STUDENT’S BOOK
GIMP
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 GIMP 2
Introduction ________________________________________________________ 9
GIMP Preferences ___________________________________________________ 10
Environment __________________________________________________________ 11
Interface______________________________________________________________ 12
Theme _______________________________________________________________ 13
Help System ___________________________________________________________ 13
Tool Options __________________________________________________________ 13
Toolbox ______________________________________________________________ 14
Default Image _________________________________________________________ 14
Default Grid ___________________________________________________________ 14
Image Windows ________________________________________________________ 14
Appearance __________________________________________________________________ 15
Title & Status _________________________________________________________________ 15

Display _______________________________________________________________ 15
Color Management _____________________________________________________ 16
Input Devices __________________________________________________________ 16
Windows Management __________________________________________________ 16
Folders _______________________________________________________________ 16
CONCLUSIONS ________________________________________________________________ 17

File formats ________________________________________________________ 17

BMP (Windows Device Independent Bitmap) ________________________________ 17
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)_________________________________________ 18
JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)_____________________________________ 18
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) _________________________________________ 19
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) ___________________________________________ 19
X BitMAP and X PixMap _________________________________________________ 20
Simple image formats ___________________________________________________ 20
Internal GIMP format ___________________________________________________ 20
Saving a file in another format ____________________________________________ 20
Conclusions ___________________________________________________________ 22

Getting started with GIMP ____________________________________________ 23

Running the programme _________________________________________________ 23
Key elements of the working window ______________________________________ 23

Image Window _____________________________________________________ 25

3
Foreground & Background Colors __________________________________________ 27

New image ________________________________________________________ 27

Resolution ____________________________________________________________ 29
RGB model ____________________________________________________________ 31
Grayscale _____________________________________________________________ 31
INDEXED COLOURS _____________________________________________________ 32

GIMP tools ________________________________________________________ 32

Capabilities of tools _____________________________________________________ 32
Selection tools _________________________________________________________ 34
Selection modes _______________________________________________________ 34
Rectangle Select Tool ___________________________________________________ 36
Tool options _________________________________________________________________ 37

Ellipse Select Tool ______________________________________________________ 39

Free Select Tool ________________________________________________________ 40
Fuzzy Select Tool _______________________________________________________ 40
Select by Color Tool _____________________________________________________ 41
Scissors Select Tool _____________________________________________________ 42
Foreground Select Tool __________________________________________________ 43

Selections _________________________________________________________ 43
Rectangle and ellipse selection ____________________________________________ 43
Free selection__________________________________________________________ 44
Fuzzy selection _________________________________________________________ 44
Selection by color ______________________________________________________ 45
Scissors selection _______________________________________________________ 46
Foreground selection____________________________________________________ 46
Quick Mask selection____________________________________________________ 47
Selection with an Alpha channel ___________________________________________ 48

Paint tools ________________________________________________________ 49

COLOR BALANCE _______________________________________________________ 53
Hue-saturation _________________________________________________________ 54
COLORIZE _____________________________________________________________ 56
Brightness-contrast _____________________________________________________ 56
Threshold _____________________________________________________________ 58
Levels ________________________________________________________________ 59
 GIMP 4
Curves _______________________________________________________________ 61
Posterize _____________________________________________________________ 62
Desaturate ____________________________________________________________ 63
GEGL _________________________________________________________________ 64
Additional colour tools __________________________________________________ 66
Invert _______________________________________________________________________ 66
Value invert __________________________________________________________________ 67
COLOUR EXCHANGE ___________________________________________________________ 68
Alien map ____________________________________________________________________ 71
Colour enhance _______________________________________________________________ 72

Transform tools ____________________________________________________ 75

Painting ___________________________________________________________ 81
Line__________________________________________________________________ 81
Circle ________________________________________________________________ 85
Bucket Fill Tool ________________________________________________________ 85
Erasing areas in the image _______________________________________________ 89
Blend Tool ___________________________________________________________________ 89

Cloning _______________________________________________________________ 92
Perspective cloning _____________________________________________________ 94
Healing _______________________________________________________________ 97
Smudging ____________________________________________________________ 100
Blur/Sharpen _________________________________________________________ 100
Colour picking ________________________________________________________ 103
Airbrushing __________________________________________________________ 104
Dodging/Burning ______________________________________________________ 104
Erasing ______________________________________________________________ 105
Painting with ink ______________________________________________________ 105

LAYERS __________________________________________________________ 106

Using layers __________________________________________________________ 107
Creating a new layer ___________________________________________________ 107
Moving layers ________________________________________________________ 109
Changing the order of layers _____________________________________________ 110
Visibility/hiding of layers _______________________________________________ 111
Locking Alpha channel of the layer ________________________________________ 112
Grouping layers _______________________________________________________ 112
Deleting layers ________________________________________________________ 112
5
Copying and merging layers _____________________________________________ 113
Transforming layers ____________________________________________________ 113
Layer size ____________________________________________________________ 113
Layer modes __________________________________________________________ 114

Masks ___________________________________________________________ 117

Quick mask___________________________________________________________ 117
LAYER MASK _________________________________________________________ 122

TEXT ____________________________________________________________ 126

Saving the text ________________________________________________________ 133
Conclusions _________________________________________________________________ 133

Paths ____________________________________________________________ 133

Path creation _________________________________________________________ 134
Paths dialog __________________________________________________________ 137
Path name ___________________________________________________________ 138
Conclusions _________________________________________________________________ 139

Additional tools ___________________________________________________ 139

Structure of a dock ____________________________________________________ 139
Channels_____________________________________________________________ 142
Colormap ____________________________________________________________ 145
HISTOGRAM __________________________________________________________ 146
Selection editor _______________________________________________________ 146
NAVIGATION _________________________________________________________ 148
UNDO HISTORY _______________________________________________________ 151
Mouse pointer information______________________________________________ 154
Sample points information ______________________________________________ 155
COLOURS ____________________________________________________________ 156
Brushes______________________________________________________________ 159
Creating a brush _____________________________________________________________ 161
Brushes from the internet _____________________________________________________ 164

Patterns _____________________________________________________________ 165

Gradients ____________________________________________________________ 166
Palettes _____________________________________________________________ 168
Fonts________________________________________________________________ 170
Buffers ______________________________________________________________ 171
Images ______________________________________________________________ 171
 GIMP 6
Document history _____________________________________________________ 172
Templates ___________________________________________________________ 173
Tools________________________________________________________________ 175
Error console _________________________________________________________ 177

Filters____________________________________________________________ 177
Blur filters ___________________________________________________________ 178
Blur ________________________________________________________________________ 178
Gaussian blur ________________________________________________________________ 179
Selective gaussian blur ________________________________________________________ 181
Pixelize _____________________________________________________________________ 182
Motion blur _________________________________________________________________ 185

Enhance filters ________________________________________________________ 189

Unsharp mask _______________________________________________________________ 189
Nl filter _____________________________________________________________________ 190
Sharpen ____________________________________________________________________ 191
Red eye removal _____________________________________________________________ 193

DISTORT FILTERS ______________________________________________________ 194

Pagecurl ____________________________________________________________________ 197
Blinds ______________________________________________________________________ 200
Wind _______________________________________________________________________ 203
Waves _____________________________________________________________________ 206
Curve bend __________________________________________________________________ 209

Light and shadow filters ________________________________________________ 212

Lighting effects ______________________________________________________________ 213
Gradient flare________________________________________________________________ 214
Lens flare ___________________________________________________________________ 215
Supernova __________________________________________________________________ 216
Sparkle _____________________________________________________________________ 218
Drop shadow ________________________________________________________________ 220

Noise filters __________________________________________________________ 222

Hsv noise ___________________________________________________________________ 222
Pick ________________________________________________________________________ 223
Rgb noise ___________________________________________________________________ 224
Spread _____________________________________________________________________ 225
Slur ________________________________________________________________________ 226

Edge-detect filters _____________________________________________________ 227

Generic filters ________________________________________________________ 228
ARTISTIC FILTERS ______________________________________________________ 229
Oilify _______________________________________________________________________ 229
Weave _____________________________________________________________________ 232
Cubism _____________________________________________________________________ 235
Apply canvas ________________________________________________________________ 237
Softglow ____________________________________________________________________ 239

Decor filters __________________________________________________________ 241

7
Round corners _______________________________________________________________ 241
Coffee stain _________________________________________________________________ 243
Fuzzy border ________________________________________________________________ 244
Add border _________________________________________________________________ 246
Old photo __________________________________________________________________ 248
Slide _______________________________________________________________________ 250

Map filters ___________________________________________________________ 251

Render filters _________________________________________________________ 253
Clouds filters ________________________________________________________________ 253
Plasma _____________________________________________________________________ 253
Pattern filters _______________________________________________________________ 254

Jigsaw_______________________________________________________________ 254
Grid _______________________________________________________________________ 256
LAVA ______________________________________________________________________ 258
Line nova ___________________________________________________________________ 261
Circuit _____________________________________________________________________ 263

ANIMATION ______________________________________________________ 264

CREATING SIMPLE ANIMATION __________________________________________ 264
Saving animation ______________________________________________________ 268

Practice __________________________________________________________ 270

Working with images___________________________________________________ 270
Color models ________________________________________________________________ 270
RGB _______________________________________________________________________ 271
Grayscale ___________________________________________________________________ 271
Indexed ____________________________________________________________________ 271

Transformation _______________________________________________________ 273

Flip ________________________________________________________________________ 273
Rotate _____________________________________________________________________ 273
Guillotine ___________________________________________________________________ 273

Dimensions and resolution ______________________________________________ 274

Canvas size _________________________________________________________________ 274
Image size __________________________________________________________________ 275
Print size ___________________________________________________________________ 275

Guides and grid ___________________________________________________ 276

Guides ______________________________________________________________ 276
New Guide (by Percent) _______________________________________________________ 276
New Guide __________________________________________________________________ 278
New Guides from Selection ____________________________________________________ 278
Remove guides ______________________________________________________________ 279

Grid_________________________________________________________________ 279
Image Properties ______________________________________________________ 281

Retouching photos _________________________________________________ 283

 GIMP 8
Pencil sketch ______________________________________________________ 286
Adding colors to an old photo ________________________________________ 287
Highlight _________________________________________________________ 291
Aging a photo consistently ___________________________________________ 292
Stars ____________________________________________________________ 293
Border ___________________________________________________________ 295
Creating your own image ____________________________________________ 297
Reduced-image "business card" __________________________________________ 298
"Business card" from image part _________________________________________ 299
Combined "business card" ______________________________________________ 299
Age a photo __________________________________________________________ 302
Working with a selection _______________________________________________ 303
Crop the image ______________________________________________________________ 304
Copy, flip an image part _______________________________________________________ 304

Create a city-at-night image _____________________________________________ 305

Animated banner _____________________________________________________ 312
Banner ______________________________________________________________ 314

Text _____________________________________________________________ 317

Text along path _______________________________________________________ 317
Turning a text into an image _____________________________________________ 319
Filling text with patterns ________________________________________________ 320
3D text ______________________________________________________________ 322
Shining text __________________________________________________________ 324
Text in the ellipse border _______________________________________________ 326
9

Introduction
Gimp1 is a graphics editor to work on one or several images which are opened in
separate windows. The programme does not open several images in one window or an
image outside the window. Even though it allows you to work on several images,
remember that each of them takes memory space. GIMP has a very efficient memory
management system, but remember that smooth working on large images requires
expanding the random-access memory.

Many Adobe Photoshop users ask whether GIMP may be considered as an analogue of
Adobe Photoshop. The answer is yes and no. On the one hand, they are two different
programs with no common roots; on the other hand, certain GIMP tools are similar to
Photoshop tools. Thus, it may be claimed that if you can work with Photoshop, you will
fast pick up GIMP.

If we compare a painting that is hanging on the wall with the image opened in GIMP, the
hanging painting is a solid canvas, while the image opened in GIMP is a collection of
canvases, where each of them is in a different layer. The most basic image may have
only one layer. If there are several layers, they are stacked on each other. Layers may be
transparent. If they are, you can see the image below it. Layers offer more options to
create and modify images. They may be reversed, deleted, combined or temporarily
hidden.

Another term that is very frequently used in GIMP is a channel. Channels are the
smallest components from which an image is constructed. Every channel in a layer has
the exactly same size as the layer it belongs to and consequently consists of the same
pixels (points). Every pixel2 has a certain colour value, the exact meaning of which
depends on the colour model. In the extract channel the value denotes how pixels are
extracted, and in the Alpha channel the value denotes how transparent the
corresponding pixels are.

When you work on an image, very often you want a part of it to be affected. The
selected area is framed by a moving dashed line (the so-called "marching ants"), a so-
called path. It is important to select the part of the image correctly because the desired
result is received applying the appropriate tool to the selection. GIMP has many tools to
select and process the area quickly.

GIMP has plug-ins, i.e. external programmes that may be integrated into the GIMP
menu. By default, the standard GIMP has a certain set of plug-ins. They help realise any
GIMP function.

A plug-in is an individual programme written in the C programming language and

integrated into GIMP. There is another way to extend GIMP, i.e. to use scripts written in
1
GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program. GNU shows that the programme belongs to the
OpenSource world.
2
Pixel is a single colour point consisting of three combined colours. In monochrome photos all
three colour components are the same (their colour code is the same). Colour codes range from 0
to 255.
 GIMP 10
the Script-Fu language, which is special to GIMP. It is also possible to write GIMP scripts
in Python, Perl and Ruby. If you know any of them, you do not have to learn new
programming languages as they are more flexible and powerful than Script-Fu. However,
they have some disadvantages as the script author is not guaranteed that the script
written in Perl or Ruby will work correctly in the GIMP system.

Always feel free to experiment with GIMP. As any other editor, GIMP saves the history
of actions, so it is always possible to undo the last ones performed. The number of undo
steps depends on their complexity since actions are saved in the memory. It may be
possible to make many simple editing actions, but if they are very complex, you can
undo only three or four of them. Remember that same as working with any other editor,
if the image is saved or closed, it is impossible to undo any action because when closing
the file the history of all actions is deleted.

GIMP opens a new window for every tools menu. Why? So that the programme could
operate in various OS3.

GIMP Preferences
Apply EditPreferences command to open the preferences dialog. All preferences are
divided into fourteen sections arranged on the left of the Preferences dialog (1). Once
you click the mouse pointer on the section title, the window of respective options opens
on the right of the dialog box (2):

3
Operating system (OS) is special software that ensures the user interface and the management
of the computer's hardware, applications and data.
11

Environment
This dialog lets you select the preferences for the working environment: sizes of
resources allocated, monitor parameters, size of the image saved.

Minimal number of undo levels must be set in coordination with Maximum undo
memory. When the first value is increased to 10, the second value must be increased to
at least 128 Mb because the saving of each additional undo operation requires memory.

Tile cache size means the size of the random-access memory which saves your opened
image and any editing actions performed with it. If the program requires more memory
than this, it will take it from the disk, which may cause a dramatic slowdown of the
program. In that case, it may take several moments until the program swaps to disk.

Maximum new image size – if you try to create a new image larger than the specified
size (128 Mb), the program will ask you to confirm that you really want to do it.

Size of thumbnails – this option allows you to set the size of the thumbnails shown in
the File Open dialog. By default – 128x128 pixels; 256x256 pixels will allow a better
review of the image; None – the dialog will not show a thumbnail of your opened image.

Maximum file size for thumbnailing – if the size of the graphic file exceeds the specified
maximum size (4 Mb), GIMP will not generate a thumbnail for it.
 GIMP 12
Confirm closing of unsaved images – when the file is closed without saving, GIMP asks
whether you really don't want to save the image.

Keep recorder of used files in the Recent Documents list – the program saves the
names of most recently used files (10) and the paths to them. Therefore, you can use
FileOpen Recent command to open a drop-down list where you can choose the file
that you want to open.

Interface
It is a user's interface. You can adjust the following: to preview layers and channels; to
set the size of preview window; navigation preview size (it opens in the lower right
corner of the image window by pressing the icon , keyboard shortcuts.

Enable layer & channel previews – layer and channel dialogs show miniature previews
of a certain object. If the function disturbs your work, disable this option.

Show menu mnemonics (Access keys). Once you press the Alt key, each of the GIMP
menu entry names displays an underlined letter. If you hold the key down and click the
underlined letter, it opens the list of commands under the menu entry. If it disturbs your
work, disable this option.

Use dynamic keyboard shortcuts. GIMP allows you to create keyboard shortcuts when a
certain key combination is pressed while the mouse pointer hovers over the desired
menu entry. You need to click the shortcut to start the command.

Note!
E.g., we know that after clicking the default keyboard shortcut CTRL+C, the EditCopy
command will be applied to the selected area. Open the menu entry Image, position the
mouse pointer on the Canvas Size command and press the keyboard shortcut Alt 1.
From now on, when working with an image, you will always open the Set Image Canvas
Size dialog by clicking the keyboard shortcut Alt+1.

It is advisable to keep this option disabled, because the user who is not aware of this
option may accidentally change default keyboard shortcuts.

Pressing the Configure Keyboard Shortcuts button brings up a special editor which
allows you to assign keyboard shortcuts to menu entries.

Save keyboard shortcuts on exit. Check this option if you want to save the keyboard
shortcuts assigned to the commands selected.

The Reset Keyboard Shortcuts to Default Values button resets keyboard shortcuts to
their default values.

The Remove All Keyboard Shortcuts button allows you to remove all keyboard shortcuts
assigned to commands from the program settings.
13

Theme
This section lets the user select the appearance of the user interface, including icons,
fonts, etc. There are two default themes: Default, which is best for most users; Small ,
which may be preferable for those with small monitors (14”-15”). You can also find a
number of themes online by entering GIMP themes to the search engine. Once you find
the required theme, extract it and save it to /usr/share/gimp/2.0/themes. A new theme
is applied by pressing the Reload Current Theme button.

Help System
It lets you customize the behaviour of the GIMP help system. Users rarely find it
necessary to change the default settings which meet everybody's needs.

Tool Options
This section lets you customize the following tool options:

If checked, the Save tool options on exit checkbox shows that all options adjusted to
tools will be saved after exiting the program.

Pressing the Save Tool Options Now button will save the options adjusted to all tools.

The Reset Saved Tool Options to Default Values button resets all tool options to default
values.

Snap distance. It shows how close a point must be to a guide or grid in order to be
snapped onto it. The distance will be given in pixels.

Default interpolation. When you change the size of the image, each additional pixel is
calculated by means of one of the four interpolation 4 methods, which use several pixels
in the source image. Your options:
1. None– the fastest but quite crude method: you should only consider using it if
your computer is speed-impaired and system resources are lacking;
2. Linear– the default option good enough for all users;
3. Cubic – the slowest method but it offers the highest quality interpolation.

Brush, Pattern, Gradient – you can decide which tools should have their settings.

Note!
Do not change these settings.

If the Set layer or path as active checkbox is checked, it sets the behaviour of the Move
Tool with an active layer or path.

4
Interpolation [Lat. interpolation] – approximation of interim values of the mathematical function
using its known values
 GIMP 14

Toolbox
You can choose additional buttons to be moved to the toolbox. If the checkbox is
checked:

1. Show foreground &background color – adds the button to the toolbox;

2. Show active brush, pattern, and gradient – the button appears in the
toolbox, which shows: active brush used for painting, blurring/sharpening
operation; pattern – for filling the area of the image; gradient – for smooth
transition from one color to another. Click the mouse pointer on one of the
elements to open the desired dialog;

3. Show active image – adds the button with a thumbnail of the active image
to the toolbox. When you click the mouse pointer on the image, it opens the list
of active images used for moving to another image.

