# A Small selections and layers tutorial

The starting image The starting image

The starting image

The image above is the image we will work with. Start chalk with this image (in the documentation folder `$`TDEDIR`/share/doc/tde/HTML/en/chalk/tutorial-select-layer-sample.png`) and save it to your Home folder (by choosing Save Image As...). Then open it in &chalk; — your screen will look a bit like this (we have zoomed in):

Chalk with the starting image The starting image

The starting image

Now try to select the outline of the head with the Select Outline tool:

The Select Outline tool The Select Outline tool

The Select Outline tool

After you select it, it should look a bit like this picture:

The picture after selecting the head The picture after selecting the head

The picture after selecting the head

If you accidently select too much, you can cut that part easily off by switching the tool to Subtract mode:

The Subtract mode The Subtract mode

The Subtract mode

Now it's time to make the edges of the selection a bit fuzzy. This can be done by applying Feather to the selection.

Feather selection Feather selection

Feather selection

Now cut the selection, using Edit Cut. Delete the current layer with Layer Remove Layer. Paste your selection, with Edit Paste. Now we give ourselves a bit more room to work in by resizing the image a bit. Use the Image Change Image Size... dialog for this.

The Image Size dialog The Image Size dialog

The Image Size dialog

Add a new layer, and place it below the old layer. You do this by selecting the new layer in the layerbox, and then pressing the little 'down' arrow at the bottom. Now we are going to select the area around the head with a contiguous select (the tool has a selection-with-bucketfill icon at the border).

The Select Contiguous tool The Select Contiguous tool

The Select Contiguous tool

Make sure to select Sample merged in the tool options:

The Sample merged option The Sample merged option

The Sample merged option

Feather the selection again, and invert it. Select the Contiguous Fill tool (this is a different tool than the Contiguous Select tool) and use it on the layer.

The Contiguous Fill tool The Contiguous Fill tool

The Contiguous Fill tool

Deselect with Select Deselect. You'll notice some artefacts of the feathering at the sides. You can select them easily with a rectangular selection and then cut them.

The Select Rectangular tool The Select Rectangular tool

The Select Rectangular tool

Move the shadow layer a bit down and to the right to make it look nice.

Moving the shadow layer Moving the shadow layer

Moving the shadow layer

Now you can use the Crop tool to make the image better fit around the head.

The Crop tool The Crop tool

The Crop tool

Save the image, and you're done :-)

The resulting image The resulting image

The resulting image

Thanks go to Bart Coppens for providing this tutorial. The original is available at http://www.bartcoppens.be/chalk/hackergotchi.html.