Tone-on-Tone Image Manipulation

Tone-on-Tone GIMP tutorial

Get Sharper Images Using Blur and Blending

Get Sharper Images Using Blur and Blending

Using GIMP to Add Falling Snow to an Image

Use GIMP to Add Realistic Falling Snow to a Photo by xmath

Stencil on Wood Background

Stencil on Wood

Quick and Easy Color Change

GIMP Color Change

Reveal the Color of a Selected Object in an Image

Reveal the Color of a Selected Object in an Image

An Easy Halftone (Newsprint) Photo Effect

Learn how to apply a halftone, newsprint effect to a photo in just a few quick, easy steps using GIMP.

Halftone Effect in GIMP

Vintage Letterpress Effect

In this GIMP 2.8 tutorial you will learn a quick and easy way to give your typography an ink-stamp-style effect that originated from the old letterpress printing technique.

Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press.Movable type is composed and locked into the bed of a press, inked, and pressed against paper to transfer the ink from the type.

This can result in some texturing, especially if some areas of the printing surface receive little or no ink. Back in the day, this would be seen as a flaw in the print, but now we try to fake this kind of texturing to simulate an aged and nostalgic appearance.

The letterpress effect is created from a texture file. The texture can be anything with plenty of fine grainy detail. Concrete, rust, or grunge textures all work well. For this exercise, I used a rusty metal texture that can be downloaded free from Image*After.

Desaturate the Texture, Colors - Desaturate…, Choose shade of gray based on Lightness. Open the Levels dialog, Colors - Levels…, and use the slider handles to increase the contrast of the image (80, 0.70, 208). Try to generate harsh white details that will represent the paper showing through the ink.

I used the Text Tool to create a layer of text, then added a mask to that layer, Layer - Mask - Add Layer Mask… .

Select all of the Texture layer, Select - All (or ⌘+A), then copy the selection, Edit-Copy (or ⌘+C). You can now hide or delete the Texture layer.

Then right-click the Layer Mask’s little thumbnail in the Layers pallet to make it the target. Paste the copied texture into the layer mask, Edit - Paste (or ⌘+V),  then anchor the layer to the mask, Layer - Anchor Layer (or ⌘+H).

The texture has now been applied as a mask and is rendering black areas of the mask transparent and white areas opaque. Adding a background layer of a solid color will show the effect more clearly. If too much of the text is currently being erased, as is the case here, inverting the colors may result in a better effect, Colors - Invert.

Finally, I added an old paper texture layer to enhance the effect, File - Open As Layers… .

The final effect gives the text a popular vintage look by simulating the pressed ink appearance of those old letterpress prints.

This tutorial was derived from a Photoshop tutorial by Chris Spooner.

Quick and Easy Pencil Sketches

In this short project you will learn how to use GIMP to quickly and easily  get a pencil sketch effect.

Note that the settings used in this tutorial work for the image I used. They can vary widely to achieve desired results for different source images. If you would like to download the picture I used in this tutorial, click here.

Open the image that you want to modify. Duplicate the image layer, Layer - Duplicate Layer.

Desaturate the duplicate layer, Colors - Desaturate..., Choose shade of gray based on: Lightness in the dialog.

Now, use the Edge-Detect filter on the duplicate layer to get the basis of the sketch effect, Filters - Edge-Detect - Edge..., select the Roberts Algorithm from the drop down menu,  set the Amount to 5.

Invert the colors on the duplicate layer, Colors - Invert.

Reduce the Opacity using the controls in the Layers pallet. I turned it down to 50%.

To get a black-and-white sketch quickly, the process is almost identical.

However, after you duplicate the image layer, go to the Colors menu and select Desaturate..., Choose shade of gray based on: Luminosity. Duplicate the desaturated layer and continue as above.

• Filters - Edge-Detect - Edge...

• Algorithm (Roberts) - Amount (5)

• Colors - Invert

• Reduce Opacity (75%)

This text tutorial is based on a YouTube video tutorial by Techtonicc.

Color Sensitive Text

In this GIMP tutorial you will see how to make the color of text alternate between light or dark depending on the background. I developed this procedure to meet the needs of someone who follows this blog and made a request for help. I hope others among you will find it useful, too.

