Going back through 2009 submissions will provide a point of reference as we search for these answers.

When used effectively, gradients can add new dimensions to vector-based imagery. The landscape designed by hrum (pictured above) combines multiple gradient layers into an effective piece of art.

Photorealistic techniques became very popular design choices for the Clip Art Community in 2009, and Chrisdesign provided an excellent example with his longsword.

Near the end of the year, placidoaps merged traditional vector graphic lines with tactical uses of gradients to give his rendering of a penguin both character and depth.

The Open Clip Art Library accepts vector art from anyone, anywhere, so help make visual landmarks in 2010 by contributing! Check out other 2009 works by Simanek and klaasvangend to get inspired.

Clip Art of the month is sponsored by Worldlabel.com, a multifunctional label manufacturer.

Akkana Peck’s Gimplabels is a set of scripts for the Gimp image editor that make creating labels and business cards a snap. A .tar package is available on the Web site, but the contents are simply a Gimp script named labels.scm and the utilities needed to rebuild labels.scm. Gimplabels was originally written for an older version of the Gimp, so if you are using the current revision (2.6) and it doesn’t work, try the rebuilding instructions inside the package. You should be able to install the script by copying it to the /scripts/ directory inside your Gimp configuration folder (i.e., /home/username/.gimp-2.6/).

When installed, Gimplabels adds new functions to the File -> Create -> Misc menu and to the Filters -> Combine menu. Under File -> Create -> Misc you will discover two options: Labels -> Rect Label and Labels -> CD Label. Both of these scripts create a new image for you in the exact dimensions required for the particular label you are creating.

The Rect Label script offers a list of several dozen common label templates in pop-up menu. The CD Label script allows you to choose either standard (5-inch) or mini CD (3-inch) formats. Both scripts allow you to adjust the background color and the size of the new image if you need to tweak for an exact fit. Currently, only US letter sized paper is supported.

To make rectangular labels, you create the new image as described above, then, once you’ve drawn your label, you run the second script: Filters -> Combine -> Make label page. This script takes the label image you have been working on, duplicates in the proper number of times, and lays out a new image populated for a full sheet of the selected label. You’ll notice that the same drop-down list of label templates is available here; you can run the second script on a different label template than the one you designed with, but this is not recommended.

To make CD labels, start with File -> Create -> Misc -> Labels -> CD label. This will create a new image suitable for use as a CD label: a disc with the proper diameter, with the center punched out. As with rectangular labels, once you have completed your design work, Gimplabels can automatically convert it into a label sheet. Select Filters -> Combine -> Make label page. The tool can compose label sheets compatible with Neato, Stomper, or other name-brand label sheet layouts.

Advanced usage and settings

The “Create label sheet” script has a few options, but you should familiarize yourself with them in case you need to fine-tune the settings. For example, the “Printer fudge factor” scales the image slightly to account for the fact that different brands and models of printer have slightly different printable areas.

The “From:” and “To:” settings allow you to generate an image that only prints on part of the whole sheet. So if you only need for labels, set the script for “From: 1″ “To: 4.” Next time, you can print “From: 5″ “To: 8″ or whatever number is appropriate. Note that you have to specify a continuous sequence, starting in the upper lefthand corner. There is no way to skip a label in the middle.

Gimplabels works part of its magic by depending on the GUI label designer gLabels. gLabels’ database of known templates is the source of the list that appears in the label creation and label sheet scripts. These are usually stored in /usr/share/glabels/templates. If you update gLabels and acquire a new template, you will have to run an auxiliary setup script in order for Gimplabels to re-scan the directory and pick up the new template.

This script is called make-label-fu.py, and is included in the Gimplabels .tar package. It needs Python and PyXML to be installed. Run it from a command line with “python make-label-fu.py”. You do not have to run make-label-fu.py or even have it installed on your system — at the project’s home page you can also choose to download just the labels.scm script by itself. gLabels has a very complete set of templates, so updating the database is probably not something to worry about unless you know of a specific new template that has been added to the list.