Default Image
This section lets you customize the default settings of your newly created image:
Image Size (Width and Height);
Resolution (X resolution and Y resolution);
Color space;
Fill with (Background color);
Comment.

Default Grid
The grid helps you to align the elements while painting. The grid can be toggled on or off
using ViewShow Grid command. Here the user can set the size of grid squares at his
discretion, to choose foreground and background colors, style of grid lines and line
offset.

Image Windows
The section lets you customize the settings of image windows.
15
If the Use “Dot for dot” by default checkbox is checked. This option means that each
pixel in the image is scaled to one pixel on the display. If this option is disabled, the
image size is determined by X resolution and Y resolution.

Marching ants speed. When the area in the image is selected, the selected part will be
shown as a marching dotted line. This option regulates the speed of marching.

Resize window on zoom . If this option is checked, then each time you zoom the image,
the image window will automatically resize.

Resize window on image size change. If this option is checked, then each time you
change the size of the image, the image window will automatically resize.

Initial zoom ratio - lets you choose the rules of resizing the image when it is first
opened. There are two options:
1. Fit to window – when the image is opened, it fits on your display (if your
opened image is too large to fit on your display, the size of the image that fits on
your display will be automatically selected);
2. 1:1 – the image will remain as it is. If the image is too large to fit on your display,
then the image window will show only a part of it.

While space bar is pressed – this option determines the actions to be performed while
the space bar is pressed.

1. If the Show brush outline checkbox is checked, then when you use the paint
tool, the outline of the brush will be shown on the image as you move the
pointer around.

2. If the Show pointer for paint tools) checkbox is checked, you will see the mouse
pointer while painting.

Pointer mode – you may choose one of the three mouse pointer modes: Tool icon; Tool
icon with crosshair ; crosshair only).

3. This section is divided to two subsections.

Appearance

This subsection lets you choose the settings which control the appearance of image
windows in two modes: normal mode; full screen mode.

Title & Status

This subsection lets you choose the formats of the title and status of the image window.

Display
 GIMP 16
This section contains the settings which let you recalibrate (adjust) the resolution of
your monitor and to customize the way transparent parts of the image are represented.
These settings are rarely used by the user.

Color Management
The section lets you choose color profiles for the monitor and printing device.

Input Devices
By default, GIMP uses a single input device – the mouse. It is possible to connect other,
additional devices to the computer (e.g. graphic tablet). When the device is connected
and the drivers are installed, you have to adjust the required settings for the device to
work in GIMP. For that, use the Configure Extended Input Devices button.

Windows Management
This section lets you customize the way windows are handled in GIMP. The program
does not manipulate its windows directly. It sends requests to the operating system
window manager; thus, certain functions described here may not be correct. What
settings can be adjusted in this section?

Hint for the toolbox - you may choose the style of the Toolbox:
1. Normal window – the window will be like any other window;
2. Utility window – the window will always be behind the active image window;
3. Keep above – sometimes this is the best option because it means that you will
never "lose" the Toolbox.

Hint for other docks – the option is equivalent to the above-described, except that the
window type is specified for other docks.

4. If the activate the focused image checkbox is checked – when you focus the
image window, it becomes active. Therefore, it will be the target for any image-
related actions you perform. It is better to disable this option because this
option is not always convenient to work with.

Folders
This section allows you to set temporary, swap and object storage directories:
1. Temp folder – this folder is used for temporary files created while processing
the image and automatically deleted when the job with GIMP is done. A
subdirectory called tmp is most commonly used. But if the disk is very cramped
for space, you can change it to a different directory. It is important that the
directory exists and is writable by you;
2. Swap folder – it may be a very large folder, i.e. take several hundreds Mb.
Therefore, it must be located in a high-performance disk with plenty of free
17
space. If you can choose between SATA and IDE disk drive, it is better to choose
SATA disk drive for a directory because it works much faster.

Object directories show the path to objects. Several directories may be specified for the
search of objects of the same type. Linux must contain two directories if the user wants
to save patterns, brushes, gradients and other objects.

CONCLUSIONS

You can find the main settings in the following sections:

Environment - you can choose the settings that affect the efficiency of the
program;
Toolbox– it lets you add additional buttons;
Default image – you can choose the default settings for a new image;
Default grid– a grid is used to arrange the elements of the image; you can find
the grid settings in this section;
Input devices – you can adjust additional input devices;
Folders – this option allows you to specify the path to various objects used in
the program.

File formats

BMP (Windows Device Independent Bitmap)

It is a standard Windows graphics image file format. This format is supported by many
programmes. The file extension may be .bmp; .dib; .rle5. .BMP files store DDB6 rasters7,
.dip files – DIB8 rasters, .RLE files – compressed images (it is the same format as BMP).

This format supports many colour models, except for the printing model CMYK. The
compression algorithm RLE does not lose information. The colour depth is from 1 to 48
bits, i.e. at a maximum depth one image point takes 6 bytes9. For example, a 640x480
image with a 48-bit colour depth takes 640x480x6=1,843,200 bytes=1.49 Mb10.

Files take rather much space, and users are not always satisfied with the quality of a
printed image. This format is not suitable for transferring images by the Internet, but it
saves an image without losing its quality. The maximum size of an image is 65535x65535
pixels. This format is used when high-quality colour transfer is required. Before
transferring such image, it is recommended to archive it.

5
RLE – Run Length Encoding.
6
DDB – Device Dependent Bitmap.
7
The structure of a raster graphics image, consisting of dots neatly arranged in rows and
columns, is visible when zoomed in very closely.
8
DIB – Device Independent Bitmap.
9
A line consisting of a certain number of bits is considered as a set and usually represents a
symbol or a part of a symbol. One byte usually consists of 8 bits.
10 10 10
Non-system unit of memory and data is 2 = 1024 bits, abbreviated Kb. 2 = 1024 kilobytes,
abbreviated Mb.
 GIMP 18

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

It is a graphics interchange format, introduced by CompuServe in 1987. At that time it
was used for transferring images by computer networks. In 1989 the format was
enhanced, which added support for transparent background and animation. This format
has the extension .gif. It is a compressed format and very suitable for compressing
images of one colour, i.e. one colour by vertical or horizontal pixels. It uses LZW11
compression which compress without losing images with up to 256 colours. This format
is usually used for drawings and charts. It supports transparency, animation. In this
format files take the least space, therefore they are suitable for creating banners,
buttons, logotypes and any other website elements.

This graphics format is very popular on the Internet. It is supported by all browsers and
most of the graphics editors. Due to the qualities of a compression algorithm (limitation
of the colour palette up to 256 colours or less, compression with expander according to
horizontal lines), it may deliver very small graphics files, where the initial image has large
areas of uniform colour. However, it is not suitable or barely suitable for saving photos
and images with large horizontal gradients. The file saved will be large and of rather
average quality.

GIF has another wonderful quality, namely line by line data storage. Lines are grouped
and their order in the file is changed. This leads to the possibility to upload the image in
several stages. When we have only part of the file, we can see it all only with a lower
resolution. This possibility is widely used in websites. Here, the user has to remember
that such saving increases the size of a file.

Advantages of the format include good compression, animation support and line by line
data saving. Transparency is only partially supported.

The drawback of the format is low colour depth (8 bits) and a limited number of colours
(256).

JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

It is a wide spread graphics format, supported by all browsers and many graphics
editors. The common filename extensions for this format are .jpeg, .jfif, .jpg, .jpe,
however .jpg is the most common one. The image saved in the JPEG format does not
lose its quality. During the compression process, an image is divided into blocks. Each
block has it own colour palette, on the basis of which it is encoded. As a rule, not all
colours used in the image participate in the compression of a block, therefore the
palette is rather limited (it also depends on the selected quality parameter). If an image
has many sharp colour transitions, a high level of compression leads to a distinctly
artifacted image (a form of noise around contrasting edges). This may be avoided by
choosing a higher quality parameter. In such a case, the file size considerably increases,
which means low usage of the format. This format does not support the transparency
effect.

11
Lempel-Ziv-Welch.
19
When you save a file in this format, you can indicate the quality of the image saved. The
highest quality is 90%. The remaining 10% is not visible to a human eye, but it increases
the file size. The main drawback is the loss of quality. If a file is highly compressed, it
loses colours, brightness, tiny details. Even though this format has many drawbacks, it is
popular and possesses certain merits. Almost all digital photos are transferred in this
format. It is always used when high colour transfer definition is not required.

The main drawback is the loss of quality.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

Raster graphics images saved in this format do not lose their quality. It is an alternative
to GIF, which until 2006 required various licences. Due to this, a new graphics format
was introduced in 1995. It was originally called Portable Bitmap format.

PNG is specifically designated for the Internet, replacing GIF and JPG formats. This
format saves colours with 8-bit (PNG – 8) encoding and is similar to GIF in terms of
characteristics. Saving an image in 24-bit (PNG – 24) encoding ensures high-quality
transition qualities and a good level of photo compression. The format supports
transparency. The only drawback is that it is not supported by old browsers and a few
simple graphics editors.

The main strengths of this format are:

lossless image compression

supports the unlimited number of colours
supports transparency
possible gama correction

This format is characterised with the best GIF qualities, and additionally supports the
unlimited number of colours and transparency. If an image has few colours (2–16), it is
recommended to save it in GIF format: a file will be smaller and PNG does not support
animation.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

It is another raster image file format, introduced by Microsoft and Aldus. TIFF has
information on the colour space, which is highly important when processing colours. It is
like a large array of pixels saved in a large file. This format is widely used in publishing,
image scanning, text recognition, sending fax messages. TIFF has been chosen by
NeXTstep and MacOS operating systems as the main graphics format. It uses extensions
.tiff; .tif.

The format saves images of RGB, CMYK, YcbCr, CIE Lab colour models, mono (two
colours), black-and-white, indexed colours. It also supports images with 8, 16, 32, 64 bits
per channel.

Files in this format may be compressed. The level of compression depends on the
selected algorithm:
 GIMP 20
LZW – a method used by GIF
JPEG – a compression method, the same as in case of JPEG format
ZIP – common ZIP format allowing lossless compression
CCITT Fax 3 & 4 – a method used in faxes
JBIG12 – lossless compression, but the quality is better than using ZIP
H.264 – a compression method used by MacOS (Apple)
This format is used by certain digital cameras.

X BitMAP and X PixMap

In the UNIX/Linux world, graphical interface is based on the X Window System. Raster
images are stored (icons, cursors) using X c (XBM). Files saved in this format are text files
used for image display. The advantage of X BitMap is that it is processed by a simple
programme, but each byte of an image in this format is represented by six bytes. So,
probably you will not want to use it for image storage.

Files in X PixMap (XPM) format are also text files used in the X Window System. For the
first time this format was used in 1989. Compared to XBM, it takes less space since its
structure is simpler and supports colour transparency.

Simple image formats

Formats used for image storing:

PPM is used for storing colour images

PGM is used for grayscale images
PBM is used for storing monochrome images
Sometimes these formats are called PNM. They were created by Jeff Paskanzer.

Internal GIMP format

GIMP supports many graphics formats, but it also has its own format, called XCF. Its
main strength lies in the ability to store all image information, even the history of undo
actions. This format is used in creating complex images on which the user will work for a
long time. When you save an image, you also save the history of undo actions, therefore
when resuming your work after a while you do not lose the history of the actions you
performed. On the other hand, it is not supported by many programmes. The image
created cannot be viewed. Due to this, when you finish working on the image, convert it
into another format.

Saving a file in another format

To save an image in one of the formats discussed select FileSave as, (then in the
window opened select Save Image, and name the image (Name) and indicate the
location where to save it (Save in folder).

12
Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group
21

If you need to change a folder or a disc, click on Browse for other folders, the dialog
expands and in the Places drop-down list select a folder and a disc. A folder opens in the
Name list.

To load an image into a new folder, create it in the Places list selecting a disc where a

new folder will be created and press the button . A new

window opens in the Name section,

where the name of a new folder should be entered.

In the section

, you can see the path to the saving location.

To save a file in the computer memory with another extension, press Select File Type
(By Extension), a dialog expands and a File Type drop-down list opens, where you can
choose a file format. For example, if you select PNG format and
 GIMP 22

press the Save button, an additional Save as PNG dialog opens, where parameters of the
file saved in the format are set:

Conclusions
To save an image without losing its quality, use BMP; PNG; TIFF.

To save a compressed image without losing its quality, use PNG; TIFFwith regard to the
used compression algorithm.

To transfer an image via the Internet and to create graphical elements for Web
interface, use GIF; JPEG; PNG.

Animation can be stored only using GIF, but it does not support a full Alpha channel. To
save an image with this channel, it is recommended to use PNG.

Photos are stored in JPEG format, and images with a high colour depth (more than 32
bits) in TIFF. When saving images in JPEG, you can select the image quality (Quality) in
percentage.
23

There is no need to select more than 90% as the difference between 90% and 100% is
not visible for a human eye.

Getting started with GIMP

Running the programme

To start GIMP go to ProgramsGraphicsImage Editing – GIMP

Key elements of the working window

Starting the GIMP programme opens a working window containing the following
elements:

1 – title bar;
2 – menu bar: clicking on a particular menu item opens a respective drop-down list;
3 – Toolbox menu consisting of two parts:
tool icons (5);
tools options (6);
4 – Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo – Brushes, Patterns, Gradients dock.
7 – image window
 GIMP 24

This is a minimal setup. The Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo – Brushes, Patterns,
Gradients dock is always useful when working on an image, it is recommended
therefore not to close it.

Menu items:
File menu contains commands to create, open, save documents, set up page
(parameters), print, close.
Edit menu contains commands to undo the last actions, copy, paste, bugger,
clear, fill, preferences, keyboard shortcuts, units.
Select menu contains commands to select the desired part of the image
according to a certain quality, to change the selection, work with mask, save to
channel.
View menu contains commands to change the scale, work with utilities (rulers,
menubar, statusbar and scrollbars), show selections, work with grid and guides.
Image. The image menu contains commands to duplicate, transform, scale,
crop an image, work on its layers, enter additional guides and grid to facilitate
working.
Layer. All commands that are necessary when working on a layer, i.e. new
layer, duplicate layer, delete layer, merge down and author layer, masks,
transparency settings, scale layer.
Colors. All commands set color models, select and create your own colours, set
their brightness, saturation, hues, lightness, contrast, adjust colour levels.
Tools. This menu item duplicates the Toolbox bar. Here you can select a tool to
work with.
Filters. The first section shows all filters that were used, recently used. You can
also reset all filters. The second section contains a list of structured filters that
are grouped by their effect on the image.
Windows. You can open any dialog, Toolbox bar, show recently closed docks.
Help. You can use the help, find plug-ins, procedures, GIMP material.
25

Image Window
GIMP lets you work with several images at a time where each image is opened in a new
window.
Use FileOpen command to open any image. The image window consists of the
following elements:

5. Title bar of the image window that shows which file is open; in the brackets -
color model, number of layers, image size in pixels; the program used for
opening the image;
Note:
If you have not yet saved the image created using GIMP, the title of the image window is
Untitled.
6. Menu entries. Apart from this menu, there is also the context menu which pops
up by right-clicking the mouse in any place of the image;
7. When you press the button , it opens the context menu, i.e. the commands
selected depend on your opened image, actions performed, etc.:

The same commands are often used in editing photos. To access them, you need to
perform a sequence of actions. When you choose one or another entry in this menu, a
 GIMP 26
dotted line appears on top of the drop-down list of commands. It becomes brighter once
you position the mouse pointer on it:

If you left-click the mouse on such a line, an independent element will appear in the
image window - a drop-down list of commands under the menu entry:

8. Click the button . As you enlarge or reduce the image window, the image size
reduces or increases as well;
9. When you press the button , it opens a small window with an image on the
inside in the lower right corner. You can preview the image by moving this
window while holding the left mouse button down:

10. Press the button to open the QuickMask. The button changes its shape to

11. It shows the size of the image background;

12. If you press the image zoom button, it opens a drop-down list where you can
choose the size of the image you want to see on the screen; it does not affect
the actual size of the image:
27

If the drop-down list does not include the desired size, you can enter your custom size
manually;
13. List of ruler measurement units;
14. Vertical and horizontal rulers are used in drawings, precise arrangement of
objects, etc.

Foreground & Background Colors

The main color of drawing and filling the selected area is the foreground color. This color
is also used as the initial transition color.

The background color is used as the final transition color. By default, the foreground
color is black and the background color is white.

Clicking on the black large rectangle opens the foreground color dialog;
clicking on the white large rectangle opens the background color dialog.
When clicking , the foreground color will be replaced by the background
color. When pressing small the main default foreground color (black) and
background color (white) will be reset.

TASK. Change the foreground and background colors.

1. Press a black large rectangle to open the Change Foreground Color dialog;
2. Select the color;
3. Press OK;
4. Press a white large rectangle to open the Change Background Color dialog;
5. Select a new background color;
6. Press OK;

New image
An image has a complex structure consisting of layers and other objects: selections,
channels, paths, undo history, etc.

How to create a new image?

1. Every time you create a new image, go FileNew. A Create New Image dialog
opens, where settings of a new image such as Width, Height, Resolution, Color
space,Fill with are adjusted.
 GIMP 28

2. Select a Template, i.e. the size of your new image. Open the drop-down list and
select a template.

3. You can set the image size in various units of measurement. For this purpose,
open the pixels drop-down list and select the unit of measurement of your new
image.
29
Pixel is a single point in the image, the smallest information element in the image.

Inch is a unit of length in different systems, equal to 2.54 cm, used in the USA. In Europe
it is used on an individual basis, when dealing with products from the USA. Pica is a
typographic unit of measurement, containing 12 points (around 4.5 mm). It is used in
printing books for children, smaller headlines of books, magazines and newspapers.

Points13. Today it is interpreted as a "desktop publishing point" (or "the PostScript

point"). 72 points are equal to an inch (1 point = 127/350 mm ≈ 0.353 mm). Sometimes
it is compared to a pica: 12 points = 1 pica. Dimensions of an image are indicated in
a pair of numbers. For example, 179 (159 pixels) means that the width of an image is
179 points, and its height is 159 points, while the total number of points is 28461).

If you press the More button, a Unit Selection window opens and you can choose other
units of measurement: feet14; yards15, typogr.points, typogr.picas (kegel):

4. Resolution is a parameter of a pixel image, which determines the quality of the

image and the number of pixels per unit of length.
5. You can choose the orientation of an image:

Portrait

Landscape
6. Select the color space. Gimp has two key display modes: RGB and grayscale.

Resolution
This parameter is abbreviated as ppi (pixels per inch) or dpi (dot per inch).

13
The font height or kegel is expressed in certain linear units of measurement, namely points
and squares (1 square = 48 points). In metric units, one point is equal to approx. 3/8 mm (to be
more precise, 0.376 mm), and a square to 18 mm. This system of measurement, which is
different from the generally accepted decimal metric system, was introduced in the 18th century
(in 1737 by a French publisher P.-S. Furnje). It was enhanced by F.-A. Dido.
14
A foot (ft) is is anon-SI unit of length, equal to 0.3048 m. 1 ft = 12 in (inches) = 1/7 (furlong) =
30.48 cm (centimetre). In the Ancient Rome it was equal to 0.2962 m.
15
1 yd (yard) = 3 feet = 36 inches = 0.9144 m.
 GIMP 30
The resolution parameter according to X and Y is entered into fields X resolution and Y
resolution.

