Basic Seamless Graphic Tutorial

The layers should be named Empty Layer and Empty Layer #1 by default. Just double click on the layer name to change them to whatever you want. For this tutorial let’s name the top layer Sinus, the middle layer color and keep the bottom layer named background. I don’t really remember why I always leave the bottom layer transparent and locked, I just do. You’ll probably have great results without doing it, but I’m going to stay with it.

<-Here’s what three layers look like

Click on the layer you just named color and let’s get to work. We’re moving to the Image Screen. First we need to choose what part of the image we are going to work on. For this tutorial we will be working on the entire image. Simply right click on the image then follow the menu to select-all, or by hitting Control-A.

Gimp Image Panel

Now let’s look back at our main toolbox. See the black and white color boxes on the left? These are your foreground and background colors. Now double click on the black swath to change the foreground color. Just make the color any dark color and click OK.

Main Dialog

The Color Dialog

Back on the main toolbar find the icon that looks like a paint bucket. It is called the bucket fill tool. It will fill the selected area, in our case the entire image, with either the foreground color, background color or a pattern based on your selection in the Bucket Fill Options Menu. Make sure you have the FG Color Fill selected.

Click to View PaintBucket Options

Back to the image screen we go and clicking on the screen fills our image with the selected color. There you have it, a perfectly tilable background. Not a great one, but tilable all the less. Fortunately for you, we’re going to take this a little further and add a little zest to our background.

Fill with Selected Color

Updated Layers

Go now to the Layer dialog box and lock the color layer for now. Then click on the sinus layer to apply our effect. Return to the image now and right click the mouse. Follow the menu to Filters-Render-Pattern-Sinus. The Sinus Pattern uses a gradient to make different patterns on the screen. Playing around with the controls will quickly show all the shapes the Sinus Pattern can take. We’ll keep it simple here. On the setting tab leave the X scale and Y scale set at 15. The only thing we’ll change is the complexity slider, which we’ll move to 15.

Now click on the Colors tab. Here you can select which colors to use for the Sinus Pattern. For this tutorial, select the Black and White option.

The Sinus Dialog

Now back to the layers dialog box. Near the top of the dialog box find the mode selection, which should say normal right now. Try making it burn, which imprints the top laver on the layer(s) beneath it.

Burn