Hi All,
If I use the gimp erase tool to remove a customers name from a screen shot, is it really gone or just not showing? I want to make sure I don't post any private information.
-T
On Mon, 2020-02-10 at 17:25 -0800, ToddAndMargo via users wrote:
If I use the gimp erase tool to remove a customers name from a screen shot, is it really gone or just not showing? I want to make sure I don't post any private information.
If you export a flat file: PNG, JPEG, GIF (and some others), what you see is what you get. Bear in mind that the erase tool can be used with pressure (i.e. not 100%). You can see that effect as it takes several scrubs to make something fade away. Alternatively, you can draw full black, full white, or copy the background colour of what you're scratching out, to be sure to obliterate details.
If you save a file with layers, like GIMP's own format, there's every chance that you've drawn on top of a layer that could be removed to reveal what was under it. Though, you can merge layers, so that can't be done.
On 2020-02-10 18:07, Tim via users wrote:
On Mon, 2020-02-10 at 17:25 -0800, ToddAndMargo via users wrote:
If I use the gimp erase tool to remove a customers name from a screen shot, is it really gone or just not showing? I want to make sure I don't post any private information.
If you export a flat file: PNG, JPEG, GIF (and some others), what you see is what you get. Bear in mind that the erase tool can be used with pressure (i.e. not 100%). You can see that effect as it takes several scrubs to make something fade away. Alternatively, you can draw full black, full white, or copy the background colour of what you're scratching out, to be sure to obliterate details.
If you save a file with layers, like GIMP's own format, there's every chance that you've drawn on top of a layer that could be removed to reveal what was under it. Though, you can merge layers, so that can't be done.
Hi Tim,
Thank you!
I will just draw a black box across it and export to a png
:-)
-T
On Mon, 10 Feb 2020 at 21:26, ToddAndMargo via users < users@lists.fedoraproject.org> wrote:
Hi All,
If I use the gimp erase tool to remove a customers name from a screen shot, is it really gone or just not showing? I want to make sure I don't post any private information.
If you use a basic RGB or indexed color image format such as PNG the actual pixels are changed. There are image formats that support layers (e.g., CMYK TIFF's) where redaction could be done by manipulating a layer. It is best to convert images with layers to 8-bit indexed color for transmission -- less chance for hidden data and smaller file size.
With a document format like PDF, editing text is much more involved than just putting a black box over the text, so many redaction tools don't touch the text. Before releasing such documents they should be rasterized or printed.
It is good practice to check your redactions with a different image viewer.
-
George N. White III -
Tim -
ToddAndMargo