The closed chain icon means that the values are linked together, i.e. if you set the size

in field X, the value of field Y will be the same. The open chain icon means that you
can enter different values in fields X and Y, i.e. their values are not linked together. The
unit of measurement of resolution depends on your selection in the drop-down list
(pixels per inch, pixels per millimetre, etc.).

If you press the More button, a Unit Selection dialog opens and you can choose other
units of measurement:

The higher the resolution is, the better the image and colours you get. However, always
remember that a higher-resolution image takes more space and requires more editing
time. Such a file is printed longer, but low resolution may lead to pixelation.

Before choosing resolution, think about where the image will be used (for printing,
publishing on the Internet, displaying on the monitor) because the value of the
parameter depends on it. High resolution is over 300 dpi, low – within a range of 72–96
dpi. The higher the resolution is, the better the quality of an image you have. The display
of an image on the monitory depends on its size, also on the size and resolution of the
monitor.

If the resolution of an image is higher than of the monitor, the image on the monitor will
be larger than its printing size.
31

RGB model
Colours are represented using two main colour models: CMYK and RGB. Images of raster
graphics are described by two key parameters: colour depth and dimensions. Colour
depth is the number of colours in a single pixel of a digital image16.

Now, the following numbers of colours are usually used:

a) 16 (one pixel is represented by 4 bits17)

b) 256 (one pixel is represented by 8 bits)
c) 16 million (one pixel is represented by 24 bits)

In the RGB colour model, colours are created by adding together three primary colours:
red, green and blue. These colours are used in video devices, scanners, monitors, digital
cameras.

The table below contains eight key colours and values of the colours that make them:

Colour Red Green Blue

Black 0 0 0

White 255 255 255

Red 255 0 0

Green 0 255 0

Blue 0 0 255

Yellow 255 255 0

Magenta 255 0 255

Cyan 0 255 255

The higher the resolution is, the deeper the colour you have.

Note!
When values of all colours coincide, one of the shades of grey is created. The lower the
values are, the darker grey you have. Higher values make a light grey shade.

Images of this model are not good for printing.

Grayscale

16
Also called Bit Depth, Image Mode.
17
There are several definitions. Here are three of them: 1) a basic unit of information used in the
theory of information. It represents the quantity of information received after learning which of
the two equally likely events has occurred; 2) one segment of the binary digit (0 or 1); 3) the
smallest unit of information in a computer, represented in one element of two states.
 GIMP 32
In this mode, each point has from 0 to 255 level of brightness. Values between black and
white are different levels of grey.

These two image modes differ in terms of the number of colour channels. RGB has
three channels, grayscale – one and that is why such image takes three times less space.

INDEXED COLOURS
The number of colours in these images is limited, i.e. no more than 256, to save the
random-access memory. Indexed colours are not something new. These formats were
created a decade ago when computers had small random-access memories. Although
now they are rarely used, they are supported by GIMP as it is easier to perform certain
actions with this kind of image than with the RGB-colour image.

GIF and PNG are indexed formats. Even though GIMP supports them, certain filters
cannot work on such images because they have only a limited number of colours. If such
filter is necessary, the image is transformed into a RGB model, filtered and then
returned to the indexed image. To change the colour mode, use the command
ImageMode.

You should remember that switching between formats results in losing some of the
information which will not be restored when switching back. For example, if you go from
RGB to grayscale, the information on the colour is lost, so when you return to RGB, the
image remains black-and-white.

GIMP tools

Capabilities of tools
GIMP tools carry out many tasks. They are grouped into five groups:
1) selection tools specify the portion of the image that will be affected by
subsequent actions;
2) paint tools alter colours in some part of the image;
3) colour tools alter the distribution of colours across the entire image;
4) transform tools alter the geometry of the image;
5) other tools, which do not fall into the groups above.

Tools may be activated in one of the following ways:

1) by clicking on an icon in the Toolbox;
2) from the Tools menu;
33

3) from the keyboard using an accelerator key.

By default, some tools are not accessible via the menu bar, so that tools that are rarely
used do not bother.

Clicking on (selecting) a tool opens a dialog of that particular tool at the bottom of the
Toolbox. For example, if you select the Ellipse Select Tool, a dialog of this tool opens at
the bottom of the Toolbox, where you can adjust settings which will remain during your
work in the programme and after you resume it. If the settings adjusted are not saved,
they will be reset to their default values.

The button bar contains four buttons:

1) to save options for the current tool. It brings a Save Tool Options dialog.
You can enter the name of the options in the Enter a name for the saved
options box.
 GIMP 34

2) to restore a previously saved set of options for the active tool. If no option-
sets have ever been saved for the active tool, the button will be insensitive.

3) to delete a previously saved set of options for the active tool.

4) to reset the options for the active tool to their default values.

Selection tools
Selection of a portion of the image is a very important GIMP operation. It is much easier
to create a new image from the existing ones, therefore the more precise the selection,
the better the final result.

Selection tools select portions of layers and images so you can work on them without
affecting the unselected areas. Each selection tool has its own individual and common
properties because they all are ascribed to the same group. At first let's discuss the
common properties and then each of them individually.

GIMP has seven selection tools:

1. The Rectangle Select Tool selects rectangular areas;

2. The Ellipse Select Tool selects elliptical areas;

3. The Free Select Tool creates a free-format selection;

4. The Fuzzy Select Tool selects contiguous areas based on colour similarity
(also called the Magic Wand);

5. The Select by Color Tool selects areas based on colour similarity;

6. The Scissors Select Tool selects shapes;

7. The Foreground Select Tool extracts the foreground from the selection.

Selection modes
Four selection modes may be found in the second section of the toolbar

:
35

1. Replace the current selection causes any existing selection to be destroyed

and a new selection created.

2. Add to the current selection Shift causes the new selection to be added to
any existing active selection:

3. Subtract from the current selection Ctrl removes the new selection from
any existing active selection area:

4. Intersect with the current selection Shift+Ctrl makes a new selection from
the area where the existing selection area and the new selection area overlap:

The following modifier keys are very often used when creating a selection:

Key Usage

CTRL When creating a selection, holding down the Ctrl key toggles the “Expand
from center” option, i.e. the point where the selection is started by
pressing the mouse button is used as a centre of the selected area.

If you hold down the CTRL key before drawing a selection, this new
selection will be subtracted from an existing one.

ALT Holding ALT allows movement of the frame of the current selection.
 GIMP 36

Key Usage

SHIFT If you hold down the Shift key before clicking to start the selection, this
selection will be added to the already selected area.

If you hold down the Shift key after clicking to start the selection, the
effect will depend on the tool you are using: the selection will be a square
with the Rectangle Select Tool, and a circle with the Ellipse Select Tool.

CTRL+SHIFT To find intersection of two selections, hold Ctrl+Shift when the first
selection is performed and the other one is being performed.

Space bar Irrespective of the tool selected, holding down the Space Bar allows you
to move the active image.

Rectangle Select Tool

It is the most basic of the selection tools, but very commonly used. You can perform
many actions to the selection. You can activate the tool in several ways. When this tool

is selected the mouse pointer turns into . Define the selection area holding down
the left mouse button. When the selection is created, handles appear on their corners.
These handles allow you to resize the selection.
37

In the selection, corners the pointer changes into , which means that you
can resize the selection by click-and-dragging it. You can click-and-drag to magnify or to
shrink the selection by moving the chosen boundary.

A selection may be moved from one place to another. In such a case, the mouse pointer

inside the selection area turns into and you can move the
selection from one place to another by clicking the left mouse button.

Tool options
 GIMP 38

Antialiasing smoothes out boundaries of the selection.

Feather edges feathers the edges of the selection, therefore pixels of the selection area
will be partially visible.

Rounded Corners rounds the corners of the selection using the Radius slider.

a) Straight angles b) Rounded angles

Expand from center – the point where the selection is started by pressing the mouse
button is used as a centre of the selected area.

Fixed constrains the shape of the rectangle in different ways. You can select the method
in the drop-down list of the Fixed slider:

Aspect ratio sets the ratio between width and height; by default the ratio is
1:1, i.e. a square.
Width sets the width of the selection.
Height sets the height of the selection.
Size sets the height and the width of the selection.
Position, Size change the coordinates of X and Y and adjust the size of the selection
manually.

Highlight emphasises the selected area by a surrounding mask.

39

Guides18 – you can choose the type of guides. In the No guides drop-down list you can
choose the following guides:

a) No guides b) Centre lines c) Rule of thirds d) Golden section

Auto Shrink shrinks the selection to the nearest rectangular shape available on the
image layer.

Ellipse Select Tool

This tool is similar to the Rectangular Select Tool in terms of its usage, options and
qualities. It should be mentioned that it does not have the Rounded corners option.

After you select the tool, the mouse pointer turns into .

You can create a selection using certain modifier keys:

– Pressing the Shift key after starting your selection and holding it down until you
are finished constrains the selection to be a circle.

– If you press the Shift key before starting to make the selection, the resulting
selection will be added to the existing selection:

18
The rule of thirds. An image is divided into vertical and horizontal one-thirds, and the element is
positioned in the intersection of those one-thirds. The key element is oriented in one of the four
points, and the background element in one of the remaining three.
The golden section. Also known as Fi or the divine proportion, it is the number equal to 1.618. The
golden section is based on Euclid's postulate on the division of a segment into equal parts so that
the ratio between the longer part and the shorter part is equal to the ratio between the entire
segment and the longer part.
 GIMP 40

Free Select Tool

After you select the Free Select Tool, the mouse pointer turns into . This tool
creates a free-shape selection. The selection is created as if drawing it with a pencil:

You can close the selection in the following ways:

– by clicking on the first point (with which the selection was started);
– by a double clicking; the selection is usually closed by connecting the current
pointer location to the start location with a straight line.

You can also select by precise clicking on a certain point. A circle appears in the place
and you can rather precisely select a free hand path:

Fuzzy Select Tool

After you select the Fuzzy Select Tool, the mouse pointer turns into . Sometimes it
is called the magic wand. This tool selects areas based on colour similarity. Areas are
automatically selected by clicking on the image. When using this tool, it is very
important to pick the right starting point because if you select the wrong one, you might
get something very different from what you want.

Before using this tool, it is recommended to adjust its settings:

41

We already know the first three options (Mode, Antialiasing, Feather edges) from the
Rectangular Select Tool.

The Select transparent areas option offers you the ability to select areas that are
completely transparent.

The Sample merged option becomes relevant only when you have several layers in your
image: the active layer that is either semi-transparent or fully transparent. The colours
present in the active layer will be different from the colours in the composite image. If
this option is unchecked, the Fuzzy Select Tool will react to the colours in all the possible
layers.

The slider of the Threshold scale determines the range of colours that will be selected at
the moment you click on the initial point. The lowest value is 0, the highest value – 255,
the default value – 9.1. If you enter a low value, the points, the colour of which is the
same as the point you clicked on, will be selected. Increasing the value expands the
selection area by connecting the points with a larger range of colours.

a) Threshold = 2 b) Threshold = 5

In the Select by drop-down list you can choose how to select colours.

Select by Color Tool

The tool above selects the image areas based on the colour similarity, while
selects the areas that are in the chosen range of colours. It has the same options as the
Fuzzy Select Tool.
 GIMP 42

Scissors Select Tool

This tool allows you to make a selection by creating control points at the edges of
the area you are trying to select. Then the tool produces a continuous line connecting
these control nodes. The tool is used in the following way:

1. Create the first control point.

2. Create the remaining points in the area. Create as many points as possible in
order to select the area precisely. Control points may be mixed, which allows
you to modify the curve and select the area you want.

3. Finish creating points by clicking on the first control point (when you
place the mouse pointer on the last/first point of the selection, a new element
appears on the mouse pointer showing that the curve is closing at this point).

When working with this tool, remember that:

as soon as you close the curve (make a selection), you can start the selection
again using the undo operation;
it is not possible to select another tool if you have not finished setting control
points because all points will be lost.
This tool has the only option we are not familiar with yet, that is Interactive boundary. If
this option is enabled, it is easier and more convenient to make a selection.

If certain points are set not precisely, place the mouse pointer on the point, the pointer

turns into and move this point to the place you want. If you need to add points to

the path, place the mouse pointer on the path, the pointer turns into , and then
click the left mouse button to add an additional point. To create a continuous line, place
43

the mouse pointer inside the path, the pointer turns into , then and click the left
mouse button.

The pointer shows that the area has been selected.

Foreground Select Tool

The Foreground Select Tool extracts the foreground from the active layer. The shape of

its pointer is the same as of the Free Select Tool , only its use is more complex. The
main actions are the same as in case of the Free Select Tool.

Selections

Rectangle and ellipse selection

They only differ by the form of selection. A border is added to the selected object. You
have to left-click the mouse to make a selection. While selecting, hold the Shift key
down to create a square or circle selection. You may modify the size of the selected
area.
1. Select FileOpen command to open image multi.jpg;

2. Press Rectangle Select Tool . Select the dog:

3. Apply the SelectNone command to cancel selection;

4. Press the Ellipse Select Tool . Select the dog:
 GIMP 44

5. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Free selection
You can select using the Free Select Tool in two ways:
1. By stroking the selected area manually, i.e. as if drawing by a pencil;
2. By clicking in certain points of the area you want to select, which will be linked
by a line, thus creating the selected area.

Select the sculpture in the image in both ways.

1. Press the Free Select Tool ;

2. Stroke the sculpture manually;
3. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;
4. Press the Free Select Tool ;
5. Select the sculpture by clicking in the points of your choice:

6. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Fuzzy selection
Fuzzy select Tool is used to select the adjacent areas of similar color.
45
Select the adjacent white areas in the image. The number of similar colors (hues) is
regulated by the Threshold option. The higher the value, the more hues take part in the
selection operation.

1. Press the Fuzzy select Tool ;

2. Click the mouse pointer on the white color (lower part of the dog):

3. If you want to select all the white areas on the dog, press the Mode button Add
to the current selection in the Toolbox options;
4. Click the mouse pointer on the remaining unselected white areas of the dog:

5. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Selection by color
Select by Color Tool is designed to select areas of the image based on color similarity.
The Threshold option is used to increase the number of adjacent hues of the selected
areas.

Select white-color areas in the image.

1. Press the Select by Color Tool ;

2. Click the mouse pointer in any white area:
 GIMP 46

3. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Scissors selection
Scissors Select Tool selects an object by identifying its edges; the tool lacks precision; it
compares color and contrast on both sides of the selection line while selecting. The
selection takes place by clicking certain points that are connected by curves.

Select the paper packages held by the dog in the image.

1. Press the Scissors Select Tool ;

2. Click the mouse pointer on the selected points on the edge of the pile of books
in the image;
3. When you complete the selection after clicking the mouse pointer on the first
point, click the mouse pointer anywhere inside the curve to convert it into a
selection:

4. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Foreground selection
47
Foreground Select Tool lets you select the areas where the foreground objects are
located. In the Interactive refinement group-box control you can choose what to select–
foreground or background. The selection takes place in two stages – in the first stage,
you roughly select the area you want to extract and use a paintbrush to make it more
accurate afterwards

Select the roof of the house in the image.

1. Press the Foreground Select Tool ;

2. In the Interactive refinement group-box control, select the Mark foreground
radio button;
3. Select the roof. Once you complete the selection, the entire non-selected area is
covered with a blue mask:

4. Select a brush of the required size by the slider of the Small brush scale.
5. Use the brush to color the areas which belong to the selected interactive
division:

6. Once the path is finished, press the ENTER key. You can now see the selected
part:

7. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Note!
Paths Tool can also be used to make a selection. Apply the Selection from Path button
after you create the path and close it.

Quick Mask selection

You can open this selection method by several ways: through the Select Toggle Quick

Mask; by pressing the button in the lower left corner of the program window ; by
pressing the keyboard shortcut Shift+Q. Once you are done, the entire image window
fills with a light red translucent mask. Select the brush for painting the area you want to
select. Since a variety of brush sizes are available, you can paint the desired area really
accurately. Painting with white creates a selected area, whereas black unselects it.

Select the dog's neb in the image and copy it to a new layer.
 GIMP 48
1. Apply Select Toggle Quick Mask. The entire image is covered with a light red
translucent mask. The button in the lower left corner of the program window

changed its shape ;

2. Press Paintbrush Tool. By selecting different brush sizes, color the dog's neb in
white really accurately. When coloring, the translucent light red color
disappears:

a) the image after Select Toggle Quick Mask is b) the image after the Paintbrush Tool is applied
applied

3. In the lower left corner of the program window press the button . Now
dog's neb is selected in the image:

4. Apply EditCopy command;

5. Open LayerNew Layer. Give the name Neb to the layer;
6. Apply EditPaste command. It opens Floating Selection (Pasted Layer);
7. Anchor this layer to the Neb layer by pressing the Anchor the floating layer
button;

Selection with an Alpha channel

When you edit images, arrange several photos, copy the objects or selected areas, you
have to cancel selections. There are cases when the same selection is required after
some time. If you are reluctant to or it is problematic to repeat the selection, an Alpha
channel is a good option. Open the Layers dialog and press the Neb layer. Open the
49
context menu and select Alpha to Selection. The dog's neb in the image window is
selected again.

Note!
To select a tricky area, you can use all selection tools but don't forget the Mode buttons

, which let you merge, subtract or intersect the areas selected. The
buttons are available for all selection tools.

Paint tools
Gimp offers the following paint tools:

Shape of the
mouse pointer
Tool Name of the tool Intended purpose
when the tool is
selected

Bucket Fill Tool Fill the selection with the colour or pattern selected.

Blend Tool Fill the selection with a colour gradient.

Pencil Tool Hard edge painting using a brush.

Paintbrush Tool Paint smooth strokes using a brush.

Eraser Tool Erase to the background or transparency using a brush.

Airbrush Tool Paint using a brush with variable pressure, if beautiful

effects are required.

Ink Tool Calligraphy-style painting. It is similar to an ink pen.

Clone Tool Copy from an image or a pattern.

Heal Tool Remove failures in images. Remove small failures.

 GIMP 50
Shape of the
mouse pointer
Tool Name of the tool Intended purpose
when the tool is
selected

Perspective Clone Clone from an image source after applying a perspect

transformation.

Blur/Sharpen Blur or sharpen the selection using a brush. Sometim

Blur Tool may hide unwanted parts of the photo. One
the examples is a car sales advertisement placed on t
Internet, where the plate number should not be visib
speed up the blurring process, select a larger brush o
accelerate the use of the tool.

Smudge Smudge colours using a brush.

Dodge/Burn Lighten or darken colours using a brush.

Tools: Pencil, Paintbrush, Airbrush and Ink Tool are usually grouped together and called paint tools.

When using paint tools, key modifiers very often come in handy:

Key How to use

Ctrl Holding down this key has a special effect on every paint tool, except for
the Ink Tool. It places the tool into the colour picker mode. For example,
clicking on the image when holding down this key allows selecting the
foreground colour.

The orange colour is selected and the line

is drawn by hand.

For the Clone Tool, the key switches it into a mode where clicking sets the
reference point for copying.
51
You have to A mark emerges at Then the mouse pointer is
clone some the place set on the selection in the
of the stem. registered by the image, where the cloned
Holding mouse pointer. part of the stem must
down the appear.
Ctrl key
select the
Clone Tool.
The mouse
pointer is
set on the
place of
your choice.

