How can I add a similar thick black outline to Yanfly-like icons for MV?

[atoms]

Hi, I'm using Yanfly's free iconset found here
http://yanfly.moe/2015/10/23/freebies-mv-ready-ace-icons/

However I am editing it in GIMP to add my own icons. I was wondering after adding icons or resizing icons how can I add a thick black outline to it like Yanfly has done with the default Ace icons? I'm hoping it's not too hard to accomplish. If I can do the exact same outline, that would be preferred.

Edit: Does anyone know what sort of program Yanfly would have used? Is there any free paint programs that could easily get those sort of smaller thick black outline effects?

Many thanks!

 

[Azmor]

Hey.
Just open your favorite program (like GIMP that you mentioned) and brush around the object! Here is an example of a gif I made for you! I hope it helps.

- Azmor

 

[Shikashi]

There is usually just a "stroke" option in other programs for automatic outlines, but for GIMP you can try this.

 

[atoms]

Thanks both of you for your replies and help, they were good suggestions but unfortunately I still couldn't get the right effect. I tried all sorts of things in GIMP, as well as put the brush size on the lowest setting. I also tried the video tutorial and got a similar effect. See below.

The outline is still too large at the lowest setting. I tried changing the other optional settings around too such as the space and alignment but none of those made a difference.

Does anyone know what sort of program Yanfly would have used? Is there any free paint programs that could easily get those sort of smaller thick black outline effects?

Thanks!

 

[JGreene]

I usually do something a little bit different for outlines. It's more like a drop shadow effect, but can still be used as an outline.

Copy the image to a new layer (behind the current one) and change the brightness/contrast to make it black. Then, shift the black layer a pixel or two until you get the desired effect. You can duplicate that layer again if you want to add the effect to other sides of your objects.

Example:

 

[OnslaughtSupply]

I usually duplicate the image on top of what I am working on, change the threshold to zero. Now it's white, so I take the bucket tool and fill the white with black. Now use the transform tool and make it a couple of pixels larger. Pay attention to how many pixels! Use an even number. Now it needs repositioning. Remember that number that we used to make it bigger? So take the move tool and use the arrows on your keyboard for fine positioning. Say I made the image 2 pixels larger, I need to go left a pixel and up a pixel. If I made it 4 pixels larger, I would go left 2 pixels and up 2 pixels. This center's it back to the original image. Now move the layer under your original image. Border too sharp? Do a Gaussian blur to our silhouette layer of a couple of pixels. That's how I would do it sense my art skills suck.