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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Blending Two Images with GIMP


Included in this tutorial -
  • Resizing a Canvas
  • Creating a new transparent layer
  • Anchor a floating layer
  • Using a layer mask
  • Using the gradient tool
  • Flattening an image


Open both pictures you intend to blend

Activate the one you intend to use as the base image


Increase the canvas size of this image to accommodate pasting the overlapping image

Image - Canvas Size

Break the Width/Height link by clicking on the chain icon

If the two images are the same size you need to nearly double the width

Create a new transparent layer

Layer - New Layer ... (or click the new layer icon in the layers dialog)

Name the new layer 'Overlay layer'

Select Transparency as Layer Fill Type

Activate the second image which will be the overlay layer and copy it

Edit - Copy (or Ctrl+C)

Activate the base image and paste the copy of the second image onto it

Edit - Paste (or Ctrl+V)

Anchor the floating pasted layer to the transparent Overlay layer

Layer - Anchor Layer (or Ctrl+H, or click the anchor icon in the layers dialog)

Use the Move tool to position the Overlay layer so that it overlaps the base layer as much as you like

Note that it's helpful to slide the Overlay layer down a little so you can see how much overlap you've got

Add a layer mask to the Overlay layer

In the layer dialog, right-click the Overlay layer

Add Layer Mask ...

Select White (full opacity)

Paint a black-to-white gradient on the layer mask

Select the Gradient tool with the options shown

Draw a straight line (use Ctrl to constrain your line if necessary) from the left edge of the Overlap layer to the right edge of the base image

The two images should now be blended together as shown

Even up the tops of the two images

In the layers dialog activate the overlay image by clicking on it (look for the white border)

Use the Move tool to drag it up so the tops of the two images are aligned



Finishing up

Flatten the blended image into a single layer

Image - Flatten Image

Use the Crop tool to remove the unwanted portions of the image



This tutorial was adapted from a Photoshop® tutorial. There may be different and/or better ways to do some of these things. Some of the methods I used were developed from trial-and-error. I try, too, to include some less frequently used techniques if I can. I hope you find this tutorial useful and instructive. - tab

45 comments:

John Wright said...

Um...sucks? The people on the right are small and the blending is horrid...sorry but it's the truth >_<

ITnet7 said...

I appreciate the time that you put into showing us the blendability... Maybe not the best choice of pics, but the concepts were there! Thanks for sharing....

A. David said...

Gee John, way to be an ass.

Next time, don't waste your time posting a comment just to rag on someone else's work. Try making a tutorial yourself.

That said, I do appreciate the step by step! It was precisely what I was looking for.

jen72 said...

Well I think it was a great tut! I squealed when it worked! I've been looking for this kind of tut that is very easy to follow for a long time. WTG and thanks!!

Thomas Boito said...

Gee, John, Sorry you missed the point!

Unknown said...

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot.

sbackl said...

Thanks this is great I have a couple of images I have benn wanting to blend and have tried but the grass or turf on the join never looked quite right, great thanks.

Destruction said...

Very nice tutorial indeed... I blended a tiger skin pattern on another object very nicely with this. Thanks! Is there any way to limit this blended portion to say the outline of the other object (of irregular shape)? Can someone point me to what this type of transform would be called? I am not even sure where to start looking. Thx in advance! :-)

Unknown said...

Nice tutorial, though some details were not fully refined (for this image). The tree in the middle looks sort of faded, not unless ghost trees do exist.
The height of people needs a little scaling to "blend" them in.
Other than that, looks good.
Thanks for the tut.

Jodi said...

Thanks for the tut -- very helpful! I like the "little" people shooting at the big people.

Parkham said...

-Exactly- what I needed. This tutorial rocks and so does Gimp!

Unknown said...

Thank you for the tutorial! It is exactly what I was looking for. The main and important concepts are in there. I think that this "John" guy was off limits; shame on him.
Thanks a lot !

Ellen said...

Oh thanks for the tutorial. It is just what I was looking for. I understand why you did not go into resizing the smaller soldiers, cloning the smoke and other things your example needed done to it. Because it's too confusing. You stated what the tutorial entailed at the begining and yet still John was not happy :) But I am :)

shrlinaz said...

this helped a lot..=D
thanks

ellen said...

