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# Function Names, Menus, and Keyboard Shortcuts

This book uses several conventions for describing keystrokes and for indicating the locations of menu items in the GIMP. This section describes these.

Figure 1(a)

Figure 1: Convention for Describing Paths to Functions Found in the Image Menu

illustrates an image of a friendly-looking fellow who is going to introduce us to the GIMP's Image menu. As described in the figure, the Image menu is obtained by either right-clicking in the image window or by clicking on the arrow icon in the window's upper-left corner. Either will display the Image menu, as shown in Figure 1(b).

A menu item highlights when the mouse cursor is moved over it. When an entry in the Image menu has an arrow pointing to the right, this indicates that it is the title of a submenu. For example, moving the mouse cursor to the entry labeled `Image`, brings up the associated submenu, as shown in Figure 1(c). Moving the mouse cursor over the submenu entry labeled `Transforms` displays the subsubmenu, as shown in Figure 1(d). Finally, menu entries which do not have a right-pointing arrows are functions that can be run by clicking on them. The `Offset` function is shown highlighted in Figure 1(d).

In order to compactly and efficiently describe where a function is located in a system of menus and submenus the following notation is adopted for this book. For the example shown in Figure 1, the menu path to the function is denoted `Image:Image/Transforms/Offset`. This indicates that the `Offset` function is found in the `Transforms` menu, which itself is in the `Image` menu, obtained by right-clicking in the `Image` window. The use of the typewriter typeface indicates that the text represents a GIMP function or tool.

Note that for certain menu entries in Figures 1(c) and (d), a keyboard shortcut is indicated. Learning these significantly accelerates access to GIMP functions. In the GIMP menus, the keyboard shortcuts are denoted by capital letters, perhaps with one or more modifier keys. In the menus the modifiers are indicated by `Ctl`, `Shft`, or `Alt` which refer to the Control, Shift, and Alt keys on your keyboard. Thus, the keyboard shortcut for the `Offset` function, as shown in Figure 1(d), is `Shft+Ctl+O`. This is applied by moving the mouse cursor into the image window, simultaneously pressing the Shift and Control keys, and typing `o`. Note that although the key sequence is indicated with an uppercase `O`, the actual key required is lowercase, unless, of course, the Shift modifier is specifically indicated. Keyboard shortcut notation used in this book is slightly different from that seen in the GIMP menus. The Control, Shift, and Alt keys are denoted by uppercase `C`, `S`, and `A`. These modifier keys are followed by a dash and the keystroke in lowercase. Thus, the notation used in this book for applying the `Curves` function is `A-c`. As another example, the notation `C-S-l` indicates that the Control and Shift keys are pressed simultaneously, followed by typing the letter `l`. This corresponds to the `Float` function found in the `Image:Select` menu (but not shown in Figure 1).

Appendix B lists all the default keyboard shortcuts. It also describes how to customize the shortcuts to your personal tastes.

The convention just described for specifying the menu location of a function is also used for items found in the Toolbox window. Figure 2(a)

Figure 2: Conventions for Describing Paths for Functions Found in the Toolbox

shows the Toolbox, which contains the two menus `File` and `Xtns`, seen at the top of the window. Here the reference `Toolbox:Xtns/Script-Fu/Console` is the path to the submenu `Script-Fu`, shown in Figure 2(b), and then to the function named `Console`, as shown in Figure 2(c).

In this book, the functions represented by the icons in the Toolbox are referred to by name. Figure 3

Figure 3: Names of the Toolbox Icons

illustrates an exploded view of the Toolbox, giving the name used for each icon.

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