Gimplabels is about as easy as it gets; no guesswork is involved when creating the new image to the exact specifications required, and the script composes the sheet without your intervention — all you have to worry about is designing one label the way you want it.

BY NATHAN WILLIS

Other resources:

gLabels – EZ label creator for Linux

http://oplnk.net/~ajackson/software/maillabels/

Glabels

Openoffice.org Labels Templates

Printing Avery Labels in Linux

LabelNation

Visit Worldlabel.com for all popular size labels

GIMP – GNU Image Manipulation Program – is the most well-known open source graphics editing application, born in 1995 as reported in the GNU free software directory, is a freely distributed program for tasks like photo retouching, image composition and authoring. Last but not least the so-called batch mode that allows you to do image processing from the command line.

GIMP is not only an expert quality photo retouching program, it is also a simple drawing program and an image format converter (it’s worth mentioning that it manages psd, Photoshop’s file format as well as scalable vector graphics (svg) file format).

GIMP is extensible, its functionalities can be augmented with plug-ins and there are extensions that allow you to configure GIMP to replace Photoshop to do just about anything.

If you really want a GIMP version as close as possible to Photoshop, I recommend that you also take a look at GimPhoto, a GIMP modification with a different menu layout, selection of plugins, and additional resources. GIMPhoto, used in combination with GimPad, formerly known as GimPhoto Desktop, gives its best, and you don’t need to spend time searching all over the internet to find plug-ins to extend GIMP capabilities.

GIMPshop also use GIMP as the backend, adding an extra interface to make its look&feel more like Photoshop. GIMPshop addresses some common criticisms regarding GIMP’s interface, modifying the menu structure to adjust the program’s terminology to match Photoshop.

GIMP comes with documentation for both users and programmers, including tutorials.

By Roberto Galoppini of Commercial Open Source Software

In this post, I’ll stick to the many cool tools to choose from if you’re using a Windows-compatible PC. Stay tuned for future posts about Mac and Linux-compatible tools.

RoundMyCorners is a simple online image editing tool intended for people who just want to round the corners of their photos or graphics and don’t have or don’t want to take the time to learn an editing program such as Photoshop. All you do is click “Browse” and upload a JPEG, GIF or PNG image. Tell the program “how round” you want the corners of the image (in pixels) and what you’d like the background color to be, if not transparent. RoundMyCorners will give you back a PNG, JPEG or GIF image.

If you want to match text to photos or graphics for professional-quality labels, there are several free online “color pickers” that will save you the trouble of opening your file in an image editor and dragging out the eyedropper tool just to get the RGB or hex code for the color you want to match. One such program is ColorPic (image shown at right), which is a freeware Windows program. It has a built-in magnifier and mouse “nudge” function, and ColorPic also takes the guesswork out of selecting an entire palette of colors. A couple of programs designed to sample colors directly from the Web are Instant Eyedropper and ColorSchemer’s ColorPix.

Say you want to superimpose a picture of one of your associates over an image of your office and make a business card out of it to print on World Label labels or along with free printable business cards from my site, FreePrintableBusinessCards.net. A freeware program called Merge makes it a one-step process to incorporate elements of two images into one, join four images into a quadrant or merge text with an image. For instance, you could also use Merge to watermark your copyrighted photos on labels or other materials.

How about if you’re still in startup mode and haven’t yet had a company logo designed? CoolText is a graphics generator that can quickly serve up a logo based on a couple of dozen designs with the text, font and color of your choosing. In some cases, you can even upload your own background image. CoolText spits out a downloadable file in formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, Photoshop and .XCF (GIMP), ready to print onto labels or add to free printable business cards.

With all of these great tools, you can have fun designing your own labels without the headaches. Remember, if you’re using an online label-design template, such as those available from WorldLabel or FreePrintable.net, be sure to keep all artwork at least one-eighth inch from the edge of the labels.

Kevin Savetz is the creator of FreePrintable.net, a network of more than 25 sites that offer printable certificates, business cards, resume templates, and other printable items.