tutorial with great techniques.

thanks sglider12!

Naki's picture

I was in love with the

5

I was in love with the initial PS tutorial, so thank you very much for the gimp translation! :D

tulcod's picture

Don't get me wrong, I like

Don't get me wrong, I like the end result, but it's mainly copy-n-paste. Seeing the intro in my RSS reader, I was expecting a huge tutorial on the wave pattern background, but even the wood texture is simply downloaded.

Gimpy's picture

I really like this

5

I really like this tutorial.
Cant wait the next one :)

sglider12's picture

Actually, the wood texture is

Actually, the wood texture is from scratch. There isn't an easy way to make it in Gimp so I made it in PS and put it up for you guys to download. If you can can come up with a way to make the texture exactly how it should be in the Gimp only, then please let me know.

Visitor's picture

Very good tutorial. I realy

5

Very good tutorial. I realy like to next.

Anonymous's picture

When I click the link to

When I click the link to download the plugin, it says "Page not found"...

Visitor's picture

^ http://registry.gimp.org/no

^

http://registry.gimp.org/node/186 - That's the one.
In the link above is an additional double quote at the end of the URL. You might want to fix that.

Oh and, I really liked the tutorial! :)

sglider12's picture

Hmm..link seems to work for

5

Hmm..link seems to work for me..unless Gimper fixed it already. Thanks!

Boba's picture

I started with the Papyrus

I started with the Papyrus font, and it ended up sucking. You should've included that it only works with chunky fonts.

sglider12's picture

Now why would I do that when

Now why would I do that when I gave you a font to use?

7rev's picture

Hmmm, I got to the bit where

Hmmm, I got to the bit where it asks to download the script for the glows and I followed the instructions on the tutorial here, and on the website link and for some reason its not showing up in script-fu, im getting a "photoshop plug in setting" though now, so is it anything to do with that?

Also I checked the file path and its in the right folder, also I checked the name and extensions and it is a .scm I did refresh it using the way you said up there, and I also restarted Gimp...So is there any help I could get with this please? Anyone else having this problem?

7rev's picture

Oh my word.....Haha! Sorry

Oh my word.....Haha! Sorry for comment above, I was looking in the wrong script-fu!

S'all good now, I can contuine =]

^
|
|
Amazing Gimp Intelligance

Rudy's picture

Dead link! Please upload

Dead link!
Please upload script on rapidshare.
Thank you.

JustGoogleIt^^'s picture

Dont understand step 9 at

4

Dont understand step 9 at all. pleaaaase help.

Visitor's picture

is it possible that the

is it possible that the effects link can be re added? its dead.

sglider12's picture

Guys the link IS NOT DEAD.

Guys the link IS NOT DEAD. You are looking in the wrong area.

JustGoogleIt^^'s picture

Please help with step 9!!

Please help with step 9!!

Rudy's picture

I can the download the

I can the download the scripts but i have error http 500.:(
I go to the other servers but there is old version layers effect.
Please help.

Anonymous's picture

500 - Internal Server

500 - Internal Server Error

This is what I get when I click on http://registry.gimp.org/node/186.

Visitor's picture

I followed your link, however

I followed your link, however I get an 500 Internal Server Error.

Do you have another resource so we can get the plugin?

sglider12's picture

I can't do anything about the

5

I can't do anything about the server error. Maybe they've had too many visitors..idk

But here I've reuploaded the script onto Mediafire. Enjoy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?l2zmngqmrdx

Visitor's picture

oh boi this is just awesome .

oh boi this is just awesome . thanks a ton for this tutorial

muratha's picture

Great tutorial ! Thanks ! I

Great tutorial ! Thanks !
I followed the tutorial but could'nt get as nice as you did
But for a first work with gimp it was a good exercise
here is mine
http://www.blog.muratha.fr/non-classe/ornate-muratha/#more-77

Can't wait for the next tut

=)'s picture

Completely stuck on Step 9.

Completely stuck on Step 9. Please help.

muratha's picture

on step 9: you make à copy of

on step 9:
you make à copy of your wood background
then you right click on the letter and do "Alpha to Selection" to get the selection
Next you go on the background copy layer, you invert the selection with "ctr I" and hit delete
That will delete everything around the letter
Hope my english is understandable
Good luck

Guest's picture

I'm stuck on Step 11, how do

I'm stuck on Step 11, how do I resize the screws?

