Firkin App - using GIMP to make logos fit

The free GIMP image manipulation program does exactly what it says, but for a beginner like me with a single task that I only need to do occasionally, it can be confusing.  You can download the application from http://www.gimp.org/ and there are versions for Mac and Windows PC (maybe others too).

The following instructions give a quick guide to making logos fit the Firkin App ideal specification:

1. Open GIMP and make a new image 256 x 256
2. Add a new layer: Layer/New Layer command and make its fill Transparent. 
3. Now File/Open As Layers and open the target image
4. You may need to scale it up or down: Layer/Scale Layer so that its largest dimension is 256 px.  You may also need to select a relevant part of the image and crop it and then scale
5. Make sure that the layer has an Alpha channel: Layer/Transparency/Add Alpha Channel
6. Select any coloured background outside the outline of the logo using the Fuzzy Select tool
7. Delete the selected coloured background
8. Repeat the above two steps (6 and 7) until white/black/coloured background outside the logo's outline is cleaned up
9. Export the file as a png file: File/Export As and then confirm Export - make sure there are no spaces in the file name!
10. Now you can delete this layer using Layer/Delete Layer and move on to the next target image in step 3
11. Repeat until all of your logos are in the ideal format

Index

FirkinApp	DinnerDivider	Dinner Divider (Ad-Free)
iOS 6.0 or later	iOS 5.1 or later	iOS 5.1 or later
FirkinApp support	Dinner Divider support	Dinner Divider support
Use Firkin App for your own Beer Festival Link Firkin App data Link

Firkin App data

If you want to include your beer festival on the FirkinApp, we'll need the following information and files:

Beer List (Excel): template available

Contains all of the information that can be presented about beers, ciders, etc., together with brief information about any entertainers and their timings. Also has information about sponsors for individual barrels, and links to their web sites or telephone contacts

Festival information file (Excel): template available

This identifies the key information about the festival including dates, web site, social media accounts, social media message templates

Festival logo: 

ideally .png, 480x480

Logo files:

 for all beers, ciders, food, entertainers, etc.: ideally 256x256 with clear background

Optional files :

Further image files for information pages such as welcome, more information, venue, map, food logo, ticket site logo - banners ideal size 400x132 .png

Next step: contact us by commenting on this blog (your details will remain confidential) so that we can contact you and arrange to send the template files.