GIMP pastes only white!?

sixstring · 05-19-2004, 01:26 PM

I'm a newbie to GIMP (and to image processing in general). I've been using it for a couple of weeks now to generate graphics for a website, and have met with good success.
Recently however, there was a sudden change in GIMP's copy & paste behavior. When trying to copy and paste a selection from one image to another (I've done this many times before without a hitch) the pasted selection is now only a white silhouette. What gives?

david_ross · 05-19-2004, 01:30 PM

Welcome to LQ.

Are you using more than one layer? If so - make sure that you have the right layer selected or use the copy visible option.

sixstring · 05-19-2004, 02:09 PM

Thanks for the rapid reply David.

My source image is a single layer image (jpg file). I am pasting to a multi-layer .xcf file but I've been very careful about selecting the correct layer and keeping track of what is set to be visible (those kinds of mistakes are fast teachers! ;-).

"Copy Visible" yields the same result. I'm still pasting an all white silhouette. Any other ideas?

david_ross · 05-19-2004, 03:43 PM

What happens if you "Paste as new"?

wapcaplet · 05-19-2004, 03:52 PM

Something like this can happen if you are pasting into an image with less color depth than the source. For example, if you copy a true-color jpeg image and paste it into an indexed-color or grayscale image, you can end up with some weird results. Make sure the destination image has enough color depth to handle whatever you're pasting (right-click for the context menu, and go to Image->Mode and make sure it's set to RGB).

If that's not it, then I dunno

sixstring · 05-19-2004, 08:44 PM

Ah... yes! By switching the mode of the target layer, the universe returns to sanity! Of course, Mr. Ross, you also were hot on the trail. 'Paste as New' creates a new image with the correct mode! Very good!
Thank you both so much for your help