Photo editor: fade a photo and draw on top of it?

I'm not familar with GIMP, but I can shed some light onto the layers and transparency you would need to use.

Layers are quite simple. They are like a stack of papers, you can see the page on top, and the page below if it sticks out beyond the edges of the top sheet. The same is true in photo programs. You will see the top layer, and things behind it will be obscured by the objects or images on the top layer.

Transparency is the "fade" you are looking for. Note that Opacity is the opposite of transparency (as in 100% opaque is 0% transparent). My reducing transparency on a layer, you allow the layers behind it to become partially visible, IE you allow them to sneak through.

To accomplish your goal, should should take the images, and fade them by reducing their opacity. I would start with reducing it to 70%, but you'll have to play with it to get things just right.

After doing this, create a new layer, and be sure the new layer is on top off the image layer. In this new layer, take a brush tool and draw whatever you like. You should see you drawing ontop of the photo. If not, I suspect you have actually placed your line layer behind your photo layer, and you should simply trade their locations.

Hope this helps,

You can get the effect you want by using 'Image Tricks' to fade your pixs:

http://www.belightsoft.com/products/imagetricks/overview.php

and 'Rita' to draw on top of them afterwards:

http://www.frykholm.se/rita.html

Image Tricks is free, and Rita is Shareware (though the developer has made it fully functional so you can try it out for free). They're both really easy to use.

Hope that helps!

Not sure if it has all the features you need, but check out the freeware ImageJ @ http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/

 Cheers, Tom

First, be informed that JPG files do not support any kind of "transparency".

You can do what you want with the all around graphics manipulation application GraphicConverter: http://lemkesoft.de/

What you would need to do is use the menu "Picture>Levels". Adjust the sliders to the level of contrast you like. Alternatively you can use the "Brightness/Contrast" dialog, depending in what you mean by "fading".

Now, with the toolbox visible, select the pen tool, fourth down on the right. Set a foreground color by doubleclicking the box on the bottom and selecting a color. Set the line to width like 8 pixels in the tiny section just under the tool icons. The selected line width applies to all drawing tools.

Now you can use the pen tool to draw on top of your faded JPG. GraphicConverter is worth purchasing, but works without a registration with all features enabled.

Not sure what Gnarlodious means when he writes that 'JPG files do not support any kind of "transparency."

There are several apps that enable you to lighten your pixs, the way you describe, and then export the result as a JPEG - or other file type, if you prefer.

Incidentally, Keynote is one of them - http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/ - so if you're planning on using your pictures for teaching of some sort, and want a professional-quality presentation, that's definitely worth looking at.

Otherwise, it should be easy to do exactly what you want with the freeware/shareware options.

Hope it goes well!

Gnarlodious means that a JPEG, by definition, cannot ever have any transparent areas in it. When you save as a JPEG, transparent areas will become solid white.