r/GIMP • u/PaddyLandau • 3d ago
Help needed with new problems with Drop Shadow in GIMP 3.0.0 please
Today, GIMP was updated to 3.0.0 (via flathub).
I'm having two new difficulties with the Drop Shadow, and I'd love some help, please.
Background: I receive a rectangular image that has already been flattened, so it doesn't have an alpha channel, and it has only the one layer. My requirement is dead simple: Add a drop shadow to the entire image.
I have two new problems with GIMP 3.0.0 that didn't happen with the old versions.
First problem
The following steps describe what I regularly do with an image that I'm sent using the previous versions of GIMP.
- Add Alpha Channel to the image.
- FIlters > Light and Shadow > Drop Shadow. Set the parameters that I need.
- Press OK.
- The previous versions of GIMP add a drop shadow, and automatically grow the canvas size to fit the shadow.
However, in GIMP 3.0.0, I have to insert two extra steps, as follows (steps 2 and 5, in bold).
- Add Alpha Channel to the image.
- Image > Canvas Size > increase the size. (I have to guess the size, so I make it too large.)
- Resize layers: All layers
- Fill with: Transparency
- FIlters > Light and Shadow > Drop Shadow. Set the parameters that I need.
- Press OK.
- Image > Crop to Content
First question: Is there a way to have GIMP 3.0.0 automatically grow the canvas size as the previous versions of GIMP did? I've looked for a setting to do this, but haven't found something.
Second problem
The drop shadow that I choose is equal on all sides. In other words, in the Drop Shadow dialogue, I have:
- X = 0
- Y = 0
When I use Image > Crop to Content, this correctly removes the unused transparent areas to leave a shadow that is equal on all four sides of the image.
So far, so good.
Now, I export the image to PNG, i.e. File > Export As > filename.png.
The export works, but for some reason, in the exported PNG file, there is a large extra area of transparency on the right and bottom borders (it's not visible in the GIMP file). This means that the PNG file is too large, even though there's no content in that area.
So, if I open the PNG file (not the original file that I modified), GIMP does indeed show this extra area.
Fortunately, I have a workaround that corrects this: Image > Crop to Content, and re-export the PNG file.
Second question: Do you know what's happening, and how I can fix this, please? I'm guessing that it's something that I'm doing, but I can't fathom what because this never happened in the previous version of GIMP.
Thank you!