Guest's picture

Okay, I can resize the

Okay, I can resize the screws, but the white background's still there. How do I get rid of it?

muratha's picture

you need to cut them too and

you need to cut them too and place them on a transparent layer

Guest's picture

I did, but then it told me to

I did, but then it told me to save it as a .jpg file, and then the white background's there again...

muratha's picture

jpg does'nt handle alpha you

jpg does'nt handle alpha you don' want to save as jpg.
use .xcf format to keep the informations

but you need to copy the layer not the file. I don' understand why you save a jpg .

Visitor's picture

i can't get the ornate wave

i can't get the ornate wave pattern from mediafire! Please Help!!

Visitor's picture

Great tutorial but I'm not

Great tutorial but I'm not able to get the effect plug-ins or the ornate pattern from mediafire. Could you please help me with that?

Tee Hee!'s picture

Could you perhaps have the

Could you perhaps have the users install the font before opening Gimp to eliminate having to restart, albeit only if they don't already have it open...My old computer would've taken like 5minutes to restart and that's why I say it, to save time.

bradsut26's picture

im on step 9 and im at the

im on step 9 and im at the part where you hit delete after doing alpha to selection. but when i hit delete nothing happens. what am i doing wrong?

funlw65's picture

Wow! Speechless! Will try it

Wow! Speechless! Will try it too see what is happening :)

Visitor's picture

OMG EVERY TIME I TRY TO

5

OMG EVERY TIME I TRY TO DESATURATE THE FIRST SCREW IMAGE GIMP FREEZES EVERY TIME WITHOUT FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!

d^'s picture

So far so good, however I'm

So far so good, however I'm stuck on Step 9, according to the instructions you goto above your first letter (including filters) then create a transparent layer, then do you open the wooden texture as a new layer above that? or do you make a copy of the original wooden layer? This section requires more screenshots or something, I'm completely baffled.

d^'s picture

Nevermind, got it. I think

Nevermind, got it. I think it just needs some clarification, when you create the transparent layer above your first letter, duplicate the wood layer down the bottom of all the layers, then drag that duplicate above the transparent layer, then proceed to right click letter > selection from alpha, then invert the wooden layer, then press delete.

Visitor's picture

I don't get Step 6. Are we

I don't get Step 6. Are we supposed to change each and every letter of text, or...?

Same visitor as above's picture

On Step 6, I don't understand

5

On Step 6, I don't understand what I am supposed to re-arrange.

lnesuper's picture

very nice.I like it very

very nice.I like it very much.Thinks for your tut.

Rachel's picture

I'm having trouble with step

5

I'm having trouble with step 6. I follow the instructions exactly but I don't get your results. It won't emboss but the letter does glow a little too much. What do I do?

Guest's picture

Sometimes the delete key

Sometimes the delete key doesn't work for me. Go to Edit > Clear.

Guest's picture

For Step 6, you need to make

For Step 6, you need to make sure that you're on the right layer (the original text layer).

Visitor's picture

wow this is absolutely

5

wow this is absolutely amazing i saw ur blog and commented on this page a few time and i just finished my logo very nice i hope you have a good career and life

Vistitor's picture

I LOVED this tutorial!!!!!!!

5

I LOVED this tutorial!!!!!!! I think it took me 3 weeks to figure out everything but when I did, WOW. I also think that you did a really good job explaining everything.

Person's picture

What you do is make sure that

What you do is make sure that as you're doing the different scripts keep the origanal letter selected. I had this same problem. Hope that was it.

~Person

plejo's picture

I can't duplicate as a group

I can't duplicate as a group by step 16, or do you need to duplicate it layer by layer?

gr,

Visitor's picture

Thanks for this tut!! :D

Thanks for this tut!! :D I've been wanting to do something like this but didn't know how. You're awesome!!

sadia's picture

I need serious help with the

I need serious help with the downloading of the font, i downloaded where it said "Download PC / MAC OS X" and than (I have winrar by the way) and i opened my winrar and i put the 4 things all the 4 things that said License_international, License_Argentina, Ayosmonika_Bold_by_gravemanddesign, AYOSB__

I first dragged all of them, and put them in to .gimp-2.6 > fonts and put them 4 in there than i dragged out all of them except for AYOSB__, and still whenever i try to type is my name "Sadia" the text doesn't show up! I closed my GIMP and started it again and still whenever i type in my name it still doesn't show up! someone please help me if you understand what i mean!