For the Blur/Sharpen Tool, the Ctrl key switches into the Sharpen/Blur
mode.

Shift Holding down the Shift key places paint tools into the straight line mode.
For example, to draw a straight line, set the starting point (click the left
mouse button on the point of your choice). Then press the Shift key on the
keyboard. You will see a thin dotted line connecting the starting point with
the pointer.

Click the left mouse button to render a straight line.

The operation may be repeated without setting the starting point. In such
a case, the starting point will be the ending point of the line drawn. In this
way you can connect many segments.

Ctrl+Shift This is similar to the effect of the Shift key alone, except that the
orientation of the line is constrained to the nearest multiple of 150, i.e. you
can create vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines.

WORKING WITH COLOURS

GIMP has a set of commands to manipulate colours:
 GIMP 52
color balance;
hue-saturation;
colorize;
brightness-contrast;
threshold;
levels;
curves;
posterize;
desaturate;
These commands do not have designated buttons, but you can select each tool in the
Colors tools menu.

The Tools menu that is opened using a special list of commands through Add
TabTools contains many tools without they eye icon .

When you click on the eye icon that is in front of a particular tool icon, the tool selected
appears in the Toolbox. Select all tools that you see in the image above. Our Toolbox is
supplemented with additional tools that allow you working with colours.
53
a) Standard Toolbox b) Tools icons that you want to c) Toolbox supplemented with
see in the Toolbox are marked additional colour tools

Note!
To see how the commands below operate in practice, you should open as contrast
images as possible.

COLOR BALANCE
This command modifies the colour balance of shadows, undertones and light parts in an
image. You can select options in a dialog box opened through ColorsColor Balance

If the Preview (A) checkbox is ticked, a small preview window (B) opens in the top right
corner of the dialog box, where you can see any changes made to the options.

Each tone has a complementary colour. Complementary colours are arranged on

different sides of the colour circle. It is set that cyan and red, magenta and green, blue
and yellow complement each other. The intensity of key colours is suppressed by
intensifying their complementary colours.

Undertones are prevailing in images. To adjust them, set Midtones under Select Range
to Adjust.

You can set colour levels using the Adjust Color Levels slider. The first slider adjusts the
balance between cyan and red, the second one – between magenta and green, and the
third one – between yellow and blue.

The option Preserve luminosity (C) ensures that brightness set is maintained. In this
case, only the colour balance changes.
 GIMP 54
In the top section of the dialog box you can find the Presets input box. Pressing the

button on the right of it calls an Add Settings to Favorites dialog box where you can
enter the name in the Enter a name for the settings input box:

In this way you can apply the same settings to other images. All the settings are saved in
a special file. However, remember that at first you have to adjust settings and only then
save them.

Note!
If you tick:
• Shadow, you can adjust dark colours in your image;
• Midtones, you can adjust undertones;
• Highlights, you can adjust bright (light) colours.

Hue-saturation
This command adjusts hue, saturation and lightness levels on the colour selected. The
settings are adjusted for the active layer or the selection. The tool is often used for
creating interesting colour effects. To see how it works, you should take an image and
try changing various settings.

You can access the tool option through ColorsHue-Saturation .

55

At first select one of the three possible primary colours (red, blue, green). You can also
choose from complementary colours: cyan, magenta, yellow. All colours are arranged in
a circle (A). When hue increases, the circle goes counter-clockwise; when it decreases, it
goes clockwise.

Overlap sets how much colour ranges will overlap. This effect is very subtle and works
on very next colours only.

In the colour circle, you can select a primary colour (Select Primary Color to Adjust) and
using three Adjust Selected Color sliders adjust each tone:

Hue changes colours in the order of the range circle, i.e. adjusts the tone of the colour
selected. Green may be replaced with yellow, blue with any other colour from the
palette.

Lightness adjusts the lightness of colours from 100 on the left of the slider (black image)
to 100 on the right of the slider (white image), i.e. the higher the value is, the lighter
image you have; and the lower the value is, the darker the colour selected you get;

Saturation adjusts the purity of the colour. Moving the slider from the centre to the left
reduces purity from 0 to 100 (only shades of grey without any colour tone), and moving
the slider from the centre to the right increases purity from 0 to 100 (solid colour).

When you take a picture of a man, the flashlight reflects off the retina of the eye – you
get the red eye effect as blood-vessels in the retina are of the red colour. How to
remove this effect?
 GIMP 56
1. Open a photo where a man has "red" eyes. At first pay attention to the size of
the photo. You will have to mark eye pupils, so choose the proper size. If the
photo is large, scale it to 100%, if small – to 150–200%.
2. Mark the red pupil using the Ellipse Select Tool.
3. Select the tool through ColorsHue-Saturation. In the Hue-Saturation dialog
box select the red colour (R) and set its Saturation at 100.

COLORIZE
The tool adjusts colours in the active layer or the selected area. It is a very powerful tool
that adjusts the general background of the image. You can get to it through

ColorsColorize . In the Colorize option window you can adjust your settings.

The Colorize Tool creates the effect as if you look at the image through a colour glass.
When it is colourless, it is transparent. Adjusting setting value, you adjust the tone of the
glass, therefore the image is always different.

Before using this tool, try to experiment with it.

Brightness-contrast
This tool adjusts lightness and contrast levels for the selection or the active layer, i.e. it
makes the image more expressive and richer. You can adjust settings in the dialog box

that is open through ColorsBrightness-Contrast .

57

Moving Brightness and Contract sliders to the right increases brightness and contrast, to
the left – decreases them. Adjustments made by this tool do not highlight light,
undertone or dark areas.

If you are not satisfied with the quality you get, use Levels and Curves.

TASK. Open image pav_1.jpg and using the ColorsBrightness-Contrast command

adjust it by setting the brightness value at 127 and (-127) and the contrast value at 127
and (-127).
1. Open pav_1.jpg using the command FileOpen .

2. Select the tool through ColorsBrightness – Contrast or by clicking on the tool

icon and the opened image. The Brightness-Contrast dialog box opens:
3. Using the Brightness slider set the value at 127, then at -127.

a) Brightness = 0 b) Brightness = 127 c) Brightness = -127

4. Using the Contrast slider set the value at 127, then at -127.
 GIMP 58

a) Contrast = 0 b) Contrast = 127 c) Contrast = -127

Threshold
This tool transforms the active layer into a monochrome image, i.e. it transforms a
colour image into a black-and-white image. A black-and-white photo does not fall into
this category as it always has shades of grey. To adjust settings, use the command

ColorsThreshold . In the dialog box you can use the slider and small black and
white triangular buttons.

Triangular buttons (A) control the field shown in the histogram. They adjust the size of
the selection and at the same time the composition of your image.

In a new image, pixels within the threshold range will be white, and others will be black.
This tool is rarely used on colour images. However, it is used to improve a black-and-
white image, for example, a scanned text. It can also clear a mono image.
59

Levels
When working with a low definition camera or scanning photos, the resulting image is

often pale. You can remove such defects through ColorsLevels . This command
adjusts brightness, contrast and saturation in a special way.

To remove the “wash out” effect in your photo, all you have to do is press the Auto
button in the Levels dialog box.

In the Channel drop-down list you can choose the object which will be modified by the
tool:
 GIMP 60
Value adjusts the general colour in your image;
Red, Green, Blue work on a particular colour channel;
Alpha works on transparent masks.
In the dialog box opened you can see a histogram with the distribution of pixels in the
whole image or its selection. Adjusting the settings in this window changes the intensity
of the image. It usually helps and makes colours brighter.

All tones in a balanced image are distributed evenly. For example, an image with a blue
predominant colour will produce a histogram shifted to the left in Green and Red
channels, signified by green and red lacking on highlights.

The key settings are adjusted in Input and Output levels.

Input Levels

Moving input sliders (A) adjusts dark tones, undertones and light tones individually:

triangular slider B adjusts shadows;

triangular slider C adjusts undertones;

triangular slider D adjusts light tones.

When adjusting images, triangular sliders B and D are moved to the group of points
signifying the beginning and end of the histogram. When working on undertones, move
triangular slider C to the right to darken them or to the left to lighten them. The position
of triangular slider B determines the value of the black point, and all points with the
lower value will be black. This applies to triangular slider D as it determines the white
point. The middle triangle (C) determines the mid point. The closer this triangle is to B,
the lighter the image you get; and the closer it is to D, the darker the image is.

Input Levels are often used to lighten bright tones (usually highlights), darken shadows,
change the balance of bright and dark tones.

Output Levels

At first choose a Channel.

In the Value channel, points are compressed and look more alike, shadows are made
lighter, and highlights darker.

The following example explains the colour (red, blue, green) channel the best: if you use
the red channel and set the output level at 100–140, all points will be red.

Working on the Alpha channel, all values will be shifted to the range you have set.

Slider E is for adjusting the contrast in an image. To lighten an image, move triangular
slider F to the right; to darken an image, move triangular slider G to the left. Where
required, you can enter the exact values into input boxes that are below the output level
scale.
61

Curves
This tool changes the colour, brightness and transparency in a very sensitive way.
Remember that it can be used only with the RGB colour model. This tool is very effective
when working on the definition of the image. Contrary to Brightness-Contrast which
changes the definition of the whole image, Curves adjust the definition of the selection
only. This effect is often applied to photos. Let's say the picture was taken in front of the
sun and certain bright details that reflected the sunrays are almost invisible. With
Curves you can reduce the definition of those details by moving down a respective
segment of the curve.

To increase the definition, move the curve upwards. You can choose the channel you
want to adjust.

The command ColorsCurves opens a dialog box, in the centre of which there is a
line drawn on a grid and going from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

The horizontal axis represents initial intensity levels of an image or a selection (Input
Levels), while the vertical axis represents Output Levels, i.e. the destination. A straight
line drawn at a 450 angle has the same input and output values. Subject to the
adjustments made to the image, anchors are arranged on the curve. An anchor is
created on a corresponding place of the curve. Points A, B and C are anchors of
corresponding adjustments: A – shadows, B – undertones, C – light areas.

Holding down the left mouse button move the pointer over the image. A moving vertical
line that shows the intensity of the point selected in the image appears in the Curves
 GIMP 62
dialog box. When you reach the point you want, you have to capture its intensity by
setting the curve in that place.

To adjust areas with medium intensity, create anchors on the curve that signify the
middle segment of the curve. You can change the areas with medium intensity by
changing the shape of the segment: when the segment goes up – the area becomes
lighter, when goes down – it becomes darker.

In the dialog box you can select a Curve type which influences different curve editing
modes:

Smooth – you can move anchors, thus adjusting the shape of the curve;
Freehand – you can draw a curve by hand.

Posterize
This tool reduces the number of colours while maintaining the maximum semblance of

the original image. Access this tool through ColorsPosterize . In the opened dialog
box you can see only a single setting, namely Posterize Levels:

Moving the Posterize Levels slider allow you to set the number of levels (from 2 to 256)
in each RGB channel that the tool will use to describe the active layer. In this way you
can determine the number of colours in the final image:

2N, where N is Posterize Levels.

Increasing the value increases the number of colours used. In case of the maximum
value, the tool is inactive as the image is the same as the original.
63
Reducing the value reduces the number of colours used, and the image is being stylised.

Level 3 is set by default, meaning that the final image will have 8 colours.

TASK. Open pan_1.jpg and reduce the number of colours by setting Posterize Levels at
256 and 3.
1. Open pan_1.jpg through FileOpen .

2. Choose a command ColorsPosterize. A dialog bow Posterize opens.

3. Using the Posterize Levels slider set the value at 3, then at 256.

a) Posterize Levels = 3 b) Posterize Levels = 256

Note!
The lowest value of Posterize Levels is 2. It shows the smallest number of colours.

Desaturate
This tool converts all of the colours on the active layer into shades of grey. However, you
work on all three colours of the RGB colour model. This tool is usually used when you
need to turn the image into a monochrome image. You can access it through

ColorsDesaturate . In the dialog box opened you can select one of three shades of
grey based on:
 GIMP 64
Lightness = ½ x(max(R, G, B)+min(R, G, B));
Luminosity = 0.21xR+0.72xG+0.07xB;
Average =(R+G+B)/3

a) Original image b) Lightness is ticked c) Luminosity is ticked d) Average is ticked

Note!
If the Preview checkbox is ticked, you can instantly see new settings. If it is not ticked,
press the OK button in the Desaturate dialog box and you will see the result according
to the option selected.

GEGL19
This tool adjusts colours in the image. It has many versions. You can access GEGL

through ColorsUse GEGL . Clicking on the image opens a GEGL Operation dialog
box.

19
GEneric Graphics Library
65
Select the operation from the Operation drop-down list and only then adjust the
settings.

Working with this tool is very similar to working with filters.

TASK. Open pan_1.jpg and select GEGL for colour adjustment. Adjust the following
settings:
Operation – Brightness-Contrast. Set Brightness at 0.44, Contrast at -0.96.
Operation – Color temperature. Set Original Temperature at 4640.00, and
Intended Temperature at 10440.
Operation – box-blur. Set Radius at 3.50.
1. Open pan_1.jpg through FileOpen .

2. Access the tool through ColorsUse GEGL. Select the tool and click on the
opened image. The GEGL Operation dialog box opens.
3. Select Brightness-Contrast in the Operation drop-down list.
4. Adjust the following settings:
Brightness at 0.44
Contrast at -0,96

a) Original image b) Image with the settings adjusted

5. Press the Cancel button in the GEGL Operation dialog box.

6. Select Color Temperature in the Operation drop-down list.
7. Adjust the following settings:
Original Temperature at 4640.00;
 GIMP 66
Intended Temperature at 10440

a) Original image b) Image with the settings adjusted

8. Press the Cancel button in the GEGL Operation dialog box.

9. Select box-blur in the Operation drop-down list.
10. Set Radius at 3.50.

Additional colour tools

Invert
The command ColorsInvert inverts colours, i.e. converts an image into a negative.

TASK. Open pan_2.jpg and create a negative of the image.

1. Open pan_2.jpg through FileOpen .

67

2. Access the command through ColorsInvert. The resulting image in the

window looks like this:

Value invert
This command converts every pixel in the image individually. It turns all bright pixels into
dark and vice versa.

TASK. Open pan_2.jpg and invert every pixel in the image individually.
1. Open pan_2.jpg through FileOpen .
 GIMP 68
2. Access the command through ColorsValue Invert. The resulting image in the
working window looks like this:

COLOUR EXCHANGE
This command replaces one colour with another one. You have to choose two colours –
the colour you want to replace and the colour that will replace the first one. The
command finds the colour automatically, so you do not have to indicate it yourself.

You can open the Color Exchange dialog box through ColorsMapColor Exchange.
69

The dialog box has two groups of options:

From Color – the colour you want to change. You can indicate this colour in two
ways:
1) by clicking on and indicating the colour you want to
change in the dialog box Color Exchange: From Color

Note!

For the purposes of accuracy, use the dropper .

2) by indicating the exact colour values with Red, Green, Blue sliders.
 GIMP 70

Use Red threshold, Green threshold, Blue threshold sliders to lock the
threshold for each colour value.

Note!
The higher the threshold value is, the more shades of this colour will be used.

To Color – the colour that will replace the From Colour. You can choose the
colour the same as in case of the From Color.

Note!
The preview window is on the top of the dialog box. If it does not show any changes, it
means that the colour you want to change is not in the image.

TASK. To pan_2.jpg and replace grey (a2a2a2) with yellow (e5e761).

1. Open pan_2.jpg through FileOpen .

2. The command ColorsMapColor Exchange opens the Color Exchange dialog
box.
3. In the From Color section press , and a Color Exchange: From
Color dialog box opens.
4. Set the grey colour at or enter a2a2a2 in the HTLM notation input box.
5. Press the OK button.
6. In the To Color section press , and a Color Exchange: To Color
dialog box opens.
7. Set the yellow colour at or enter e5e761 in the HTLM notation input box.
8. Press the OK button.
9. Press the OK button.
71

a) Original image b) After the colour exchange

Alien map
This command gives the unreal effect to an image, creates the supernatural illusion.
Open an image or a photo and access the command through ColorsMapAlien Map.
The Alien Map dialog box opens.
 GIMP 72
First of all you have to indicate the shade you want to modify. Determine the colour
model, tick the RGB color model or HSL color model checkbox.

Indicate the colour channel you want to modify, i.e. tick one of the checkboxes: Modify
red channel, Modify green channel or Modify blue channel.

Create the effect using red, green or blue frequency and phase sliders.

TASK. Open pan_2.jpg and give the supernatural effect to the image using the RGB
colour model, then the HSL colour model. Modify red and green channels. Set the red
frequency at 1.20, and the phaseshift at 55.00; the green frequency at 1, and the
phaseshift at 0.00.

1. Open pan_2.jpg through FileOpen .

2. Access the command through ColorsMapAlien Map. The Alien Map dialog
box opens.
3. Tick the RGB color model checkbox.
4. Tick Modify red channel and Modify green channel checkboxes.
5. Set the Red frequency slider at 1.20.
6. Set the Red phaseshift slider at 55.00.
7. Set the Green frequency slider at 1.00.
8. Set the Green phaseshift slider at 0.00.
9. Press the OK button. The resulting image looks like this:

a) Original image b) After modification

Colour enhance
The command accessed through ColorsAutoColor Enhance automatically enhances
colours in an image and makes them brighter.
73
When you open an image and use the command, it automatically enhances the
saturation and brightness of pixels in the image without distorting the real image.

TASK. Open pan_3.jpg, highlight the girl's silhouette and make the background
colourless.
1. Open pan_3.jpg through FileOpen.

2. Select the Free Select Tool .

Note!

If the image is too small, use the Zoom Tool . In the options section, tick the Zoom
in checkbox and click on the image.

3. Frame the girl's silhouette.

4. Remove the part underneath the armpit (A) and near the hair (B) from the

selection. Select the Mode icon (Subtract from the current selection) in the
Free Select Tool options from the Toolbox menu.
5. Select areas A and B with the Free Select Tool.
 GIMP 74

6. Highlight the girl by enhancing colours. Access the command through

ColorsHue-Saturation. In the Hue-Saturation dialog box increase the
Saturation value (40) and reduce the Lightness value (-18).

Note!
If the Toolbox has colour tools, then instead of going through ColorsHue-Saturation

select the Hue-Saturation Tool .

7. Press the OK button.

8. Now work on the background. You have already selected the girl. So, select the
command through ColorsInvert, thus selecting the background.
9. Apply the command ColorsDesaturate to the background or select the tool

and click on the image. In the Desaturate dialog box tick the Lightness
checkbox.

Note!
When you choose tools, do not mix the Blend Tool and the Desaturate Tool as they
have very similar icons.

10. Press the OK button.

11. Now darken the background. Access the command ColorsBrightness-Contrast

or select the tool . In the Brightness-Contrast dialog box set

the Brightness slider at – (-93);
the Contrast slider at – (-53).
12. Press the OK button.
13. Remove the selection using the command SelectNone.
75
14. Now try to blur the boundaries of the girl's silhouette with the background. Click

on the Blur/Sharpen Tool . Adjust the following settings:

set the Brush at Circle (19)
set the Scale slider at 4.00
tick the Blur checkbox in the Convolve Type
set the Rate slider at 80.00
Holding down the left mouse key go over the edges of the silhouette.

a) Before using b) After using

15. Save the image through FileSave As.

Transform tools
Shape of the
Name of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
tool when the tool is
selected

Move Tool Move layers, selections or any other

objects. It has two settings:

a) Move – to indicate what to move:

a layer, a selection or a path;

b) Tool Toggle – to pick a layer or a

path, or to move the active layer.
 GIMP 76
Shape of the
Name of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
tool when the tool is
selected

Alignment Align layers and other objects.

