Universal layer text effects with GIMP

Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.

- Karsten Günther

A common requirement is to apply effects to try to lift plain text and make it look more appealing. Originally, logos (GIMP’s jargon for scripts that create text with special effects) were the preferred way to make text eye-catching. However, these scripts are limited and can only be adapted slightly. They usually implement just one effect, which is then applied to freely selectable text. Almost all effects try to generate three-dimensional structures from fonts and often combine this with the simulation of special surfaces, such as metal, stone, wood or rust.

Logo Toolbox

For a long time, logo scripts were developed in rows without any restrictions. Only one effect was ever created and the scripts didn’t offer a preview. Logos can be found in GIMP under File > Create. Another disadvantage of logo scripts is that new GIMP versions often have (small) changes in the ScriptFu API, which leads to errors in the logo scripts. It usually takes a few months until adapted versions of the logos are made available. The current version can be found at: https:// github.com/GNOME/gimp-data-extras. However, many of the logos developed many years ago are now considered old-fashioned in terms of design, which is why they’re no longer necessarily available in the GIMP packages of distros and have to be installed separately.