Removing Under-Eye Bags with GIMP

Removing Under-Eye Bags with GIMP

Just Brushing Up

Did you know you can import Adobe® Photoshop® brushes into GIMP 2.4 or higher?

Simply download a brush package from any of numerous websites (myPhotoshopBrushes.com, QBrushes, BrushKing, etc) then unzip it if necessary, to get the .abr file.

Next you need to find the folder on your hard drive where GIMP stores its brushes. Open the GIMPPreferences pane, Edit > Preferences. Then expand the Folders tab, click on Brushes, and you will see the path to the brushes folder.

Next navigate to the brushes folder and drag or copy the .abr file into the brushes folder. When next you launch GIMP the new brushes should appear in the brush pallet.

It's as simple as that, but you must be using GIMP 2.4+.

Create an Attractive Star Field

In this tutorial, as in most of my lessons, the emphasis is not on the product you will end up with, but on the tools, techniques, and skills you will use in completing the activity. You should feel free to experiment. Deviate from the "recipe" and see what happens if you make some changes.

Among the things you will do in this tutorial:

• Use the Blend, Bucket Fill and Elliptical Selection Tools
• Feather and Move a selection
• Manipulate the Layer Mode and Opacity
• Use special brushes and modify Brush Dynamics
• Create new layer and a Layer Mask
• Use the Blur Filter

Some or all of these techniques may already be familiar to you, but hopefully, you'll learn something new. So, here we go ...

The Background Layer

1) Create a new image using the default settings (640 x 400, white fill).

2) Set the FG color swatch to a rich shade of medium dark blue. I used 1f4d64 (the HTML color code).

3) Use the Bucket Fill Tool to paint this as the background color of the image.

4) Reset the FG and BG color swatches to the default black and white.

The Gradient Layer

1) Create a new layer named "Gradient".

2) Select the Blend Tool and set the Gradient to FG to Transparent. Drag down from the top of the image about 3/4 of the distance to the bottom.

The Bottom Glow Layer

1) Create a new layer named "Bottom glow".

2) Use the Elliptical Selection Tool to create a short oval the entire width of the image.

3) Select the Move Tool and apply it to the selection. Drag the oval to the bottom of the image so that only half of it is within the image boundary.

4) Feather the selection by 25 pixels. (Selection -> Feather...)

5) Set the FG color to a light medium blue. My choice is adc3dc. Fill the selection.

6) Set the Layer Mode to Burn, Opacity to 50%.

The Stars Layer

1) Create a new layer named "Stars".

2) Reset the color swatches to the defaults and swap them so the FG is white, the BG is black.

3) Select the Brush Tool: Shape Star 06, Spacing 180, Scale: 0.4

4) Expand the Brush Dynamics settings: Pressure: Opacity, Random: Opacity and Size

5) Check Apply Jitter, set the Amount to 5.00.

6) Paint stars on the upper 3/4 of the image.

7) Apply a Motion Blur to the layer: Filters -> Blur -> Motion Blur..., set the Angle to 90 and the Length to 2.

8) Highlight the "Stars" layer in the Layers palette and select Layers - Mask - Add Layer Mask..., set to White (Full Opacity).

9) Swap the color swatches back to the defaults.

10) Use the Blend Tool (FG to Transparent) to apply a gradient to the layer mask from just below the lowest star to the top.

The Blue Stars Layer

1) Create a new layer called "Stars Blue".

2) Select the Brush Tool (which should still be showing the settings used earlier) and choose a light blue for the FG color. Something like c0d9f4.

3) Paint some blue stars in the upper third of the image.

4) Apply the same Motion Blur to this layer.

If you followed the directions fairly closely, your image should look something like this:

If you want to look for more interesting star brushes go to BlendFu.com

Brushes and Fonts for GIMP

Sources for GIMP brushes and fonts

GIMP brushes at deviantART



GIMP and PS brushes from BlendFu



Extensive collection of fonts at dafont.com




To install on a Mac: Simply download and extract the brush or font files and put them in the appropriate folder.
~user/library/application support/gimp/brushes
~user/library/application support/gimp/fonts

For Windows users, click here.

Creating a brush with variable size

When I first started to use GIMP, one of the Photoshop® features I most missed was the ability to resize a brush on-the-fly rather than having to reselect a different size brush or create a new one of the needed size. I searched unsuccessfully for a way to do this.

Recently, as I was looking in the GIMP manual online, I noticed an item 'Creating a brush with variable size'. I hadn't ever noticed this item before, so it's either been recently added or I'm #@%&. At any rate, I'm presenting it here enhanced with screenshots for those of you who would like to make use of this handy feature.

1. Start with opening the Brush dialog by double-clicking on the Brush area in Toolbox, or by File → Dialogs → Brushes. Click on the New Brush button to open the Brush Editor dialog.

   

2. Name your brush at once, 'Variable Round' for instance.
   
   
3. Your brush will appear in the Brush options with a blue corner.
   
4. Now, go File → Preferences → Input Controllers

• Click the Main Mouse Wheel tab.
• Check Enable this controller.
• Scroll through the Events list and select Scroll up (Shift).
• Click on the Edit button to open a window that allows you to assign an action to the selected event.
• 

5. Click on the small triangle next to Context to drop the list down. Scroll through this list and select the context-brush-radius-increase item.
   
6. Do the same to assign the 'context-brush-radius-decrease' action to the 'Scroll down (Shift)' event to decrease the brush size.
7. Click on the Save button in the Brush Editor to save your brush.

I am using a third-party mouse on my iMac and didn't have success with the scroll wheel actions. However, using the Main Keyboard tab I was able to assign increase and decease brush radius to the up- and down-arrow keys. I also used the left- and right-arrow keys to decrease and increase the hardness of the brush.

If you work with a tool that has a 'Brush' option and have selected your Variable Round brush, press the Shift key and you will be able to vary the brush size by using the mouse wheel or the up- and down-arrow keys. This change will be visible in real time in the brush area of the Toolbox and in the Brush Dialog.

Hope you found this useful. --tab