Tool
As the mouse pointer turns into a
small hand, click on the layer to be
moved. You can choose several
layers to be aligned by clicking the
Shift key. When a layer is selected,
the "Relative to" drop-down list in
the Tool Options shows the object
the selected layer will be aligned to.
The Offset option controls the
amount of displacement (it can also
be negative) that could be given to
the desired alignment effect.

Crop Tool Remove borders or eliminate

unwanted areas.

The area to be cropped is selected

by holding down the mouse button.
Once the area is selected, small
squares appear on its corners. These
squares allow changing the size of
the area that will not be cropped. To
make additional settings go to the
Crop section in the Tool Options.

Rotate Tool Rotate a layer, a selection or a path.

Using the tool options you can set

the angle or the rotation centre.

You can rotate horizontally, vertically

or by the angle (clockwise or
counter-clockwise 900, 1800) using
the command ImageTransform
77
Shape of the
Name of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
tool when the tool is
selected

The angle and the rotation centre are indicated in the Rotate dialog box.

Scale Tool Scale a layer, a selection or a path.

When working on photos, remember

that their size is often rather big – 3–
4 Mb. If you e-mail them to friends,
they may be unable to view them as
photos will be larger than the
monitor. Also, mailboxes are limited.
That is why it is recommended to
resize photos before sending.

You can resize the image using the command ImageScale Image. The size of a new
image is displayed in the Scale Image dialog box in pixels or any other units of
measurement (Image Size) or percentage of the original size.
 GIMP 78
Shape of the
Name of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
tool when the tool is
selected

When you make the settings, press the Scale button.

You can resize a file (.JPG) using the command FileSave As.

When you make all the settings, press the Save button in the Save as JPEG dialog box.

Move the Quality slider to 65%. The image saved is suitable for viewing but not
printing.

Shear Tool Shear a layer, a selection or a path.

It moves one part of an image, a

layer or a selection to one direction
and the other part to the opposite
direction. Using the settings you can
set Direction, Interpolation,
Clipping.
79
Shape of the
Name of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
tool when the tool is
selected

Perspective Change the perspective of a layer, a

selection or a path.

It is very simple to use this tool.

When you select the tool, a dotted
frame frames the image. To adjust
the perspective, move the corners
holding down the left mouse button.

Flip Flip a layer, a selection or a path

either horizontally or vertically.

Some other tools

These tools are not included in the groups above.

Name of Shape of the mouse pointer

Tool Intended purpose
the tool when the tool is selected

Paths Create and edit paths.

Tool

Design the path

Edit the path

Move the path

Color Set colours from image

Picker pixels.
Tool Pick only
 GIMP 80
Name of Shape of the mouse pointer
Tool Intended purpose
the tool when the tool is selected

Set foreground colour

Set background colour

Add to palette

Zoom
Tool
Zoom in
Adjust the zoom level.

Zoom out

Measure Measure distances and

Tool angles.

Text Tool

Create or edit text layers.

How to use the Measure Tool.

TASK. To measure the length and the angle to the horizontal.

1. Open a new working window using the command FileNew . Size by default,
i.e. the size offered by the system.

2. Select the Measure Tool .

3. Tick the Use info window checkbox in the Measure dialog box.
4. Draw a tilting segment.
81

The dialog box displays the following information:

Distance – the length of the segment in pixels (points);

Angle – the size of the angle , consisting of a segment and the horizontal;
Width – the width of the rectangle made by moving down the verticals from the
end of the segment (a);
Width – the height of the rectangle made by moving down the verticals from
the end of the segment (h);

Painting

Line
You can paint a line by hand using the Pencil or the Paintbrush. The pencil paints a clear
and firm line, while the paintbrush does it with soft strokes. These tools have similar
options. Lines are painted by holding down the left mouse button. These tools are also
suitable for painting straight lines. Create a starting point by clicking on the image
display area. Now, hold down the Shift key and and create additional points. A dotted
line appears between the last point and the current point.

Let's look at the options:

 GIMP 82

Mode. It shows how the paint will be used. Paint tools have the same modes as
layers (described in Chapter XXX), except for Behind and Color erase modes. All
possible modes are listed in the drop-down list. Let's discuss some of them:
o The Behind mode is applied only to layers with the Alpha channel (the
channel of transparency). It is often put only on the opaque area of the
layer. The amount of the paint depends on the transparency value: the
lower the opacity is, the more paint is applied.
o The Color erase mode erases the foreground colour replacing it with
semi-transparency.
o The Dissolve mode paint a line with XXXX strokes.
Opacity sets the transparency level. The value may be from 0 to 100. Where the
value is 100, the brushstroke is opaque, where 0 – totally transparent. In the
image below you can see the lines painted using different opacity values.

Brush allows you to choose the shape and the size of a brush. In the image
below you can see lines painted with a brush of different shapes:
83

Scale allows you precisely to modify the size of a brush. In the image below you
can see lines painted with a brush of different sizes:

Brush Dynamics allows you to choose how the brush should act when painting.
Checking this option opens additional ones. Checking this option opens
additional ones.

Checking the options you can change how the brush acts when painting lines. You can
choose Color and Velocity. If you paint slowly, the brushstroke is dark. The faster you
paint, the lighter the brushstroke is, since the colour depends on velocity:

Now, you can set Size and Random. The random size changes the size of a brush:
 GIMP 84

You can set Color and Random. The random colour changes the colour of a brush:

The Fade out option allows you to choose the maximum size of one stroke. It is
usually used to get the effect of fading out paint. Choosing this option, you can
set the length of a stroke with a help of a slider.

The example below shows strokes of different lengths:

The Apply Jitter option allows you to create the effect of a jittering paintbrush.
When you check this option, a scale of Amount appears and you can set the
level of jitter with a help of a slider:

If Incremental is active, each additional pass with a brush will increase the
effect. If it is deactivated, moving the brush repeatedly over the same spot will
not increase the effect. The Opacity is equal to 10. The stroke will be almost
transparent. Paint one line, then another (a) on the top of it. Their colours are
85
not added together. Activate Incremental – paint a line and then another one
on the top of it. Their colours are added together (b).

The Use color from gradient option allows you to paint with a gradient rather
than one colour. Painting progresses with the gradient and length you choose.
Checking this option opens a window with gradient settings

Circle
Many graphics editors have tools to paint a circle, but not GIMP. So, how to paint a
circle? Here, you can use two tools – the Select Tool and the Bucket Fill Tool.

1. Select the area with the Ellipse Select Tool . If you need to select a circle,
press the Shift key after starting your selection and hold it down until you are
finished.

2. Choose the foreground colour .

3. Select the Bucket Fill Tool and apply it to the selection.

3.
1.

2.

Bucket Fill Tool

This tool changes the colour of fragments of the same or similar hue. Patterns may be
used for filling.
 GIMP 86

Choose the foreground colour by clicking on . Select the colour in the Change
Foreground Color dialog.

Click the mouse pointer on the image area you want to fill with the chosen colour.

You have the following tool options:

Mode defines how to mix the fill colour with the solid colour of the area to fill.
Opacity shows the transparency level of the fill colour. If you choose minimum
values, you can adjust hues rather than fully fill individual areas.

a) Original image b) Fill colour c) Opacity = 10 d) Opacity = 45 e) Opacity = 75

The Fill Type shows the type of fill:

o FG color fill – the fill colour

87

o BG color fill – the fill colour

o Pattern fill – the selected pattern. You can select the pattern to use in a
drop-down list:

Pattern fill – Sky

The Affected Area shows the area to which the Bucket Fill Tool will be applied:
o Fill whole Selection – the tool is applied to the selection created using
special tools rather than to flat areas:
 GIMP 88

o Fill Similar Colors – the tool is applied only to the colour of contiguous
pixels of with a certain range of colours:

Finding Similar Colors – you can access this option when Fill Similar Colors is
checked. Under this section you can find two options:
o Fill transparent areas – the option offers the possibility of filling
transparent areas. If this option is deactivated, the tool is not applied to
transparent areas.
o Sample merged – flat areas are found not only in the selected layer, but
in all other layers of the image.
Thresholds – the slider allows you to set the level at which colour can diverge
inside the flat area. Sometimes the area to till is not flat – it has several small
spots. In this case, select a higher level and the tool will fill the area you want:
89

Thresholds = 15 Thresholds = 35 Thresholds = 40

Fill by defines the search object to determine the flat area to which the Bucket
Fill Tool will be applied.

Erasing areas in the image

The Eraser Tool removes areas up to the background colour or the transparent
background. This tool has similar options as other paint tools, for Anti Erase which un-
erases areas of an image.

To remove areas in an image you can use the Delete key. Select the area you want to
remove using any of the select tools and press the delete key. The area will be removed
up to the background colour.

The Eraser Tool is usually used to remove strokes and edit the image.

Blend Tool

This tool creates the transition from one colour to another rather than fills the
area with a solid colour or pattern. The transition of colours is created along the line

which is drawn using a mouse pointer . This line has two functions: 1)
shows the direction of the gradient; 2) shows the length of the blending from one colour
to the other. The longer the line, the smoother the transition. The tool is used in the
following way:

a) select the Blend Tool.

b) choose the foreground and background colours .

c) choose the options.
d) the tool is applied to the image.
The tool is applied to the whole image.
 GIMP 90

a) Original image b) The c) The direction of the gradient is d) The result

foreground indicated
and
background
colours
selected

The tool is applied to the selection.

a) Original image b) The c) Creating a c) The direction of the d) The result

foreground selection with the gradient is indicated
and Free Select Tool,
background to which the Blend
colours Tool will be
selected applied

The tool has the following options:

Mode and Opacity have been discussed in previous chapters.

Gradient – the type of gradient fill is selected from the drop-down list.
91
It should be mentioned that the first items
on the list depend on foreground and
background colours, while the remaining
ones are the same as you see them;

Below the gradient button you can find a Reverse option. Check this option to
reverse the gradient.

Offset – use the slider to adjust settings and move the starting point of the
gradient. Increasing the value shortens the gradient.

a) The b) Offset = 0 c) Offset = 50 d) Offset = 85 e) Offset = 100

foreground and
background
colours
selected

Shape – you can select the shape of a gradient from the drop-down list:

You can choose the shape of a gradient:

a) Linear b) Bi-linear c) Shaped d) Conical (sym) e) Spiral (cw)

(angular)

The Repeat mode determines how many times gradients will repeat.
 GIMP 92

You have the following options:

o None – gradient alone.
o Sawtooth wave – gradients repeat in a sawtooth wave.
o Triangular wave – gradients repeat in a triangular wave.

a) None b) Sawtooth wave c) Triangular wave

Dithering allows you to wash out or smooth out toothed edges of a gradient.
Adaptive supersampling allows you to smooth the irregularities of a gradient.

Cloning
The Clone Tool allows you to copy from an image. The tool is used to perform
many operations in order to move or copy parts of an image in different ways.

Tool options:
93
The Clone method mixes strokes with the background.
Opacity to set the transparency level of brushstrokes.
Brush – to choose the shape of a brush.
Scale – to choose the size of a brush.
Brush Dynamics – to choose options of the brush dynamics;
Fade out – to choose a fixed length of a stroke.
Apply Jitter – to create the effect of a jittering paintbrush.
Hard edge – to remove antialising of all edges of a stroke.
Source – to determine whether data will be copied from an image or one of the
patterns discussed above. If data will be copied from the pattern, you do not
need to set a starting point of copying using the Ctrl key.

Alignment – to define the relation between cursors when using the tool .
Your options:

o None – no alignment. When you set the starting point (source) (using
Crtl), it is not important where you start copying because the source
position will not change. This option is usually used to copy one element
in several places.
o Aligned – the offset is set between the starting point (source) and the
closed result, and all subsequent brushstrokes use the same offset.
o Registered – the image of one layer is moved to another layer, not
sideways or upwards/downwards.
o Fixed – the starting point (source) remains set. You paint using a simple
paintbrush, only instead of a regular line, each time you copy the
pattern of the source point.

TASK. Open image pav_3.jpg and copy the duck in the foreground using the Clone
Tool.
1. Open image pav_3.jpg:
 GIMP 94

2. Click on the Clone Tool and place the pointer on the image. The pointer

turns into .
3. In the Alignment drop-down list select None.
4. Then press the Ctrl key on the keyboard.
5. Select a starting point (source) by clicking on the duck in the foreground. This
action brings a mark:

6. Click on the area you want to copy. Perform painting actions as if using a
paintbrush without releasing the left mouse button and following the
movements of the mouse in the source. Release the mouse button when you
finish copying.
7. The resulting image looks like this:

Perspective cloning

After you use the Perspective Clone Tool , the mouse pointer turns into .
You can copy different parts of an image in any perspective you want. Before using the
tool, use a special frame to set the perspective of your image and identify which part is
closer to the viewer and which one is further. Sometimes this tool is more convenient
than the Clone Tool, you just need to learn how to use it well.

You can choose the following tool options:

95

The Perspective Clone Tool has the same options as the Clone Tool, except for two:

Modify Perspective – to create a perspective before cloning.

Perspective Clone – to clone parts of an image in the perspective you have
created.

Task. Open the image pav_4.jpg and to clone it in different perspectives created by
you.
1. Open pav_4.jpg through FileOpen Paukštelis.jpg.
2. Select the Perspective Clone Tool.
3. Choose Modify Perspective.
4. Click on the image. Perspective creation handles A appear.

5. Create a perspective using handles A at any place of the working window.

6. Select Perspective Clone Tool.
7. Following the rules discussed, clone the bird according to the perspective

.
8. Set AlignmentAligned.
9. Using the Ctrl key select the bird, i.e. the clone source.
 GIMP 96

10. After cloning, the bird looks like this:

11. Choose Modify Perspective.

12. Create a new perspective:

13. Select the Perspective Clone Tool.

14. Set AlignmentAligned.
15. Using the Ctrl key select the bird, i.e. the clone source.
16. The cloning process:

17. Choose Modify Perspective.

18. Create a new perspective:

19. Select the Perspective Clone Tool.

20. Set AlignmentAligned.
21. Using the Ctrl key select the bird, i.e. the clone source.
22. The cloning process:
97

Healing
Select the Healing Tool . The mouse pointer turns into . It operates similarly to
the Clone Tool – you can copy certain areas from an image. This tool, contrary to the
Clone Tool, adjusts the pattern, brightness, hues of the points being edited to the initial
image. It is often used when the element copied is placed in a background that is not
flat.

This tool has the same options as the Clone Tool, except that you cannot choose a
pattern as a clone source.

Task. Open pav_5.jpg and remove the date and black spots.
1. Open pav_5.jpg through FileOpen pav_5.jpg:

2. Remove the date with the Healing Tool.

3. Pressing down the Ctrl key select the place that will be copied on the date. A
cross shows up on the place you clicked. Release the Ctrl key:

4. In the dialog set the shape and size of a paintbrush, alignment and other
parameters (if required).
5. Click on the area to heal and perform the copying operation. The resulting image
looks like this:
 GIMP 98

TASK. To open pav_6.jpg and to remove the date using the Clone Tool.
1. Open the file through File  Open....

2. Select the Healing Tool.

3. Pressing down the Ctrl key select the place that will be copied on the date. A
cross shows up on the place you clicked. Release the Ctrl key.\:

4. In the dialog set the shape and size of a paintbrush, alignment and other
parameters (if required).
5. Zoom in the image using the Zoom Tool :

6. Click on the area to heal and perform the copying operation.

7. Adjust the image using the Clone Tool.
8. The resulting image looks like this:
99

9. Name the image, indicate the location where the file will be stored and save the
image as pav_7.jpg using the command File  Save As....:

10. In the Save as JPEG dialog select the quality of the image:

11. Press the Save button.

 GIMP 100

Smudging
The Smudge Tool mixes colours and passes from one colour to another. You can
get the effect of the finger crossing a wet image. The image softens the merging
boundaries of elements, levels down transitions of contrasting colours. You can get the
watercolour effect.

The tool has similar options as the Paintbrush, except that

1. There is no Mode option, since when using the tool colours are not placed on
each other.
2. There is a Rate option, the value of which determines how fast the tool acts. The
higher the value, the cleaner the watercolour effect.

TASK. Open pav_7.jpg and apply the watercolour effect to the background, where the
Rate is set at 20 and 70.
1. Open pav_7.jpg through File  Open....

2. Select the Smudge Tool .

3. Choose the shape of a brush.
4. Set the size of a brush by adjusting the Scale slider at 7;
5. Set the Rate using the slider at 20.
6. Zoom in the image with with the Zoom Tool to make it easier to use the Smudge
Tool.

7. Create the watercolour effect using the mouse pointer . The resulting
image is a).
8. Set the Rate using the slider at 70.
9. Create the watercolour effect. The resulting image is b).

a) b)

Blur/Sharpen
The Blur/Sharpen Tool uses the current brush to blur or sharpen the selection:
101

The operations performed by this tool depend on the Convolve Type:

1. The Blur tool softens the transition of colours that are among elements of the
image and creates the "blurry" effect.
2. In the Sharpen mode, the tool increases the contrast of colours that are among
elements of the image, focuses parts of the image. The tool is applied to areas
with contrasting colours, but does not work on flat areas.
The Rate option adjusts the level of blurring or sharpening. Other options have been
already discussed.

Task. Apply the Blur/Sharpen Tool to pav_8.jpg, where the Rate is set at 25 and 75.
1. Open pav_8.jpg through FileOpen....
2. Zoom in the image in the working window with the Zoom Tool .

3. Select the Blur/Sharpen Tool . Run the mouse pointer that turned into

over the image, thereby performing the blurring or sharpening operation.

4. Select the shape of a Brush.
5. Select the Scale of a brush.
6. Select the Blur type.
7. Set the Rate with the slider at 20.
8. Run the mouse pointer over the image. The resulting image is b). Compare it
with original a).

a) b)

9. Save the result through (FileSave As..., naming it pav_9.jpg;

10. Repeat actions 1–6 .
11. Set the Rate with the slider at 70.
12. Run the mouse pointer over the image. The resulting image is c).
 GIMP 102

c)

13. Save the result through (FileSave As..., naming it pav_10.jpg.

1. Open pav_8.jpg through FileOpen....

2. Zoom in the image in the working window with the Zoom Tool .

3. Select the Blur/Sharpen Tool . Run the mouse pointer that turned into

over the image, thereby performing the blurring or sharpening operation.

