This book uses several conventions for describing keystrokes and for indicating the locations of menu items in the GIMP. This section describes these.
Figure 1(a)
A menu item highlights when the mouse cursor is moved over it. When an entry in the Image menu has an arrow pointing to the right, this indicates that it is the title of a submenu. For example, moving the mouse cursor to the entry labeled Image, brings up the associated submenu, as shown in Figure 1(c). Moving the mouse cursor over the submenu entry labeled Transforms displays the subsubmenu, as shown in Figure 1(d). Finally, menu entries which do not have a right-pointing arrows are functions that can be run by clicking on them. The Offset function is shown highlighted in Figure 1(d).
In order to compactly and efficiently describe where a function is located in a system of menus and submenus the following notation is adopted for this book. For the example shown in Figure 1, the menu path to the function is denoted Image:Image/Transforms/Offset. This indicates that the Offset function is found in the Transforms menu, which itself is in the Image menu, obtained by right-clicking in the Image window. The use of the typewriter typeface indicates that the text represents a GIMP function or tool.
Note that for certain menu entries in Figures 1(c) and (d), a keyboard shortcut is indicated. Learning these significantly accelerates access to GIMP functions. In the GIMP menus, the keyboard shortcuts are denoted by capital letters, perhaps with one or more modifier keys. In the menus the modifiers are indicated by Ctl, Shft, or Alt which refer to the Control, Shift, and Alt keys on your keyboard. Thus, the keyboard shortcut for the Offset function, as shown in Figure 1(d), is Shft+Ctl+O. This is applied by moving the mouse cursor into the image window, simultaneously pressing the Shift and Control keys, and typing o. Note that although the key sequence is indicated with an uppercase O, the actual key required is lowercase, unless, of course, the Shift modifier is specifically indicated. Keyboard shortcut notation used in this book is slightly different from that seen in the GIMP menus. The Control, Shift, and Alt keys are denoted by uppercase C, S, and A. These modifier keys are followed by a dash and the keystroke in lowercase. Thus, the notation used in this book for applying the Curves function is A-c. As another example, the notation C-S-l indicates that the Control and Shift keys are pressed simultaneously, followed by typing the letter l. This corresponds to the Float function found in the Image:Select menu (but not shown in Figure 1).
Appendix B lists all the default keyboard shortcuts. It also describes how to customize the shortcuts to your personal tastes.
The convention just described for specifying the menu location of a
function is also used for items found in the Toolbox window.
Figure 2(a)
In this book, the functions represented by the icons in the Toolbox are
referred to by name. Figure 3