Thank you very much. The tutorial is perfectly focused on one topic thus extremely easy to follow. Thank you so much!

Unknown said...

I switched from PS to gimp after i lost PS.. so thanks!

and john? tutorials are for teaching. Most of us looking for tuts are not interested in the graphic ability. The explanation is whats important.

Sanya Michelangelo said...

Nice work. That straight line thing is pretty innovative.

gabbylovesarchie said...

amazinggg. (;
thank you so much!
just the tutorial i've been looking for, lol.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Thank you sooooo much!

At first it didn't work but that was only because I didn't follow all the instructions xD.

Great help!

Unknown said...

I am really confused. I tried to follow this tutorial step by step but can not for the life of me get it to work.

I have two different images that I want to blend image 1 --> image 2

But, for some reason, I just can not get the gradient blend to work. Any idea what I can be doing wrong?

Many thanks

Matt

Unknown said...

Thanks i got my image combined. :)

diantha said...

Hi thank you for making this tutorial... but the new version of Gimp does not have most of the options listed. Also how do you widen the background on the first photo to allow room for the second? I am very new at it and was confused when this step was skipped in the tutorial. Also "Anchor layer" is not in Gimp anymore.

Me either, Matt. No idea...

Unknown said...

The tutorial was great, the method, not so much. I may have done something wrong, but it didn't blend very well. I still had MAJOR color differences.

Unknown said...

Matt - check that the Image Mode is set to RGB

somesome said...

Great, it works
but is there any tutorial in your blog that teaches us
How to add shadow in a picture that you already applied the lasso thingy? i had the picture cut out and now i wish to add shadow before i paste it in a plain background, but i don't want it to appear like cut and paste, you get what i mean? please teachhhh Thank you

MMSTeacher said...

Thank you so much for the step by step tutorial on blending photos in GIMP. I had to do this for an assignment. I could not have done it without this help! Thanks

Unknown said...

Nice tut. Tnx!

→lisa said...

Just the info I was looking. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions. Thanks!

OLIVER said...

what about layering? i have several pictures i'd like to lay one on top of the other ... i took several snapshots with the camera in the same spot and with me in different spots of the room and i'd like to layer all of them so that there are three or four or five of me in the picture at the same time in different areas of the room!

Thomas Boito said...

OLIVER: Is this the kind of thing you're talking about?
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd67/xmath_photos/kailee%20clones/kailee_3_a_sml.jpg

Minervas Tablet said...

Thanks for the tutorial. It was exactly what I needed and saved me a lot to time! And money :)

Cheers,
Brenda

ഗോപന്‍ said...

Good! This is really helpful!!-
-- Gopakumar.P.B

Judy Spark said...

Absolutely fantastic - clear, easy, effective and has given me a sense of control over my images for once, thanks!!

4tell said...

This is really great... Gimp is Great... Just what i needed :-) Thanks

Honey said...

thanks for sharing this.it helped me alot..nice tutorial

www.arshpreetsingh.wordpress.com

Emma said...

Thanks for this! I always come back to this when I'm blending on Gimp.

Unknown said...

Exactly what I needed!

Emi said...

Thank You so much... Perfect Tutorial!!!

Andino said...

Thanks a lot! It's the first time a Gimp tutorial is useful for me. I always like the way you can cut/paste in paint, doing it very quickly, but since now I'm starting to do this using Gimp!

Andino said...

Thanks a lot! It's the very first time a Gimp tutorial works for me. Since now I'm a follower!, Bye.

jeremy said...

Not the most intuitive way to get at it. But thanks to Google and this post I went from thought to complete in 7 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Very useful, thank you!

Unknown said...

Wondeeful tutorial but all the images are broken: Google Docs has obviously lost them. Is there a way you can get them back? I can't get the Blend action to work properly: it isn't being transparent enough (ie only a small quantity of the main image is showing through the overlay).

Thomas Boito said...

Here is a link to an updated version (Aug 2012) of the blending tutorial for newer versions of GIMP:
http://boitblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/blending-two-images-updated.html