4. Select the shape of a brush.
5. Select the Scale of a brush.
6. Select the Sharpen type.
7. Set the Rate with the slider at 20.
8. Run the mouse pointer over the image. The resulting image is e). Compare it
with original d):

d) e)

9. Save the result through (FileSave As..., naming it pav_11.jpg.

10. Repeat actions 1–6 .
11. Set the Rate with the slider at 70.
12. Run the mouse pointer over the image. The resulting image is f):

f)

13. Save the result through (FileSave As..., naming it pav_12.jpg.

103

Colour picking
Pick a foreground colour using the Color Picker Tool with the pointer . This tool
selects the colour of the point (pixel), which is later used by other tools. The tool has
many options:

Sample average – rather than selecting a colour for one point, you can use the
Radius slider to adjust the size of the area that is used to determine an average
colour. The higher the value, the more pixels (points) are in the area, the more
colours are mixed.
Sample merged – to select the colour for a point from any layer.
Pick Mode – to set the actions made by the Color Picker tool:
o Pick only – in a special window (Use info window is enabled) you will
see information on the colour of a particular point (pixel):

When setting points, you can see their colour codes in the Color Picker
dialog.

o Set foreground color – the colour of the point (pixel) you click on
becomes the foreground colour.
o Set background color – the colour of the point (pixel) you click on
becomes the background colour.
o Add to palette – the colour of each point (pixel) to which the tool was
applied is placed in a special palette:
 GIMP 104

Airbrushing
This operation is performed using the Airbrush Tool . The mouse pointer turns into

. This tool applies a colour and emulates a traditional airbrush. Like the Paintbrush,
the Airbrush Tool softly applies a colour on areas using a changing pressure. Its options
have already been discussed. Let's look just at two of them:

Rate – a higher setting produces darker brushstrokes, and vice versa – a lower
setting produces lighter brushstrokes.
Pressure – a higher setting adjusted with a slider results in darker brushstrokes.

Dodging/Burning
This operation is performed using the Dodge/Burn tool . The mouse pointer turns

into . The Dodge Tool lightens colours in individual parts of an image, and the Burn
Tool darkens colours in the selection. It is usually used visually to highlight certain parts
in the image, accentuate contrasts of individual areas and restore images. The tool
should be run over the areas of the image to be changed. In the tool option window you
can select a brush, its size, shape, dynamics and stroke:
105

Type – to choose the effect of the tool: Dodge or Burn.

Range – to determine the areas in the image to work on, i.e. the points to which
you will apply the tool:
o Shadows – the effect is restricted to the darkest areas.
o Midtones – the effect is restricted to areas of undertones.
o Highlights – the effect is restricted to the lightest areas.
The Exposure slider:
o if you use the Dodge Tool, the higher the values, the stronger the
exposure to the lightening effect.
o if you use the Burn Tool, the higher the values, the stronger the
exposure to the darkening effect.

Erasing
The erasing operation is performed using the Eraser Tool . The mouse pointer turns

into . The Eraser Tool removes areas from the image to the background colour or to
the transparent background. If the Eraser is used on a blank image, then erasing will
show the background colour as if painting with a brush, i.e. since the Eraser is used on
the single background layer, it erases and covers the image with a monotone
background colour because there is nothing beneath it. The Eraser that is used in any
layer removes the image from the layer, thus exposing the image in the layers below. All
tool options have already been discussed, except for the Anti-Erase Tool which is used
to undo the Eraser. Remember that this feature only works on individually created layers
that are above the background layer.

Painting with ink

For this purpose the Ink Tool is used. The mouse pointer turns into . The tool is
used similarly as the Paintbrush, except that it has different options:
 GIMP 106

Mode and Opacity have already been discussed.

Adjustment:
o Size – the width of the pen’s nib. The higher the value, the wider the
stroke.
o Angle – the apparent angle of the image sheet and the pen.
Sensitivity:
o Size – the size of the stroke. he higher value, the wider the stroke.
o Tilt – the apparent tilt of the image sheet and the tool.
o Speed – the apparent speed of the pen when drawing. The faster you
draw, the narrower and shallower the stroke.
Type – the shape of a nib. After you choose the Shape in the options window,
you can adjust the type by holding down a white square at the centre of the
Shape icon.

LAYERS
Working on layers is similar to editing the image that is in a slide. If a layer has a
transparent area, you can see the image beneath it. Using layers you have more options
to create and edit images. Layers may be reversed. If you remove the top layer, you can
see the image in the layer below it. Each layer may be modified individually or removed
without affecting other layers. Layers may be merged, temporarily hidden. The number
of the layers used is limited only by the size of the computer's memory.

A layer can divide an image into several elements so that you could work on them
individually.

How do layers work?

It can be explained by the following example. We have several glass sheets with images
or objects painted on them. Glass sheets are stack on each other. When you look at
107
them, you see the overall image. Every glass sheet is a layer. Every new layer is
transparent and you can paint any image on it.

When one glass sheet is removed, the overall image hardly changed and one element is
moved to the side. If the whole image were on one glass sheet, we could not do that. So,
moving individual elements is one of the key functions of layers.

Let's say that we have removed certain glass sheets, certain elements of the image have
disappeared but they can be added at any time. In GIMP such action is possible when all
layers are temporarily disabled.

Using layers
Open a new document through FileNew.... In the Layers dialog you can see only one
layer named Background:

The image has one main layer without the Alpha channel. To add a layer with this
channel, open a context menu by selecting Add Alpha Channel from the drop-down list
in the Background layer. Remember that most of the operations with layers cannot be
performed without the Alpha channel. This channel may be removed by selecting
Remove Alpha Channel in the list of commands in the context menu.

It is a "glass sheet" without any image on it. Select a brush and make a few strokes.

Creating a new layer

To create a new layer, click on the Create a new layer and add it to the image button

in the Layer menu. A New Layer dialog opens:

 GIMP 108

You can adjust the following settings in the dialog:

Layer name – you can create a unique name so that you could easily find and
identify the layer in future. The name should be unique and reflect the content
of the layer.
Width, Height – dimensions of a new layer. A layer usually has the same
dimensions as the image, therefore the values are set automatically. Next to
Height there is a button to open a drop-down list of units of
measurement.
Layer Fill Type – you can choose the content of the layer fill:
o Foreground color
o Background color
o White
o Transparency – this is the most common option as this layer does not
visually cover other layers. If you choose any other option, the new layer
will cover the layers that are beneath it.

When you create a new document with the first three layer fill types, in the Layer menu
you see a Background layer.

Press the OK button and an image named New Layer appears before the Background
layer in the Layer menu:

The icon shows that the layer is transparent. The Alpha channel has all
information on the transparency of a layer. A layer may be opaque, fully transparent or
semi-transparent. The background of an opaque layer is white. The line of an active
109

layer is highlighted by a darker colour . If a layer is active,

you can edit it. All actions that you perform will affect only this layer. To activate a layer,
click on the name of that layer.

You can change the name of a layer through the context menu – while standing on the
name of the layer click the right mouse button and select Edit Layer Attributes.... Then
enter a new name of the layer in the Layer name input box in the Layer Attributes
dialog:

To rename a layer faster, double click on the name and change it.

The type of layer depends on the type of image and the Alpha channel. You can choose:

RGB (Red/Green/Blue) – a simple opaque colour image

RGBA (Red/Green/Blue/Alpha) – a transparent colour image
grayscale
grayscale with Alpha channel
indexed colours
indexed colours with Alpha channel

You should remember that different filters work on different types of image. Some of
them require an RGB image, others – indexed colours. So, to apply a filter to an image,
you have to transform the image into another type and then add/remove the Alpha
channel, if the filter needs it.

Moving layers
Let's try to move the image that is in the layer from one place to another one. In the
working window we have:
 GIMP 110
In the Background layer there is an inscription PANEVĖŽYS, in the New layer – MIESTAS.

Select the Move Tool . Click on New layer in the Layers dock, the click on the
inscription MIESTAS and without releasing the left mouse button move it aside:

You have just moved one layer without moving the other one and changed the content
of the image. Let's look at settings of the Move Tool:

Move – you can choose the object you want to move:

o a layer. If you choose this option, the whole layer is moved.

o a selection. The whole selection is moved.
o a path. A path is moved.
Tool Toggle – you can choose the area in the image you want to move:
o Pick a layer or guide – you can move the layer which has an image with
a mouse pointer on . If the image has several layers and every one
of them has a certain part of the image, the layer that has a part of the
image with the mouse pointer on will be moved.
o Move the active layer – only the active level will be moved irrespective
on the place which has the mouse pointer on.

Here, you must remember that at first you have to select a layer and then apply to
it.

Changing the order of layers

You can change the order of layers with (A):
111

The layer is selected and moved to the place you want using one of the button. To grasp
how layers are moved, let's do one task.

Task. Draw ellipses of different colours overlapping each other in layers ellipse1 and
ellipse2 (one in each layer) and reverse these layers.

1. Open a new working window through (FileNew....

2. Click on the button . A New Layer dialog opens. Enter ellipse1 in the Layer
Name input box. Tick the Transparency checkbox in the Layer Fill Type section.
3. Draw an ellipse with the Ellipse Select Tool :

4. Select the yellow foreground colour with the Bucket Fill Tool and
fill the ellipse:

5. Click on the button . A New Layer dialog opens. Enter ellipse2 in the Layer
Name input box. Tick the Transparency checkbox in the Layer Fill Type section.
6. Draw an ellipse with the Ellipse Select Tool .

7. Select the dark green foreground colour with the Bucket Fill Tool

and fill the ellipse:

8. Reverse the layers. Click on ellipse1 layer line in the Layers dialog:

9. Click on . Now you can see the image in the working window:

Visibility/hiding of layers
The eye icon that is on the left of the layer line means that the layer is visible. If you
click on it, the icon disappears and the layer becomes temporarily invisible. To make the
 GIMP 112

layer visible again, click on the empty square – the eye icon reappears and the layer
is visible again. Layers are usually hidden when they disturb the editing of other layers.

TASK. Make layer ellipse2 invisible.

1. Click on ellipse12 layer line in the palette of Layers dialog:

2. Click on the eye icon . Now you can see the image in the working window:

Locking Alpha channel of the layer

Above the list of layers there is a Lock checkbox (A) that locks the Alfa channel:

If the Alpha channel is locked, you cannot work on this channel. Select a layer, the
Alpha channel of which you want to lock, and tick the Lock checkbox. You can paint
strokes only in the area that has already been painted on. To unlock, select the layer and
uncheck the Lock checkbox.

Grouping layers
To move, copy, align, transform elements of the image consisting of several layers, you
have to group them. Select a layer and click on the square that is between the eye icon

and the layer thumbnail. After you click on the square, a chain icon appears. Select

another layer and click on the square to make the chain icon appear. To ungroup,
select the layers and click on the chain icon.

Deleting layers
Select a layer and click on the Delete this layer button .
113

Copying and merging layers

Select the layer you want to copy. Click on the Create a duplicate of the layer and add it

to the image button . A duplicate of the layer with the identical content is
automatically created.

Layers take additional computer memory. You can save it by merging them. To merge
two or more layers, select the base layer. Then open a context menu (click the right
mouse button) and in the drop-down list select:

Merge Down, if you want to merge the selected (visible) layer with the layer
below.
Merge Visible Layers, if you want to merge all visible layers.
Flatten Image, if you want to merge all layers. It is recommended to use this
command when the image is created and will not be edited. In this way you can
save some computer memory.

Transforming layers
Select a layer and the command LayerTransform. In the drop-down list of additional
commands choose the one you need:

This command is also applied to grouped layers.

Layer size
The size of the layer is usually the same as of the image to which the layer is attributed.
However, if you create a text, GIMP will create an additional layer the size of which is
the same as of the text. In the working window, boundaries of the active layer are
rendered in a black-and-yellow dotted line. It is very easy to see the boundaries of the
level when you add the text to the image. Type three words – ESTIJA, LATVIJA, LIETUVA.
As GIMP creates a new layer for text, you text is framed by a black-and-yellow dotted
line:

To resize the layer, go to LayerScale Layer. Set the size of your layer in the dialog:
 GIMP 114

When working on layers, remember that the size of the memory taken depends on the
size of the layer, not on its content.

Layer modes
There are 21 layer modes. The Mode tells GIMP how to combine each pixel in the top
layer with the pixel in the layer below it. Every layer may be subject to different modes.
The background mode, i.e. the mode of the last (bottom) layer, does not have any effect
as it does not have any layers beneath it. You should remember that effects of layer
modes are cumulative. Let’s have a brief look at layer modes:

Mode Description

Normal The top layer completely covers the layer below it. If you
want to see the layer below, reduce the opacity of the top
layer. It is the default layer mode.

Dissolve This mode dissolves the upper layer into the layer beneath
it by drawing a random pattern of pixels in areas of partial
transparency. It is useful as a painting mode, but is rarely
used as a layer mode. It should be noted that paint tools
and layers have the same modes.

Multiply This mode multiplies the pixel values (to be more precise,
numeric values of the colour) of the upper layer with those
of the layer below it and then divides the result by 255.
The result is usually a darker image.

Divide It is another "mathematical" mode. This mode multiplies

each pixel value in the lower layer by 256 and then divides
that by the corresponding pixel value of the upper layer
plus one (adding one to the denominator avoids dividing
by zero). The resulting image is lighter than the original.

Screen This mode inverts the values of each of the pixels in the
lower and upper layers, then multiplies them together,
divides by 255 and inverts this value again. The resulting
image is a little bit brighter and “washed out” in
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Mode Description

appearance. The exceptions to this are a black layer, which

does not change the other layer, and a white layer, which
results in a white image.

Overlay This mode inverts the pixel value of the lower layer,
multiplies it by two times the pixel value of the upper
layer, adds that to the original pixel value of the lower
layer, divides by 255, and then multiplies by the pixel value
of the original lower layer and divides by 255 again. The
resulting image is a little bit darker, but not as much as
with the Multiply mode.

Dodge This mode is used to dodge any area of the image. For
example, a photo made in the darkroom to decrease the
exposure in particular area of the image, e.g. the face.

Burn This mode is the opposite of the Dodge mode. It is used to

increase the exposure in particular areas of the image.

Hard light It is the best to demonstrate this mode by giving an

example.

Soft light This mode makes colours not so bright. It is similar to the
Overlay mode.

Grain extract This mode subtracts the pixel value of the upper layer
from that of the lower layer and adds 128. It is used to
create a relief image.

Grain merge This mode is the same as Grain extract, only it adds the
pixel values of the upper and lower layers together and
subtracts 128.

Difference It is one of the most interesting modes, if you want to get

an unusual result. It is used to invert a certain element in
an image.

Addition The pixel values of the upper and lower layers are added
to each other. The resulting image is much lighter.

Subtract This mode subtracts the pixel values of the upper layer
from the pixel values of the lower layer. Negative values
are replaced with 0. You get a lot of black in the resulting
image.

Darken only This mode compares pixel values in the upper layer and
the lower layer. The resulting image has a colour of the
smaller value. White upper layers have no effect on the
 GIMP 116
Mode Description

final image as the value of the white colour is 255 – the

highest one compared to other values. The programme
selects the colour value for the lower layer. Completely
black layers result in a black image as the value of a black
colour is 0 and will be selected as the lowest one.

Lighten only This mode is analogous to Darken only, except that it

selects the largest colour value. White layers result in
completely white image, while black layers have no effect
on the final image.

Hue This mode uses the hue of the upper layer and the
saturation and value of the lower layer to form the
resulting image. However, if the saturation of the upper
layer is zero, the hue is taken from the lower layer, too.

Saturation This mode uses the saturation of the upper layer and the
hue and value of the lower layer to form the resulting
image.

Color This mode uses the hue and saturation of the upper layer
and the value of the lower layer to form the resulting
image.

Value This mode uses the value of the upper layer and the
saturation of the lower layer to form the resulting image.

When the mouse pointer is on the layer, clicking the right mouse button opens a context
menu with the following commands:

Name of the command Explanation

Edit Layer Attributes To change the name of a layer.

New Layer To create a layer to the layer stack of the image.

Duplicate Layer To make a copy of a layer to the layer stack of the

image.

Anchor Layer To anchor the temporary (floating) layer with the active
layer below it.

Merge Down To merge the layer with the layer below it.

Delete Layer To delete a layer from the image (instead of deleting,

you can temporarily hide the layer).

Layer Boundary Size To change the boundaries of a layer.

117
Name of the command Explanation

Layer to Image Size To make the layer of the same size as the image.

Scale Layer To resize a layer.

Add Layer Mask To add a mask to a layer.

Apply Layer Mask To apply a mask to a layer.

Delete Layer Mask To delete a layer mask.

Show Layer Mask To show a layer mask.

Edit Layer Mask To edit a layer mask.

Disable Layer Mask To disable a layer mask.

Mask to Selection To convert a mask into a selection.

Add Alpha Channel To add an Alpha channel.

Remove Alpha Channel To remove an Alpha channel.

Alpha to Selection To convert an Alpha channel into a selection.

Merge Visible Layers To merge all visible layers into one layer.

Flatten Image To merge all visible layers into one layer and remove
transparency.

Masks
Sometimes you need to create a very complex selection, where the selection tools you
have cannot help you. Gimp has a special tool – a Quick Mask – to paint a selection.

When you select an object or an area in the image, the selection is framed by marching
ants, which is not a simple frame. It is a grayscale representation of a channel covering
the whole image. The value of each pixel (point) in the channel is between 0 and 255. If
a pixel is not selected, its value is 0, if selected – 255. If a pixel is semi-selected, its value
is lower than 255 and we see a frame of marching ants. The Quick Mask mode is often
used. When it is enabled, you can work on the selected part in the image in another
level, because editing operations are performed in the selection channel.

Quick mask
To access the Quick Mask, press the Toggle Quick Mask button that is on the bottom left
corner in the working window.
 GIMP 118

Press this button again, if you want to exit the Quick Mask mode.

Open giraffe1.jpg and select the giraffe's head:

Enable the mask mode by pressing the Toggle Quick Mask button that is on the bottom
left corner. The image in the working window is covered by a red semi-transparent veil:

Select the Paintbrush Tool, set the white colour as the Foreground colour and re-paint
the giraffe's head using the paintbrush. You can imagine that you are painting in a new
layer. In fact, it is a temporary layer which can be accessed through Layers, Channels,

Paths..., Open the channels dialog . In this mode, the image is not changed, i.e. the
actions you perform do not change the original image:
119

Disable the Quick Mask mode. In the working window you can see the selection of the
giraffe's head. You can work on it the same as you work on any other selection.

Sometimes you need to save the selection in the channel together with the Quick Mask.
Press the Create a duplicate of the layer and add it to the image button that is in

the Open the channels dialog on the Layers, Channels, Paths... dialog.

Save the file as giraffe2.jpg using the command FileSave.

TASK. Open lily.jpg and use the Quick Mask mode. Mark lilies using the Ellipse Select
Tool and apply the Blend Tool to the selection with the following settings:
Foreground color – black
Background color – white
Gradient – FG to BG
Shape – spiral(cw)
Disable the Quick Mask mode and move the selected lilies to an empty page.

1. Open lily.jpg through FileOpen.

2. Enable the Quick Mask mode by pressing the Toggle Quick Mask button that is
on the bottom left corner.
3. Select the Ellipse Select Tool and mark lilies:
 GIMP 120

4. Select black as a foreground colour and white as a background

colour.

5. Select the Blend Tool .

6. Adjust the following settings for this tool:
Gradient –

Shape –
7. Apply the Blend Tool to the selection:

8. Disable the Quick Mask mode. The image you see in the working window:
121

9. The selected lilies are copied to the temporary memory by EditCopy.

10. Open a new working window. First of all, find out the size of lelija.jpg. Set the
same size for the new working window. The size of lelija.jpg is 2592x1944. It is a
non-standard size. Open a Create a New Image dialog through FileNew.

11. Enter the number of the width of the file into the Width input box, and the
height into the Height input box.
12. Press the OK button.
13. Paste the lilies into the empty working window using the command EditPaste.
Remove the selection. The resulting image looks like this:
 GIMP 122

Note!
An object is moved from the temporary memory to the "temporary" layer, which in the
layer menu looks like this

Merge this layer with the active layer below it using the button .

