h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For various reasons, I have to produce around 200 different diagrams of jockey silks, such as you might find on a racecard. This is a long and tedious task to do by ones self, so I was rather hoping to draw on the generosity of the community to make things easier. Literally, it will require no more than 10 minutes of your time.

What you need to do:

1) Download the GIF file from this page: http://horseracing.about.com/library/kids/nncb7.htm

2) Open it in MS Paint and colour it in colours of your choice.

2b) Add stars, stripes, spots or quarters as appropriate. Just please make it look like a real jockey's outfit.

3) Save it as "silksbb1.gif" (without the quote marks), where bb is your initials - you don't have to use your real initials if you don't want to!

4) Repeat, if you have the time. Obviously successive files will be called "silksbb2.gif", "silks.bb3.gif" and so on.

5) Email me the finished pictures at ben(dot)bateson(at)gmail(dot)com or post them somewhere on the net that I can download them.

Please help me by giving up ten minutes of your day! If 100 people produce two pictures each, it will have saved me hours of work and double-checking.

Thanking everyone in advance.

B

Oh, you could also help by posting here if you are participating, just to keep the thread buoyant.



B

I hardly know why I'm encouraging you, but...

Any way to stop this copied image being monochrome in Paint? (ie you fill it in with what should be green, you get grey)

Er...probably something to do with the GIF properties. I don't actually use Paint.

Try saving it as a bitmap or jpeg from paint and re-doing.

B

No, don't go with jpg from gif! It'll be antialiased and you won't be able to fill properly. Bitmap should work.

OK, revised instructions:

1) Download the GIF file from this page: http://horseracing.about.com/library/kids/nncb7.htm

2) Open it in MS Paint and save it as a bitmap file called "silksbb1.bmp" (without the quote marks), where bb is your initials - you don't have to use your real initials if you don't want to!

3) Colour it in colours of your choice and save.

3b) Add stars, stripes, spots or quarters as appropriate. Just please make it look like a real jockey's outfit.

4) Repeat, if you have the time. Obviously successive files will be called "silksbb2.bmp", "silks.bb3.bmp" and so on.

5) Email me the finished pictures at ben(dot)bateson(at)gmail(dot)com or post them somewhere on the net that I can download them.

It's fine as gif in paint,all colours work out nicely, but can anybody tell me how I add patterns?
Oh, I guess I could use google drawing. At least that will work.
I wonder why microschrott make it so difficult to actually use their expensive products, whereas free software is easy to use?

I'm sure Paint can add simple dots and stripes (in the form of long rectangles). Stars might be a little trickier.

B

The shapes are all there (in paint), but whatever I try, I can't add them. Never mind, drawing with google is much more fun anyway (cause it does what you want).

My paint colours are all washed out

Save it as a bmp first!

B

Is MSPaint a requirement?
I've got The-Image-Processing-Application-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named, and it handles all manner of formats, but I don't do MS.

Also, I won't be able to do much until Tuesday

MSPaint certainly isn't necessary, and yes I can wait until Tuesday.

I have 36 so far, still another 164 to go!

Don't forget that hats and shirts do NOT have to co-odinate colours...

B

I'll have a crack at it this evening, if you'll all vote for MT4UTH on Don't Stop Believing

I've sent two - the Gruesomes are interested in helping so do you need more?

Yes please. I'm up around the fifty mark, so still in need of plenty more. Bright primary colours for preference please.

B

Do you want these in 24-bit, or indexed, or optimized for web?

Any of those. They're going to be shrunk down considerably in any case.

B

is this a good time to ask what you're doing with them?

I'm directing a play which is largely set at a racecourse. Part of our technical wizardry allows me to project 'live' TV coverage onto the back flat. To go with that, I need an assortment of racecards. And they require an assortment of fictional horses, jockeys, owners, and colours.

B