sadia's picture

Okay well i figured out that

Okay well i figured out that my text was coming up now, so now i need more help with the "&" sign, i don't know how to put it behind all the other letters, i need help on that, can someone please help me?!!

sadia's picture

YOU DON'T EXPLAIN GOOD! I

1

YOU DON'T EXPLAIN GOOD! I ALWAYS GET STUCK ON SOMETHING! ON STEP 9, WHERE IS DELETE? AT LEAST CAN YOU TELL US WHERE TO GO AND WHERE TO CLICK AND STUFF? OR IF IT'S A RIGHT CLICK OR SOMETHING? SERIOUSLY! YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO EXPLAIN!

DJ FLIX's picture

Hey thanks for the tutorial

4

Hey thanks for the tutorial the logo is amazing but take a little time to do it but
is worth it. i am a novice but i made it very well :) (My english is no good :P)

leighbaby's picture

it's too bad that people feel

it's too bad that people feel so negitive. i'm in love with this, and thank you so much for taking the time to teach everyone, i think it's great. i'm having trouble getting that font though, has anyone else gotten stuck there? my un zipper keeps getting stuck half way through the extraction because of a "fatal error"

Visitor's picture

God, people just don't have

God, people just don't have common sense nowadays!!!!!!!!!!!!! and you're one of them

Meg's picture

Thanks so very much for this

Thanks so very much for this tutorial. I really learned a lot from it and enjoyed it as well! It's wonderful that you went through so much trouble so us "newbies" can get some of the hang of it, too.

Nnekababy's picture

Will you

Will you pppppppllllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeee walk me thru this tutorial since you have figured it out? I'm new to gimp and only have a half of idea as to what I am doing. I'm spending too much time finding simple things like "opacity" on the tools and mind still doesn't look anything like the example. If it's too much to type, I can call you or you can call me....whatever's easier for you.

El Llama's picture

I like it very much. Great

5

I like it very much. Great concept. :)

jwilliams43's picture

Nice thanks for the tut.

5

Nice thanks for the tut. Here's my attempt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16300878@N04/3665258685/

me's picture

WOw! the best Gimp tut i've

WOw! the best Gimp tut i've ever seen!!!

sglider12's picture

Guys, It's hard to write

Guys,

It's hard to write tutorials, especially if they are hard to explain. When I say hit delete, I mean you physically hit the delete button on your keyboard. Really, it's a simple concept.

Tutorials can be hard for me to explain because not everything is step-by-step. Some of it takes work to figure out. This is even harder if I don't have much to work with and then I'm trying to turn it into something for novices. If you keep getting stuck, either work at it or go to an easier tutorial. Maybe you can't do the harder ones yet. I'm not trying to be rude here, I'm just suggesting you move on to something simpler for now instead of leaving rude and unnecessary comments.

Gimper's picture

Don't let it get to you

Don't let it get to you sglider12 , the fact that some users are showing their own results shows that it is helping some users it's just not for everyone and no one said it was :).

Visitor's picture

Had a lot of fun following

5

Had a lot of fun following this tut, loved the results and it gave me lots of inspiration to experiment. Thanks for taking so much trouble to post it. Awesome!

Visitor's picture

When I download the gradient

When I download the gradient it downloads as a text file, is this what it is supposed to be. I have tried to load it on gimp and it hasn't worked. :S. Great tutorial though almost finished :P

krys's picture

i have no idea where to

i have no idea where to install the font. i go to file etc/fonts/ thats where i put it though it doesn't show up, any tips or help?

Visitor's picture

you need to be way more

you need to be way more specific on the tutorial especially on the steps and more picture of what not only what it should look like but also your layers and what should it look it after certain steps. dont get me wrong i thing its a good tutorial though on step 9 and 10 i was completely lost and i really wanted to finish but oh well. thanks again for the tutorial

Visitor's picture

Fonts are always picked up

Fonts are always picked up from the Windows' FONTS folder so they have to be installed there.

Install new fonts on your computer:

remember after downloading the font go to the file right click and press extract all then thats whats meant by unzipping

Windows XP -

1) To install a new font, download the desired font, and save it on your computer.
2) Click the Start menu, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Fonts, go to the File menu, and then click Install New Font.
3) Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded or unzipped font (double-click to unzip a file).
4) In the List of Fonts box, click the font that you want to add, and then click OK.