Open the background image.

Duplicate the background layer, Layer- Duplicate Layer. Desaturate the background layer copy, Colors - Desaturate... by Luminosity.

Apply the threshold filter to the background layer copy, Colors - Threshold…, push the slider to the right until there's hardly any white bits in the black.

With the Brush Tool, paint out any details to match the dominant color, black or white.

With the Text Tool create your text layer in black or whatever dark color you want to use. Position it with the Move Tool. Expand the text layer to the image size, Layer - Layer to Image Size.

Make the text layer invisible by clicking the 'eye' icon in the Layers pallet.

Make the black and white layer active by clicking it in the Layers pallet. With the Select by Color Tool in Replace the current selection mode, click anywhere in the black.

Make the text layer visible and active. With the Select by Color Tool in Intersect with the current selection mode, click anywhere in the text. You should now have the portion of text that overlays the darker buildings selected. Make the black and white layer invisible.

Create a new transparent layer, Layer - New Layer..., on top of all the others and name it Light Text. Now, fill the selection on the Light Text layer with white or whatever light color you choose, Edit - Fill with BG Color. Deselect, Select - None.

Stick a Label on It

In this GIMP tutorial you will create an effect that appears similar to a strip of embossed tape as produced by some label makers.

 

 

Some of the things used in this project:

• Layer Effects-Drop Shadow
• Layer Effects-Bevel and Emboss
• Path Tool
• Merging layers
• Selection by color
• Text Tool

 

Note: To complete this tutorial, you will need to have the Script-Fu Layer Effects plugin installed. Get it here if you don't have it yet.

Create a new image 800 pixels wide by 250 pixels, File - New... . Set the foreground color to a medium gray (8b8b8b), then fill the image, Edit - Fill with FG Color.

With the Rectangle Select Tool, make a selection about 500 pixels by 100 pixels.

 

Make a new transparent layer, Layer - New Layer..., named Strip. Reset the color swatches to the default colors. Fill the selection on the Strip layer with the foreground color (black).

The next step is to add a white drop shadow to the strip. Script Fu - Layer Effects... - Drop Shadow... . Set the Color to white and the Size and Offset Distance each to 2.0.

 

Deselect, Select - None. Make the Strip layer active and merge it with the Script-dropshadow layer, Layer - Merge Down.

 

 

Click the Text Tool in the Toolbox. In the Tool Options, I used Monospace, 64, white. Click in the black strip and type a line of text.  With the Move Tool, position the text in the center of the black strip.

 

Use the Select by Color Tool and click anywhere in the text to select the white text. Apply the embossing effect, Script-Fu - Layer Effects - Bevel and Emboss… with the settings shown below.

 

 

 

Deselect. In the Layers pallet, select the upper of the two new layers created in the emboss process and merge it down to the lower layer. To the resulting layer, apply a slight blur, Filters - Blur - Blur.

 

 

Get an even more authentic effect by 'folding down' a corner. 

 

Make the Strip-dropshadow layer active. With the Paths Tool (in Design mode), draw a triangle in the upper left corner of the black strip. In the Tool Options dialog, click the Selection from Path button. Delete the selected area, Edit - Clear.

 

 

Deselect everything. From the Paths pallet, delete the path you drew.

Make a new transparent layer, Fold over. Use the Paths Tool again to draw a triangle to represent the folded corner. Convert it to a selection.

 

 

Fill the triangle with white, Edit - Fill with BG Color. Deselect, and delete the path.

 

 

Note: The Bevel and Emboss settings were determined after a lot of experimentation. You might improve the effect by further refining these settings.

Happy Holidays!!! A Text Project

In this GIMP project, you will use layers, strokes, and several other techniques to create a festive holiday text effect.

 

 

Resources you can download:

Background texture | Text fill texture | Bow

 

Open the background texture image as the Background layer.

 

 

Select the Text Tool and create a Text layer using a big, bold font. I used Futura Ultra-Bold Condensed, 196 point. Set the size of the Text layer to the size of the image, Layer > Layer to Image Size.

 

 

With the Rectangle Select Tool, make a selection on a vertical section of a letter.

 

 

Create a new layer, Ribbon. Select the Blend Tool and fill the rectangular selection with the preset Golden gradient.

