Don thanks very much for your help I dont think I will be cutting that pic but will practise some more and post the results as and when.
Just to clarify, I was confused when you said that you use curves after step 13. I dont have a step 13 and assumed that this was equivalent to step 5 in section B
I now realise that I was sent a updated version of the tutorial and you where referring to the original
this is what I have
Gimp
1. File?Open
2. Image?Mode?Grayscale
3. Paintbrush?removes background by using various sizes of white brush.
4. Filter?Artistic?Photocopy and go to full size image. Use the sliders to manipulate a potential pattern. Pay close attention to the eyes and nose areas. Do not worry about blotches or skin tones as they will be removed in the touchup stage. You may need to use layers to achieve optimal details. Click OK.
5. Paintbrush? use black and white and different size brushes to ?clean up? the pattern.
6. Paint bucket? flood the background with black to check for floaters. Ctrl Z to go back.
7. Save as (Export)? name file and save as JPG.
8. Close Gimp
Inkscape
1. File?New (window)?Letter (A4 = Metric) Close 1st window.
2. File?Import (your pattern)
3. Resize pattern to fit in paper size window by clicking corner and moving.
4. Path?Trace Bitmap?make sure Brightness cutoff, Smooth and Stack scans are checked. Also make sure pattern is ?selected? in window by clicking on it, or trace does not know what to trace. Brightness cutoff between 550 & 750. When done click OK.
5. There are now two images, one on top of the other. Look closely to determine which the original was and right click to delete it.
6. File?Save As?PLAIN SVG
7. Close Inkscape.
Gimp
1. File?Open the SVG file. Checkerboard image will show.
2. Layer?New Layer?Layer Fill Type = White? OK. All white! Don?t worry!
3. Layer?Stack?Layer To Bottom.
4. Image?Flatten Image.
5. Paint bucket?Flood background to check for floaters one more time.
6. Use text tools to sign your new pattern.
7. File?Save as (Export) GIF (smaller file) or JPG.
8. Done.
Dave