Windows Vista -

1) Open Fonts: Click the Start button, click Control Panel, click
Appearance and Personalization, and then click Fonts.
2) Click File, and then click Install New Font.
3) If you don't see the File menu, press ALT.
4) In the Add Fonts dialog box, under Drives, click the drive where the font that you want to install is located.
5) Under Folders, double-click the folder containing the fonts that you want to add.
6) Under List of fonts, click the font that you want to add, and then click Install.

Mouze's picture

Teehee you crashed my gimp.

5

Teehee you crashed my gimp. xD

Mouze's picture

Great tutorial! Here's my

Great tutorial!

Here's my final result. :D

Visitor's picture

i'm stuck on step 9, when i

i'm stuck on step 9, when i hit delete, it deletes it, but the background turns into my back ground color, instead of the wood.. can anyone help?

Visitor's picture

it works now, you should add

it works now, you should add not to save as JPEG, someone said that here in the comments, thanks. Also many thanks for this great tutorial. I'll try to finish it now :)

razie92's picture

great job on the tutorial! i

great job on the tutorial! i completed mine in about 6 hours: http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5640/razie.jpg

vijaydude's picture

i love this tutorial. best

5

i love this tutorial. best one I've seen in weeks

GreylockGM's picture

listen i am really stuck so

listen i am really stuck so can someone send me a xcf file of this tutorial so i can see wat i am doing wrong please...

my email is

lorvin_estes@hotmail.com

Visitor's picture

This is really cool But I am

4

This is really cool But I am having trouble with Step 6
"Rearrange the layer order of each of these effects in this order: 1)letter-stroke 2)letter-highlight 3)letter-shadow 4)letter 5)letter-outerglow 6)letter-dropshadow"

I can't seem to find the (2)Highlight effect,(3)shadow, (4)?? blank??
Try to be more specific! D:

Visitor's picture

Ok I can't find the script

Ok I can't find the script folder on my computer. I've looked in all the folders where I installed GIMP. The only thing I found was the pluggin folder and that was way in there,

Visitor's picture

excuse me can you make me the

5

excuse me can you make me the same thing but make it say avinash? If you do send it to me on myspace or aim www.freshndunique17@aol.com

bummed's picture

im stuck on step 10. im

im stuck on step 10. im lost.

can someone tell me step by step in more of a way that i can understand.please.

thankz.

Visitor's picture

step 20 is problematic.

4

step 20 is problematic. theres no ambiguity in the instructions, but when i use 2 overlay layers, i get a dark pattern above the wood, instead of a light overlay. the best i can do is one screen layer.

Visitor's picture

another thing that seems to

another thing that seems to work is one overlay layer, 82% opacity, but invert the colors.

Simoetta's picture

Thanks for the tuto. I made

5

Thanks for the tuto. I made it to step 20 and got stuck, but that's pretty good for a complete n00b like me :D

Cheers

Taylan's picture

Good tuto.Thanks.I love it

Good tuto.Thanks.I love it

Brook's picture

Please clarify step 11, its

5

Please clarify step 11, its very difficult to find a good tutorial out there that explains that step clearly :(

wollodya's picture

my work:

Visitor's picture

really don't understand

4

really don't understand number 6.. so lost right now :(

Claudya's picture

Love all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really

5

Love all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really nice effect. I´ll try. ty

deepakkamus's picture

Hey PEOPLE, Its really easy.

5

Hey PEOPLE, Its really easy. I got stucked for a few hours, but then, I duplicate not the original wood layer, but the layer with the first changes, the dark one. And it results. When I duplicated the wood layer, original, or I created a new layer from the wood image, al the background, after the crtl-I selection, got white. But I did all with a duplicate from the dark one layer, the edited image, and works.

Thank you for this tutorial. Really great. THANKS THANKS

joris's picture

someone please tell me how to

someone please tell me how to doe step 10 i just don't get it the right way

Visitor's picture

The link for the script is

The link for the script is broken :X Send it to me please. kingkc4u@yahoo.com
Thanks!

Visitor's picture

Great tutorial. For those of

5

Great tutorial. For those of who can't do Step 9, just do the instructions he says. I got stuck a little bit on it because I saved the original wood layer as a jpeg without an alpha channel, so when I hit delete the background changed to white, not transparent. If anyone has trouble, just right click on the wood texture u open as a layer in step 9 and hit add alpha channel. Then continue with what he says, hit the delete key and it will work.

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