 

 

Create another new layer, Ribbon edge. Apply a 1 pixel stroke to this selection, Edit > Stroke Selection…, Stroke line, Solid color. Deselect, Select > None. 

 

 

Select the upper of the two ribbon layers and merge them together, Layer > Merge Down.

 

Make the Text layer active and select the text by clicking anywhere on the black text with the Select by Color Tool. Invert the selection, Select > Invert. Now, with the Ribbon layer active, clear the part of the ribbon that lies outside the text, Edit > Clear.

 

 

You can now hide the Text layer by clicking the 'eye' icon in the Layers pallet.

Open the red damask image as a new layer, File > Open as Layers..., name it Damask. In the Layers pallet, drag the Damask layer between the Text and Ribbon layers. Add transparency to the Damask layer, Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel. Clear the selection to remove the part of the Damask layer outside the text.

 

 

Invert the selection again so that you can paint a thin border around the text. Create a new layer, Text edge. Use the Color Picker Tool to choose a color from the middle of the gold ribbon (the Ribbon layer must be active). Select the Text edge layer, and from the Edit menu, choose Stroke Selection…, Stroke line, Solid color.  The width should be about 3 pixels. Deselect.

 

 

Open the gold bow image as a new layer and place it on top of all the others. Name it Bow.

 

 

You now need to shrink the bow down a lot. Choose the Scale Tool, grab a corner handle of the bounding box, and appropriately size the bow. Expand the Bow layer to the image size, Layer > Layer to Image Size. 

 

Make a selection from the Bow layer. With the Fuzzy Select Tool, click outside the bow, then invert the selection. You might want to zoom in to do this more easily.

 

Create a new layer, Bow shadow. Set the color swatches back to default colors and fill the selection on the Bow shadow layer with default black. Deselect. Apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 2 pixels, Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur… .

 

 

With the Move Tool, slide the Bow shadow layer a bit down and right. Drag the Bow shadow layer under the Bow layer. Merge the Bow layer down onto the Bow shadow layer.

 

 

Duplicate the Bow shadow layer, Layer > Duplicate Layer, and position the bows where you like.

 

 

You might want to add a horizontal ribbon, use bows of various colors, or different textures. Happy holidays!

A Framed Painting

A Framed Painting

In this GIMP project, you will learn how to frame a portion of an image and apply a nice painted effect to that portion while turning the remaining part of the image to black-and-white.

Start by opening an image of a picture frame. I used this one by Billy Alexander, from Stock.xchng.

I began by adding an alpha channel to the image so there would be transparency, Layer > Transparency >Add Alpha Channel. Use the Crop Tool to trim away the white area outside the frame. Select the white area inside the frame with the Rectangle Select Tool. Clear the selected area, Edit > Clear. Deselect, Select > None. I scaled the picture frame image to 85% of the base image, Image > Scale Image... . Save the image as Frame.xcf and close the image.

Now open the image that will serve as the base for the project. If you would like to use the same image (by Christa Richert) that I’ll be working with, you can download it free from Stock.xchng.

With the base image active, click Open as Layers... from the File menu, and  open Frame.xcf as a new layer.

The next step is to rotate the Frame.xcf layer a bit. From the Layer menu choose Transform > Arbitrary Rotation..., or choose the Rotate Tool from the Toolbox . Either drag the frame counter-clockwise a bit or enter -10 degrees in the Rotate dialog.

With the Free Select Tool select a rectangle corresponding to the frame smaller than the outside of the frame, but bigger than the inside of it. Make the background layer active.

At this point, apply an oil painting effect to the part of the image inside the frame, Filters > Artistic > Oilify... and set the Mask size to 10. Soften the image just a bit by applying a little blur, Filters > Blur > Blur.

Now, to desaturate the outer part of the image. Invert the selection, Select > Invert. From the Colorsmenu click Desaturate, choose Shade of gray based on Average in the dialog. Deselect.

To finish, we’ll give the frame a shadow. Make Frame.xcf the active layer. From the Filters menu choose Light and Shadows > Drop Shadow... with the default settings.

Most of the settings I used in this example are just suggestions, not hard and fast choices. Adjust the settings that you use to reflect your own tastes and objectives.