DRAWING FAUX LINES
an Image Magick Tute by Flo |
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Primitive: reset to Rectangles.
Gravity: This tool always measures starting from the upper left (northwest) corner.
Sometimes we want to draw Lines on both sides, or both top and bottom of an image. The way lots of people do this is to Draw them on the left side and then go to Transform, flop the image and repeat the Draw. This takes more time than is necessary, tho, if you want the lines the same length, from top to bottom on both sides.
Look at the 200x300 example below. I added a 10-pixel black border at top and bottom so you can see how the false lines do extend beyond the image.
1,-9 199,330
10,-9 189,330
20,-9 179,330
30,-9 169,330
The trick here is to keep the top and bottom lines of the Rectangle OFF the image.
So I drew 8 Lines with 4 Rectangles, thus saving time. If you want lines only on top and bottom, just change the numbers accordingly to keep the two sides of the Rectangles OFF the image.
An example of this on a scenic image. The blue "lines" along both sides were drawn with Rectangles.
SLANTED FAUX LINES
Refer back to the Rectangles tute, to the Skew options to refresh your memory about which Skew does what. For the title image, I used the following coords for the two diagonal orange "lines" which are really one skewed rectangle:
Image size=450x100
Settings: -500,100 900,50
Skew Y @ -35
Please note that the 4th coord (settings) number is 50! This was a happy mistake. Normally for a Rectangle, the 4th number should be greater than the 2nd number.
The trick is to get the left and right sides of the Rectangle OFF the image, retaining only the top and bottom sides. Figuring the coords when using Skews is not easy.
Next I placed the two orange "lines" through the center of the unannotated image, using Translate to move the Rectangle horizontally to the right. See below.
Settings same as above; Translate @ 95, 0.0
Now I wanted those 2 orange "lines" at either end. Changing the horizontal (1st and 3rd numbers) didn't do anything. But when I changed the 4th number, I was able to move the 2nd "line" over to the right end:
Settings: -100,100 900,315
Skew Y @ -35 (no Translate)
Try out different coords. Once you get 2 false lines that please you, then try more Draw/Rectangle skews, on the same or different images. Keep a record of your coords settings, so you know how to duplicate those results.
Remember: We are limited only in our imaginations and creativity.
Drawing Rectangles
5-Pt Star ~
Simple Lines ~
TIPS
Skewing Lines ~
Extreme Lines
Scale & Translate
Rotating Lines ~
Polylines & Polygons
Back to Flo's Image Magick Draw Tutes
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