LAYER MASK
Masks can make layers fully transparent, semi-transparent or opaque. They are often
used to create image montages or to create the effect of one image transition to the
other image.

Let's see how to work on the transparency of masks. Take two colour images. They
should be of the same size.

Open pan_4.jpg and pan_5.jpg through FileOpen as Layers. The resulting image will
be Carlson flying over the stormy sea.

1. Open pan_4.jpg and pan_5.jpg through FileOpen as Layers. To open these

files at the same time, click on the second file holding down the Ctrl key. The
upper image covers the lower one:
123

2. Reverse the layers. In the Layers dialog click on the layer pan_5.jpg and button
. Now the Background layer covers pan_5.jpg.
3. To create a mask, start with the right click on the Background layer to call the
context menu and select Add Layer Mask in the menu. A Add Layer Mask dialog
appears, where you can initialise the content of the mask:

White (full opacity) – the mask is white. Paint with black to make layer pixels
transparent.
Black (full transparency) – the layer is fully transparent. Painting the mask with
black makes layer pixels opaque. Painting with white will remove the mask and
make layer pixels visible.
Layer's alpha channel – the mask is created according to the content of the
Alpha channel.
Transfer layer's alpha channel – it has the same effect as the previous option,
except that it also makes the Alpha channel fully opaque.
Selection – the mask is created for the selection.
Channel – the mask is created for the selected mask you have created before
and stored in the Channel dialog.
Invert mask – this checkbox allows you to invert colours (black turns to white,
and white turns to black).
Set White (full opacity). Press the Add button.
 GIMP 124
The icon of mask transparency appears next to the name Background in the Layers
dialog.

The transparency mask is placed on the layer and creates transparent and opaque areas.
The area where the mask is white is opaque, where black – transparent, where grey –
semi-transparent. Before painting on the mask, create areas with different levels of
transparency. You can edit a layer mask only after it is created. All operations are
applied to the mask, not the image in the layer.

4. Make the layer transparent in the area where the flying Carlson is in the lower

layer. Choose the foreground colour by clicking on . Now, set the

grey colour (HTML notation – aaaaaa) in the Change Foreground Color dialog:

5. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings:

o the Brush at Circle (19)
o Scale at 5.82
6. Make the left corner of the upper layer semi-transparent. Adjust transparency
by choosing colours from white to black with various shades of grey.

Carlson's figure uncovered with
the foreground colour
(aaaaaa)
This area of the image is zoomed The middle part of Carlson's figure
in using the Zoom Tool and the adjusted with the foreground
Zoom in option. Carlson's figure colour (4f4949)
adjusted with the foreground
125

colour (ffffff)

The top part of Carlson's figure The image zoomed out using the
adjusted with the foreground Zoom Tool with the Zoom out
colour (010000) option. Carlson's figure adjusted

with the foreground colour

(ffffff) Now, you have the final
result.

7. Come back to the Layer Edit mode. Right click on the layer to call the context
menu and select Edit Layer Mask in the menu. Now, you can work on the layer
with a different level of transparency.
8. Come back to the Edit Layer Mask by selecting Edit Layer Mask in the context
menu.
9. To see the layer mask created, select Show Layer Mask in the context menu.
The layer mask that you can see in the working window looks like this:

10. Use the command Disable Layer Mask in the context menu to disable the layer
mask temporarily.
11. To apply the mask, select Apply Layer Mask in the context menu. You can see a
montage of two images, where one of them has different levels of transparency.
 GIMP 126

TEXT

You can easily create and quickly edit text using the Text Tool . This tool has certain
options.

Select the Blend Tool and various options available in the Toolbox menu:
127

Font – you can select a font and its style. Click on and in the drop-down
list select a font style.

Font Size – you can choose the font size in the units of measurement of your
choice:
o in – inches
o mm – millimetres
o pt – points
o px – pixels
Hinting is useful when working with small font sizes. The programme uses
indices of adjustment.
Force auto-hinter computes information to facilitate working with small font
sizes.
Antialiasing renders fonts with smoother transition, i.e. edges of font symbols
are a little bit blurred.
 GIMP 128

Color – the font colour. Clicking on calls the Text Colour window.

Note!

If you need to select the exact colour that is in the image, use the button . The

mouse pointer turns into and is set on the area, the colour of which you want to
give to the font.

Justify causes the text to be justified in a text field:

o Left justified
o Right justified
o Centered
o Filled
The three buttons below have the following functions:

o Indentation of the first line controls the indent spacing of

the first line from the left margin.
o Adjust line spacing controls the spacing between
successive lines of text. The setting shows not the space between lines,
but the change in the distance by default (in points). To reduce the
spacing by default, you should indicate the negative value of this setting.
o Adjust letter spacing controls the spacing between letters. If
the value is negative, letters overlap each other.
The Text along Path button creates the text along the path. This option requires
at least one path in the image.
The Path from Text button turns the text into a path.

TASK. Create text Amboseli NATIONAL Park KENYA in pan_6.jpg, where the font used
is Droid Serif, the font size is 18, and the font colour is black. Format the text.
1. Open pan_6.jpg.
129

There is only the Background layer in the Layers dialog:

2. Select the Text Tool.

3. Adjust the following settings:
Font – Droid Serif;
Size – 18

Color – black. The mouse pointer turns into .

4. Click on the area in the image where you want to see the text. The Text Editor

dialog opens, where you can type or Open your text (button ):
 GIMP 130

and buttons determine the side from which the text is to be

entered. The button causes the text to be entered from left to right, as is

the case with most languages, and the button allows text to be entered
from right to left, as is the case in certain Arabic countries. Enter the text and
press Close to close the dialog. Your text appears in the place selected.

The text is placed in a frame which may be edited with a help of

reducing/increasing corners.

Type Amboseli NATIONAL Park KENYA into the GIMP Text Editor dialog.

5. Tick the Use selected font checkbox, if you want to apply the font of your
choice at once.
6. Press the Close button. You can see the text in the image:

Note!
Please note that the layer menu has a new layer Amboseli NATIONAL Park . A new
layer is always created for text as it is not a raster object. You can perform all standard
layer-related operations on the new layer.
131

The text is hardly legible. Change the font into Arial Heavy, font size into 72. Also, centre
the text and adjust the letter spacing.

Note!
You can modify the text only when the layer is active.

7. Select the Amboseli NATIONAL Park layer.

8. Select Droid Serif Bold Italic. To do that, press and select the font in the
drop-down list. The font instantly changes in the image:

Note!
The input box is too small for the text. Scale the frame using the handles.

9. Change the font size. Enter 24 into the Size input box.
10. To centre the text press the Justify button Centered.

11. To increase letter spacing, hold down the triangular button until
the value is 2.
You can see the text in the image:

Move the text into the top right corner.

 GIMP 132
12. You can do it in two ways:
Use the Move Tool and select Move the active layer from the Move options.

When being within the frame, the mouse pointer turns into . Left click on the
area to which you want to move the text. Move the text. The resulting image
looks like this:

Note!
If you need to move the text very precisely, use keyboard keys . Pressing one of
these keys you can move the selected object to the direction you want by one pixel. If
you press the arrow and the SHIFT key together, the object is moved to the direction
you want by 25 pixels.

Paint several strokes with the Paintbrush Tool. If the text layer is active, you can paint
strokes in the text frame only. Paint several strokes.

Now, the text box contains a raster graphics object (paintbrush strokes) and a vector
graphics object (the text).

If you try to edit the text now, the programme displays a confirmation. The text layer
cannot edit raster and vector graphics at the same time, hence when you try to
compare them, the programme offers either to create a new layer and to place the text
in it, or to remove the paintbrush strokes and work on this text layer when it contains
the text only.
133

Thus, it is not recommended to mix text with any other graphics since text layers are
placed above graphic layers so that it is possible to edit the text later.

Note!

If you do not like the format or the colour of your text, you can select the tool .

Click the mouse pointer on the text you want to edit. A GIMP Text Editor dialog is
open again and you can see your text to be edited. The layer of the text to be edited
must be active.

Saving the text

If the image is saved in .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG, .TIFF or any other format, you lose the layer
information and text attributes. It is always recommended to save the image in two
formats: .XCF (internal format of GIMP) and any other format you need. .XCF file is
useful for editing, while the file in any other format you can send to friends, publish on
the Internet or print.

Conclusions
When working on text, remember:

a text layer is created for every text you create. You can work on this layer the
same as you work with any other layer. For more graphic texts use the
appropriate display modes.
the Path tool creates a path along which you can create a text;
if you transform a text into a path, you can apply a pattern to it;
you can choose font, font size, font colour, alignment, underlines, but all this
information will be lost if you save the image in other than .XCF format.

Paths
A path is an unbroken curve. It has two main purposes:
to convert a path to a selection;
to create a closed or open path in order to paint in different ways.

GIMP allows you to convert a path to a selection and vice versa – to convert a selection
to a path.
 GIMP 134

Note!
When you transform a selection into a path, the path follows the "marching ants".
Remember that the selection is a two-dimensional entity, and the path is one
dimensional, so transformation of a selection into a path may result in losing data, i.e.
any information on partially selected areas will be lost.

Path creation

To create, edit or move a path, use a Paths Tool Paths Tool . By default, this tool is
in the Design mode.

TASK. Open kon_1.jpg and using the Paths Tool paint a path around the mother
with a baby.

1. Open kon_1.jpg through FileOpen .

2. Click on . The mouse pointer turns into .

3. Click the mouse on the first point on the path where a node is created. Then
click the mouse on another point and a new node is created, linked to the
previous node by a segment. In this way you draw a path around the desired
area in the image as if selecting it.

You can change the form of a path when designing it as well as later. For this purpose,
learn more about tool options. Once the tool is selected, the dialog widow shows its
possible settings:
135

Edit Mode allows you selecting a mode to work on a path:

o Design – the path design mode is on. Every time you click on the image, you
either start or continue creating a path;
o Edit – the path edit mode is on. With this mode you can work only on nodes.
When you click on a point, a handle appears linked to the control point by a
segment. You can modify the form of the path by dragging the handle.

If you click the mouse pointer between nodes, a new node is created
which can also be edited.

To close a path in this mode, click the mouse pointer on the first point
of the path and then on the last point of the path. In this way you create an
additional segment between these points, linking them together. To remove
a node, while pressing the Shift+Ctrl key combination click the mouse

pointer on the node you want to remove;

o Move – a mode where a path can be moved to another place in the image.
The path cannot be edited in this mode.
Polygonal allows you creating a polygonal path (with sharp corners).
The Selection from Path button automatically creates a selection, the form of
which corresponds to the form of the path. This tool may be used to select a
certain area in the image because it is more precise than the Free Select Tool.

Note!
When you create a path and press the Selection from Path button, the path does not
disappear, but the area surrounded by the path is selected. You can modify the path.
 GIMP 136
Then press the button and the previous selection will be replaced with a new one
according to the modified path.

The Stroke Path button allows you creating a raster image of a path. Press the
button and a Stroke Path dialog box appears where you can choose the style of
a line that will stroke the path:

Mode I. Stroke line allows you to indicate that the path you created will be
marked by a line and to choose its settings:
o Line width – the width of the line to mark the path. The larger the number
is, the thicker the line you create.
o Solid color – the colour of the line is the same as the foreground colour.
o Pattern – the line may be patterned;
o The Line Style drop-down list offers some additional settings:

 Cap style – the shape of the ends of the path;

 Join style – the shape of the path corners or curving parts;
 Miter limit controls when to switches from a mitered joint to a bevel
joint;
 Dash pattern – you can manually choose a dash pattern;
 Dash present – you can choose a dash pattern from the drop-down list:

 Antialiasing – this effect smoothes out a path line.

Note!
137

In this mode you can fully edit the style of a line that follows the path and the form of
dashes.

Mode II. Stroke with a paint tool – you can simulate that the path is created
using one of the paint tools from the drop-down list:

Paths dialog

The Layers, Channels, Paths dock embeds an icon . Clicking on the icon opens a
list of paths belonging to the active image:

To see the previously created path, press the button on the left of the path in the Paths
menu (the same as in layers).

An "open eye" icon appears. The next button links paths.

At the bottom of the dialog box there is a button bar

. Some of these buttons duplicate

certain options of the Paths Tool.
 GIMP 138
Button Name Explanation

New path To create a new path. Holding down the Shift

key the last values are used for a new path.

Raise path To move the selected (active) path higher.

Holding down the Shift key the path selected
is moved to the top.

Lower path To move the selected path lower. Holding

down the Shift key the path selected is moved
to the bottom.

Duplicate path To create a copy of an active path.

Path to selection A selection is created with a form following to

the specific path. To add to the selection,
press the Shift key. To subtract from the
selection, press the Ctrl key. To intersect with
the selection, press the Shift+Ctrl
combination.

Selection to path The selection is transformed into a path. To

use this button, select the image area using
any selection tool. The Selection to Path
Advanced Settings window is accessed by
holding down the Shift key.

Paint along the path To paint a line that goes along the path
choosing one of the two possible modes in
the aforementioned Stroke Path dialog box.
Holding down the Shift key allows painting
the path using the last values.

Delete path To delete an active path.

Path name
Paths, same as layers, may have meaningful names. Later on, when editing the path in
the image containing several paths it is easier to find the one you need by name.

Right click on the name given by default in the Paths dialog box of the layers bar. When
you choose the command Edit Path Attributes, a Path Attributes dialog box opens.
139

Create a new name of the path in the Path name input box and press OK.

Conclusions
1. This tool is used for two purposes: for a very precise selection and drawings
created by tools or dashes.
2. This tool edits the line of a path in detail, which is impossible with any other
selection or paint tools.

Additional tools
GIMP has many tools that are sorted and stored in appropriate docks. We have already
discussed the main two of them – the Toolbox and Layers, Channels, Undo – Brushes,
Patterns, Gradients.

Note!
Once you have familiarised yourself with all dockage dialogs, you should decide which
ones will be used the most and place them in individual docks or add as tabs to docks. In
this way, you will not have to look for them again.

Structure of a dock
Since we already know the Layers, Channels, Undo – Brushes, Patterns, Gradients dock,
we will used it as an example to discuss the structure.

By default, the top section contains a four-tab menu (A). Clicking on each tab calls a
respective dialog:
 GIMP 140
Icon Name Explanation

Open the layers dialog To open the layers dialog.

Open the channels dialog To open the channels

dialog.

Open the paths dialog To open the paths dialog.

Open the undo history dialog To open the undo history

dialog.

You can supplement this menu at any time through Add Tab.

Every tab is different in terms of a list of special commands which is called by pressing
left arrow button B. This button is in the top right corner of every tab dialog. Open the
list of special commands:

The first command is designated for a specific tab, i.e. for a tab the dialog of which is
opened (A). Selecting the first command opens another list of commands that allows
you to determine a particular tab (layers, channels, paths, etc.). The remaining
commands are the same for all tabs:

Add Tab – you can choose an additional tab from the list of commands and add
it to list A.
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Close Tab – you can close the active dialog. Closing the last dialog removes the
tab from list A.
Detach Tab creates an independent dock. This command is usually used when
you need one or two docks. Apply this command to the Layers dialog and you
will have an independent Layers dock.

Lock Tab to Dock prevents the tab from moving from list A since the tab may be
removed from the list by pressing the left mouse button and dragging the tab
out of the list. This command allows you to avoid accidental moving.
Preview Size determines the size of thumbnails in the preview window. You can
choose the size of thumbnails in the drop-down list:
 GIMP 142

Preview sizeMedium Preview sizeExtra Large Preview Size Medium Preview Size Extra
Large

Tab Style opens a list of additional commands which allows you to choose the
tab style in list A:

The command Tab StyleIcon & Text is applied to the Layers tab, and Tab StyleText
to the Paths tab.

Show Button Bar enables/disables the display of a button bar

at the bottom of the tab dialog.

Show Image Selection enables/disables the display of the image menu on the
top of the dock.

Using this menu you can switch between images you are working on.

Auto Follow Active Image enables the mode where the content of the dock is
always consistent with the active image, i.e. with the image you are working on.

Channels
You can open the Channels dialog by clicking on in the tab menu. Here you can set
the visibility of respective colours.
143

Every point (pixel) is a combination of three primary colours (red, green, blue). This is
why you see channels of these colours in the dialog. You can enable/disable the use of a

certain colour using the eye button . For example, if you disable the blue channel,
all shades of blue are removed from the image, and the colour of points (pixels) is mixed
only from two colours – red and green.

When you disable all colour channels, the image disappears leaving only a black sheet.

Subject to the image file format, the dialog box may have an Alpha channel that is
responsible not for a colour but for the transparency of points (pixels). It is like a
transparency mask.

At the bottom of the channels dialog box, there are several buttons

. Create a new channel button

opens a channel, the colour of which will be mixed when formatting the colour of a
point (pixel). Clicking on this button opens a New Channel dialog.

You can enter the name of the channel into the Channel name input box.
The slider of the Fill opacity scale determines the opacity of the channel’s fill. It
is recommended to set it at 50.0.

Clicking on opens a New Channel Colour dialog box, where you can choose
a colour for the channel.
 GIMP 144

Choose a colour to be mixed with primary colours and press the OK button. A new
channel appears in the list of channels.

TASK. Open pan_7.jpg and pan_8.jpg in two different layers and create a new orange
channel with the opacity set at 50 and 25.

1. Open pan_7.jpg and pan_8.jpg in different layers through FileOpen as

Layers . You can see two images in the working window:

2. Clicking on opens the Channels dialog.

3. Click on , and the New Channel dialog opens.
4. Enter the name of the channel (Papildoma_oranzine) in the Channel name input
box.
5. Set the slider of the Fill opacity scale at 50.0.

6. Clicking on opens the New Channel Color dialog, where you can choose a
colour for the channel. Select the orange colour and press the OK button. The
New Channel Color dialog closes.
7. Press the OK button, and the New Channel dialog closes. The resulting image in
the working window looks like this:
145

Repeat steps 1–4.

5. Set the slider of the Fill opacity scale at 25.0.

6. Repeat steps 6–7. The resulting image in the working window looks like this:

Note!
With the Channel dialog you can control hue in the image. However, for this purpose it is
recommended to use other colour modification tools.

Colormap
Open the list of special commands (B) (see “Structure of a dock”). Select the command
Add TabColormap, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open the

colormap dialog tab. This tab allows you to work on colours in the image using
special indexation methods to set the colour for a point (pixel). This tool is not used with
standard colour models – RGB, grayscale.
 GIMP 146
When you click on the tab, a colormap dialog opens notifying that only indexed images
have a colormap.

Choose a command Close Tab in the list of special commands.

HISTOGRAM
Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabHistogram, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the histogram dialog tab. A Histogram dialog opens, where you can see
information on the distribution of colour values in the active layer and selection.

This information is very useful when you are trying to colour balance an image.

Let's analyse the information provided in the Histogram dialog. In the centre of the
dialog there is a histogram (A) – a graphical representation showing how much a certain
colour is used in the image. Under the histogram there is a small bar (B) going from
black to white. This bar shows the hue that is rendered above. If the black graph is high
above light tones in the bar (B), the image is dominated by light tones. If it is above the
dark tones in the bar (B), the image is dominated by dark tones. If the main load is on
the middle section, above grey tones in the bar (B), the image is dominated my
undertones.

Selection editor
The selection editor makes working on selections easier.

