Frustrated, trying to make tokens

[Janthkin]

(This is less a FG question, and more a general image-manipulation question.)

I have some pictures I drew, which I'm trying to make tokens out of. I scanned them in, and busted out The Gimp to try and tweak them.

Problem: I end up with a solid white boundary region around my desired token, the size & shape of the underlying image file.

Now, I know that .png files offer transparency. And I know there should be some way for me to make the non-image portion of the token transparent. But I can't figure out how to make that happen.

Anyone got any tips?

[Janthkin]

Okay, figured it out. For reference:

1) Select and copy the image you want.
2) Ctrl-N for a new image (auto-sized to the selection you just made).
3) Open "Advanced Options"
4) Under "Fill with:", select "Transparency
5) Paste your selection into your new image
6) Bust out the eraser tool (opacity == 100%), and erase all parts that you don't want to keep
7) Save As a .png file.

[Griogre]

You can also use TokenTool to make tokens it's pretty easy to use. It does use Java though. Gimp is a little overkill. They have a nice assortment of frames in their gallery too. I don't like the default ones with the lens flare.

TokenTool is free and here: https://rptools.net/doku.php?id=tokentool:intro

[bonzai95]

I've used the token tool as well. Really easy.

bonzai

[mr_h]

I've always found with Gimp that any time I make a image, I use Transparent backgrounds. Then I can easily slip a layer into the picture with a background color if I need it. Just handier that way.

That said, TokenTool works very well too.


(Layers are your friends, learn to use'em....they rock)

[tdwyer11b]

When I use GIMP, I do select by color, then select the white then add an alpha channel then clear.

[SirJoe]

I just made a heap of tokens for my game last night. After messing around with all of the optioned mentioned above, I finally got hold of a free download from the Four Ugly Monsters website. It's a small set of Photoshop actions that knocks out circular tokens with transparent backgrounds from images. It's very fast and very easy.

What I did is place all my images to conver to tokens into a folder. The then opened Photoshop and dragged all of the images from the folder into photoshop, which opened them all up. I then assigned a function key to the various Token action scripts from FUM.

Holding the SHIFT key down, I used the crop tool to mark out exactly the area of each image I wanted as my token, then press the appropriate function key. The script then cut the image, placed a graphical 'lip' on the token and make the background transparent. Worked like a charm.

For now, this is my choice for making token. Of course, you need Photo$hop to run 'em, but if you already have that baby, then tokens are become a "crop-and-hit-a-function-key" process.

FYI - I also used "Free Download Manager" to snarf the images from the WOTC DnD mini gallery. I then recorded a Photoshop action that knocked out the white background of these images and saved the results as transparent PNG files. I now have about 200 DnD minatures for my games that look ok. I plan to adjust this action script to also add a soft drop shadowing on these figures, but really this was all just an experiment. Copyright issues mean that I cannot, naturally, share these images.

Best regards,
Joseph Sweeney