Re: [Gimp-user] Fix Orientation ?

On 01/09/2012 04:10 PM, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
What is the proper way, using gimp, to correct the orientation of an

For example, I just took a shot with one of my cameras where I was
holding the camera in a vertical (portrait) orientation.  But when I
transfer the .JPG to my PeeCee and view it with gimp (or ImageMagick)
it is laying over on its sid, in landscape orientation.

To fix this, should I be using Tools->Transform Tools->Rotate or is
there a better way?  (Actually, I did try doing it that way using
gimp, and the results were distinctly unacceptable... some parts of
the image got cropped out, and some new transparent parts were added.
Bummer.  This is not at all what I had in mind.)


P.S.  Before asking here, I did try googling around for gimp and
"orientation" and/or gimp and "rotate" but didn't find anything
enlightening.  I also checked the Gimp FAQ and again came up empty.


When I started using Gimp, rotation (arbitrary) was a big problem for me.

If you wanting to rotate in 90 degree increments, then use (as others have already posted)

   Image, Transform, [and select the operation you want]

That will take care of the problem you are having.

On the other hand if you want to do arbitrary or automatically calculated degrees of rotation, the method you used is correct, HOWEVER, you first must expand the canvas:

a) In some cases you may wish to set the background color. That is in the Toolbox (Windows, Toolbox) ... you can set foreground/background colors and/or reverse them, etc. When you expand the canvas, it will automatically fill with the background color you have specified, thus the potential importance of this step.

b) To expand canvas:

   Image, Canvas Size
   (That is a major Gimp Annoyance.)
   Then enter your desired new canvas size and then move out of that
     field for it to take affect.
   NOTE that once you have entered the new canvas size but are still in
     that dialog, you can drag the preview image around in the canvas
     to put it roughly where you want it.

c) Then do your Tools->Transform Tools->Rotate.

Learning to use the Arbitrary or Automatically Calculated Rotation tool takes some experimentation (at the bottom your Toolbox there should be a variety of options for its behavior). Once you figure it out, it is extremely powerful.

