Software: Gertrudis Pro

[raniday]

Is there any way to search for the Photoshop conversion thread? That is, is it a separate thread?

No, Steve, it's not a specific thread. Just occasionally a member who has both programs takes on the task of converting one of the many tutorials into PSP format.

[Steve Conway]

Thanx...will just dig around and see what I come up with.

Steve

Originally Posted by raniday

No, Steve, it's not a specific thread. Just occasionally a member who has both programs takes on the task of converting one of the many tutorials into PSP format.

[Steve Conway]

Check out and/or download ver. 2.2 It has some new features.

Another workaround for the blemishes on the edges, is to crop at the edge. Most images will stand all that it takes to clear the bad edges without losing any important parts of the original. Another way is to decrease the size of the image after using Gert.

Steve

Originally Posted by dkcoats

I bought Gertrudis yesterday after playing with the demo a little. I noticed the problem at the edges of the image, too. My workaround is to increase the canvas size in PS by a half inch or so before opening the photo in Gert.

I, too, lament the lack of layers and zooming. Seems to me I read somewhere they're coming.

I've been having a heckuva good time with it so far. Would also love to stumble across some good tutes for it.

dc

[Steve Conway]

I usually use more than one brush style and usually will change the stroke settings on them also. So unless I wrote it down I could not give you exact step by step details., (sorry.)

Try using lower brush stroke settings for more detail. You can even go over, with another brush, anything you have already done for more interesting effects and to change the overall look.

You are right, not many tuts out there. I have looked quite a bit. You are at one of the best sites for info and techniques on the program, however.

Thanks for the nice comments.

Steve

Originally Posted by pregan

Steve -

I really like the 2 pictures that you attached. I recently bought Gertrudis and am starting to play with it. Can you mention what brush styles you used for those 2 pictures and also briefly go over your workflow?

Do you know of any good tutuorials? I haven't found many. I have been following some of the workflow ideas shown in these tutorials :

http://www.gertrudisgraphics.com/wp/

So far, I am enjoying using this tool, it is very easy to use. Hopefully, this weekend I will be able to play some more and post something up. Here are a few things I dislike about it :

1 - No way too zoom in or out at all

2 - Does a poor job along the edges of the photo, the paint just blocks up, as you can see in Steve's pictures

3 - Project files can get huge since it records each paint stroke which is used later when you want to create a hi-res image

4 - Small number of default brush styles (scratch, oil, crayon, watercolor, pastel, and a couple others)

5 - No layers

6 - No way to make the source and target windows landscape

7 - Agreed with a previous poster that the output you get oftentimes has an unfinished look (I think with practice and some minor photoshop tweaks, its still workable)

Here are some of the things I like :

1 - Easy to use (bug plus)

2 - Ability to work in low res and output high res since it records brush strokes

3 - You work very quickly with the auto-sketch mode

4 - Does a good job with brush stroke directions (you can also tell it what direction as well)

5 - Ability to mix styles as a previous poster noted

More to come...

[Steve Conway]

Main Street at the Magic Kingdom on a rainy afternoon.

Steve

[stuart]

How did you do this is PP9 ?

Stuart

[Steve Conway]

All done with Gertrudis Pro.

Steve

Originally Posted by stuart

How did you do this is PP9 ?

Stuart

[mdijb]

Can anyone compare the ease of use and results of Gertrudis vs. Virtual painter? I know Painter is much more powerful but a comparison to this software would be helpful.

MDIJB

[Steve Conway]

If you have tried Virtual Painter, then try Gertrudis. I think you will see that Gert wins hands down.

Steve

Originally Posted by mdijb

Can anyone compare the ease of use and results of Gertrudis vs. Virtual painter? I know Painter is much more powerful but a comparison to this software would be helpful.

MDIJB

[stuart]

Gertrudis Pro is much more flexible. Virtual Painter is an "automatic" type program that gives essentially the same look for each pic. With Gertrudis, you actually sweep over regions of your choice using various brushes at various settings. You create what you want within the limits of the software.
It appears you can get decent stuff a lot easier than with Corel Painter 9.
Problems are lack of much documentation and inability to see a high resolution image in its entirety without minor navigation, but that would be needed in Painter 9 if you magnified the image for fine work anyway. Also, the cheaper version of the software gives a different type of flavor, so that having both would be useful. The author responds quikly to questions. For the price you can't go wrong.

Stuart

[Stuartist]

I've been playing with Gertrudis Pro for several months now. I tend to look at it like I do the Impressionist plug-in. I work in Gertrudis and use the result as one layer in Photoshop. The new version makes this easier since it has a "copy to clipboard" feature.

I usually try a few things with Impressionist and other filters and blend it all together. Many times, I blend in some fine detail like eyes and lips using the history brush.

You can find a sample of my work at my PBase gallery: http://www.pbase.com/stuartist/gertrudis

The attachment is a sample of a picture I did for the DigitalNuts Yahoo Group's weekly challenge. I used Photoshop's history brush to put in the fine light poles and some other detail after painting in Gertrudis. The texture is also from Photoshop.

-Stu

[Kraellin]

very nice, and welcome to RP.

craig

[plugsnpixels]

I too prefer automated paintings from my own photos because I'm a photographer and not a painter! Here's some of my own work done with Gertrudis, on a Mac no less (using Virtual PC!). I also featured Gertrudis in issue five of my free ezine, which discussed natural media apps. Gertrudis is worth spending more time exploring.

Mike

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Stuartist

The attachment is a sample of a picture I did for the DigitalNuts Yahoo Group's weekly challenge. I used Photoshop's history brush to put in the fine light poles and some other detail after painting in Gertrudis. The texture is also from Photoshop.

-Stu

Welcome, Stu...

You do some very nice work. It's always nice to have an accomplished artist like yourself join us.

Unlike Digital Nuts where the mods post pics to work on, members can post their own here (in the main photo-art forum).

Look forward to seeing more of your creativity.

~Danny~