Open pan_9.bmp, select the Ellipse Selection Tool and one berry.
147

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabSelection Editor, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new

Open the selection editor tab. A Selection editor dialog opens:

With the dialog buttons you can perform certain actions on the selection. The black
colour represents the non-selected area in the image, the white colour – the selected
area. If the selection is not created in the image, the entire window is black. This window
clearly shows whether a selection is or not. At the bottom of the dialog there are some

buttons that enable certain options:

Button Name Description

Select everything To select the whole image with one click.

Dismiss the selection To dismiss the selection by one click.

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Button Name Description

Invert the selection Parts of the image which were not selected are
now selected, and those that were selected are
now deselected.

Save the selection to a To save the selection as a new channel in the

channel Channels dialog.

Selection to path To transform the selection into a path without

losing the selection.

Paint along the path To paint the selection along the path with a
pre-selected type of line.

NAVIGATION
This tool offers easy navigation in the image, the possibility to scale it visually and move
around its individual parts.

Open pan_9.bmp. Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a
dock”). Select a command Add TabNavigation, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented

with a new Open the display navigation dialog tab. A Display Navigation dialog
opens:
149

In the middle of the dialog, you can see the opened image reduced in size and a slider
beneath it that allows scaling the image: moving the slider to the right increases the size
of the image, to the left – decreases the size of the image. At the bottom of the dialog

there are some buttons :

Button Name Description

Zoom out To reduce the size of the image gradually.

Zoom in To increase the size of the image gradually.

Zoom 1:1 To reset the initial size of the image by one

click, removing any changes to the size.

Adjust the zoom ratio that To adjust the size of the image
the image becomes fully automatically so that the whole image
visible becomes visible in the window as it is.

Adjust the zoom ratio so Automatically to adjust the dimensions of

that the entire window is the image with the size of the working
used window. For example, if you reduce the
image window, clicking on this button
reduces the image, too.

Reduce the image window To adjust the window to the size of the
to the size of the image image. If the dimensions of the image are
display smaller than the window where this image
is displayed, clicking on this button
automatically reduces it to the size of the
image.

Note!
 GIMP 150

All these actions may be performed using the Zoom Tool, but the tools above are more
convenient.

One of key functions of this dialog is movement around the image. The Zoom out button
enlarges the visual size of an image so that is does not fully fit in the working window.
Look closer at the Display Navigation dialog:

The part of the image that you cannot see is in the darker background and the visible
part is framed and of the same colour as in the original. This frame together with the
respective part of the image can be moved to another place. When you place the mouse
pointer inside the frame, it turns into a pointer with four arrows to different sides.
151
Press the left mouse button and without releasing it move the frame to another place.
The image will also move.

Note!
This dialog is often used, therefore it is recommended have this tab in the Layers,
Channels, Undo – Brushes, Patterns, Gradients dock.

UNDO HISTORY
This dialog displays a list of actions you have performed on an image and allows you to

edit them. It is activated by clicking on in the tab menu. An Open the undo
history dialog opens:

Now, you see the undo history together with thumbnails on the left. Open pan_10.jpg
and the Open the undo history dialog.
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In the Undo History list there is only one item, that is the Base Image, showing that an
image will be created.

Select the Free Select Tool and select the otter. Then invert the selection through
SelectInvert. The selection becomes the otter’s background. Change the foreground

colour: click on and in the Change Foreground Color dialog select dark brown
(HTML notation - 350707).

Now, select the Blend Tool and apply a square-shaped gradient to the selection.
153

You have just performed four actions: opened the image, applied the Free Select Tool to
it, inverted the selection and applied a gradient to it. All these actions are listed in the
Undo History and you can perform certain operations with them. In the list, the last
action is always highlighted to denote that all the actions above have been performed.
You can undo or repeat the action you want. At the bottom of the list there are three

buttons :

Button Name Description

Undo the last operation To undo the last action (operation) –

the highlight moves up by one step.

Redo the last operation that To move down by one step in the
was undone undo history by redoing the actions
which were undone.

Remove all operations from the To empty the undo history. Clicking
undo history on this button opens the Clear Undo
History dialog, where you can confirm
your intent to clear the undo history
by pressing the Clear button.
 GIMP 154
Button Name Description

Note!
Although the history is cleared, all the actions performed remain, i.e. they are not
cancelled, and all the subsequent actions are recorded again. This dialog is used to undo
the unnecessary operation and to add the necessary operation at any stage of your
work.

Mouse pointer information

It is a dialog where you can find information about the position of the mouse pointer in
the image and other related information.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabPointer, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the pointer information dialog tab. A Pointer Information dialog opens.

Open pan_9.bmp and place the mouse pointer on one of the apples. Let’s have a look at
the Pointer Information dialog.

The information about the pointer is displayed in two columns: Pixels, where
coordinates of a point (pixel) are presented in pixels, and Units, where coordinates are
provided in inches.
155
Below you can find lists where you can choose the object of the information – pixels,
RGB, HSV, CMYK. The first two items display the colour value of an RGB pixel, HSV
displays the tone, and CMYK displays the colour value under the selected colour model.

If you tick the Sample Merged checkbox, the information of the pixel will not depend on
the layer where it is. In such a case, it is considered that the image has only one layer.

Sample points information

This is a dialog where you can find information about the points of the image selected by
you.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabSample Points, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new

Open the sample points dialog tab. A Sample Points dialog opens.

1. Open pan_9.bmp.
2. Select four points in the image, the information on which you would like to get.
To create a sample point, holding down the Ctrl key place the pointer on the top
horizontal linear, click the left mouse button and paint the lines that appeared
on the point. When you release the left mouse button, a round mark and an

order number appear at that place . The Sample Points dialog displays
information on the point.

Selecting a point A fixed point, the information on which you want to

get

3. Select another three points, the information on which you would like to get.
 GIMP 156

4. Open the list (Pixel) and select the type of information. The information is
displayed below the list. Users are usually interested in information on colours
of the RGB colour model.

Note!
This dialog is different from the mouse pointer information dialog: the Pointer dialog
displays information on only one active point, on which the mouse pointer is placed,
while this dialog displays information on four points at any time.

COLOURS
This dialog allows a very accurate selection of a colour which later you can use as an

active tool. So far, we have changed colours using from the Toolbox.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabColors, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open the

FG/BG color dialog tab. A FG/BG Color dialog opens. At the centre of this dialog
(A) there is a colour palette. Clicking on appropriate points you can select shades.
157

You can set a colour using slider B. At the top section there are buttons (C) to select a
colour model:

Button Name Description

GIMP It is a standard option. This selector is active

when you open the palette for the first time. At
first select the colour and then adjust its shade.

CMYK You can select a colour by mixing primary solid

colours of this model: cyan, magenta, yellow
and black. You can use sliders to determine
how much colours should be mixed.

Watercolor The colour is selected using a colour palette.

You click the left mouse button on the colour

you want.
 GIMP 158
Button Name Description

Wheel You can select a colour by clicking on it in the

wheel. The shade is selected in the triangle.

Palette You can select a colour from a list of colours.

This option is usually used when working with

Web graphics.

Scales You can select a colour very accurately by

selecting colours and their volumes to be
mixed. For this purpose, you can use scale
sliders,

enter the exact value or set using triangular

buttons.

A tool placed at the button of the dialog allows you to choose a

colour from the image. Clicking on this button turns the mouse pointer into . Then
click the pointer on the colour you want from the image.

Note!
159

In the Change Foreground Color dialog, which is opened by clicking on in the

Toolbox, you can adjust the same settings as in the FG/BG Color dialog. This dialog,
however, may be placed in the working window.

Brushes
This dialog offers various brushes. Here, you can create or select brushes, delete the
ones that you not need anymore. These brushes may be used not only with the
Paintbrush Tool, but also with different tools that paint in strokes.

1. Open an empty working window.

2. Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select
a command Add TabBrushes, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a

new Open the brushes dialog tab, the thumbnail of which may change
subject to the brush you choose. A Brushes dialog opens. It consists of two
parts:

Brushes (A). Here you can choose a brush;

Settings (B). Right below the brush types, there is a Spacing scale with a slider.
You can set the distance between brush stamps. Increasing the value you
increase the distance between brush stamps.
 GIMP 160

Spacing – 50.0 Spacing – 100.0

Below the Spacing scale, there is a bar of buttons (C) that edit brushes:

Button Name Description

Edit brush Open the Brush Editor dialog. You cannot

change the features of a standard brush as all
the settings in the dialog are inactive, and on
the top of the dialog there is a read only sign.

New brush You can create a brush. Clicking on the

button opens the Brush Editor dialog, where
you can choose the following options for a
new brush:

o Shape – there are three shapes to

choose from;
o Radius – the size of a brushstroke;
o Spikes – the number of peaks. This
parameter is useful only for square
and diamond;
o Hardness – the higher the value is,
the clearer the edges of a stroke;
o Aspect ratio changes the ratio
between the length and the radius
of a brushstroke;
o Angle rotates the stroke to the
161
Button Name Description

angle you want;

o Spacing – the distance between
brush stamps.

When you set parameters for a new brush, close the window (by clicking on on the
top left corner). The new brush appears in the window of standard brushes. Now, you
use it as any other brush.

Duplicate brush To create a copy of a brush. This function is

useful when you want to modify a brush, but
also have its older version.

Delete brush To remove a brush that you do not need from

the list. Clicking on the button opens a Delete
Object dialog, where you must confirm or
cancel the deletion.

Refresh brushes To refresh the list and appearance of brushes.

This button is useful when the actions applied
to brushes are somehow undone and are not
reflected in the list.

Creating a brush
1. Open a new 100x100 working window with a grey foreground and a white
background. Select the command FileNew and adjust the following settings
in the Create a New Image dialog:
 GIMP 162
Width – 100;
Height – 100;
Color space – grayscale;
Fill with – white as in this case the white background will be the Alpha channel,
i.e. transparent.

2. Press the OK button.

3. Paint a flower in the working window, consisting of 8 petals and a light centre.
Click on the Ellipse Select Tool and paint one petal.

4. Fill the selection with the Blend Tool, when

the Gradient is set at FG to BG (HSV clockwise hue);
Shape at linear.
163
5. Create a copy of the petal and rotate it by 45 degrees using the Rotate Tool. The

mouse pointer turns into . Click it on the petal to be rotated, and a Rotate
dialog box opens.

Enter 45 in the Angle input box. Press on the Rotate button.

6. Join the petal with the first one using the Move Tool.

7. Repeat steps 5–6 until you have a full flower.

8. When you are performing a copy action, a Floating Selection appears, which you
can find in the Layers dialog.
 GIMP 164
Click on the Anchor the floating layer button. The selection is anchored to the
background layer.

9. Name the image “Flower” and save it as .gbr (this extension is used for brushes)
in C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\brushes. For this purpose, use the
command FileSave As . Adjust the following settings in the Save Image
dialog:
File Type – GIMP brush;
Name – flower;

Places – .
Press the Save button.

10. Press the Save button in the Save as Brush dialog.

11. Close the working window through FileClose.

12. Open a working window and select the brush that you have just created from
the list of possible brushes.

Brushes from the internet

You can find different brushes on the Internet and easily upload them to your computer.
Here are a few addresses:

http://qbrushes.com/nature/photoshop-grass-brushes/
http://qbrushes.com/plants/grasslands-brushes/
http://qbrushes.com/plants/tree-brushes-2/
165
1. Open a website where you found brushes that you are interested in.
2. Press the Download button. The system asks you where to store your
downloads.
3. Select the place and wait until the files are downloaded to your computer. Files
are usually downloaded compressed.
4. Extract the files and store them in the same folder where you store the brush
you created, i.e. C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\brushes.
5. Open a working window.
6. Open a working window through FileNew .
7. Select a brush. Look through all possible brushes. Here you can see the brushes
downloaded from the Internet.

Patterns
It is an additional patterns dialog, a library of all possible patterns. Patterns are used for
certain paints tools (for example, the Clone Tool).
 GIMP 166
Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabPatterns, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the pointer patterns dialog tab. A Patterns dialog opens, where you can find all
patterns. The pattern you select is applied to the active tool. This dialog has several
buttons:

Button Name Description

Delete pattern To delete the pattern from the pattern library.

Refresh Patterns To refresh the pattern library and the external

appearance of the pattern.

Open pattern as To open the pattern selected in a new window as

image an image that can be edited, i.e. its external
appearance can be changed. When you make
and save changes, the pattern in the library
changes according to the adjustments made.

Gradients
This dialog displays a gradient library. You can select any gradient and use it with the
Gradient Tool.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabGradients, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the gradients dialog tab. A Gradients dialog opens, where you can find all
gradients. Some of them depend on the colour you choose, the remaining ones use their
pre-determined colours. This dialog has several buttons:

Button Name Description

Edit gradient Clicking on this button opens a Gradient Editor

dialog. Most of the gradients cannot be edited,
except for the ones created by you.
167
Button Name Description

New gradient To create a gradient and store it in the library.

Clicking on this button opens the Gradient
Editor dialog.

Enter the name of the gradient into input box

A. Area B shows you a gradient, its colour and
transitions. Scale C has three triangular buttons
– two on sides and one in the middle. If you
move the white triangular, you can change the
colour transition point. To change the colour of
a gradient, open a context menu and select Left
Endpoint's Color for the left endpoint and
Right Endpoint‘s Color for the right
endpoint. A Gradient Segment‘s Left Endpoint
Color dialog opens, where you can choose a
colour.

Duplicate gradient To create a copy of a gradient. Usually a copy is

 GIMP 168
Button Name Description

edited, while the original is left unaltered.

Delete gradient To delete a gradient from the library. Before

the deletion, a Delete Object dialog opens.

Refresh gradients To refresh the gradient library and the external

appearance.

Palettes
This dialog allows you to work with colour groups.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabPalettes, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the palettes dialog tab. A Palettes dialog opens, where you can find all colour
groups.

To use a certain colour group, double click on the thumbnail of the group you want. A
Palette Editor dialog opens with all colours belonging to that particular group.
169

Click on the colour and it is automatically set as the foreground colour to be used by the
active tool.

At the bottom of the tab dialog you can find a few buttons

that you are already familiar with. Click on a New

palette button . A Palette Editor dialog opens.

Enter the name of a new colour group in top input box A. In section B, open a context
menu and select New Color from FG ( ). The first colour, namely the foreground
colour, appears in the list of colours. If you change the foreground colour, this new
colour is automatically added to the list.
 GIMP 170

After you create a group, press the Save button . This new group appears in the
list.

Note!
GIMP offers several ways to select a colour. Colour groups not only allow you to select
the colour you want, but also to use the whole colour palette to provide the image with
as natural colours as possible.

Fonts
In this dialog you can find all fonts that the system has. You can select a font for texts.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabFonts, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open the

fonts dialog tab. A Fonts dialog opens, where you can find all fonts that are in the
system. Select the Text Tool and click on the font in the Fonts dialog. This font is
attributed to the tool.

Note!
You cannot create a font yourself as there is no such programme.
171

Buffers
It is an exchange buffer. Sometimes you need to copy several elements of the image and
load them one by one.

First of all, let’s look at a command EditBuffer. A list of additional commands opens:

Cut Named – cuts the content of the selection and pastes it in an exchange
buffer named by you. A name is necessary to recognise the buffer among
others.
Copy Named – a new exchange buffer is created, in which the selection you
copy and name is stored.
Copy Visible Named – the selection of all visible layers is stored in a newly
created exchange buffer.

Note!
In all the cases above, a Copy Named dialog opens:

Enter a name in the input box for a selection stored in the exchange buffer.

Paste Named – the content of the exchange buffer selected is pasted into the
image. After you select this command, a Buffers dialog opens. Click on the
buffer, the content of which is to be pasted.
Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabBuffers, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the named buffers dialog tab. A Buffers dialog opens, where you can find all
selections stored in exchange buffers.

Images
 GIMP 172
This dialog displays a list of all images that are opened. You can activate an image by
clicking on its thumbnail, i.e. you can switch between images in this dialog. Open several
images.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabImages, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the images dialog tab. An Images dialog opens, where you can find a list of all
images that are opened.

At the bottom of the tab dialog there are three buttons:

Button Name Description

Raise this image‘s To activate the selected image.

displays

Create a new display To open the same image twice, i.e. the opened
for this image image is duplicated.

Delete this image To delete the selected image from the list.

Document history
This dialog shows a list of files that were opened before.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabDocument History, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a

new Open the document history dialog tab. A Document History dialog opens,
where you can find a list of all files that were opened.
173

At the bottom of the tab dialog there are four buttons:

Button Name Description

Open the selected entry To open the selected entry.

Remove the selected entry To delete the selected image from the
history.

Clear the entire document To clear the entire history. A new history
history will be created from the files opened
after the clearing.

Recreate preview To refresh the history of previously

opened files and their external
appearance, if any changes were made
to the opened images, but they are not
visible in the opened image.

Templates
This dialog contains all possible templates. You already know that you can select a
standard GIMP template or create a new one. This dialog allows you to edit the existing
templates or create new ones.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabTemplates, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open

the image templates dialog tab. An Image Templates dialog opens, where you can
find a list of all possible templates:
 GIMP 174

Double click on the name of the template, and an image with the dimensions selected
will automatically open. At the bottom of the tab dialog there are five buttons:

Button Name Description

Create a new image from It has the same effect as the double click
the selected template on the name of a template – a new
image from the selected template is
opened.

Create a new template A New Template dialog opens, where

you can set the following parameters for
a new template:
175
Button Name Description

 Name – the name of a template, which will make it easier

to find it in the list of templates;
 Icon – a unique icon that can be selected from the list for a
new template;
 Image Size – dimensions of a new template – width and
height in any measurement system;
 Advanced Options: Resolution; Color space; Fill with.

Duplicate the selected To create a copy of the selected

template template.

Edit the selected template An Edit Template dialog opens. It has the
same content and the New Template
dialog. You can edit the selected
template.

Delete the selected To delete the selected template from the

template list.

Tools
The additional tools dialog offers the opportunity to create a convenient working
environment and to select tools in the same order as you want to see them in the
working window.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabTools, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new Open the

tools dialog tab. A Tools dialog opens, where you can find a list of all possible tools.
 GIMP 176

Next to certain tools there is a small icon , which shows that the tool is already in the
toolbar. If you click on it, the tool, next to which this eye icon is, is removed from the
toolbar. If you look through the list, you will find several tools that are not in the toolbar.
These are the tools that allow you to work on colours in the image.

At the bottom of the tab dialog there are five buttons:

Button Name Description

Raise tool To move the tool highlighted in the list

higher, thus changing its position in the
toolbar.

Lower tool To lower the selected tool. Using the

Raise Tool and the Lower Tool you can
arrange tools in the toolbar in the order
that is convenient to you.

Reset tool order and To reset the standard set of tools and
visibility their order.
177

Error console
This dialog displays all errors that occurred in the working process. What kind of errors
are these? They are related to incorrectly used functions or invalid operations.

Open the list of special commands (B) (see Chapter “Structure of a dock”). Select a
command Add TabError Console, and the list of 4 tabs is supplemented with a new

Open the error console tab. An Error Console dialog opens with a list of all errors
that occurred in the working process.

At the bottom of the tab dialog there are two buttons:

Button Name Description

Clear error console To clear all information about errors.

Save error log To save all errors in a special text file.

Note!
Additional dialogs expand standard settings. They help create a convenient working
environment. You should not refuse additional dialogs as they have many useful
functions.

Filters
Filters are a special kind of tool designed to add various elements to the image and to
perform interesting operations with it. GIMP software comes with a range of different
filters.

Let's say that we have a sheet of paper with an image on it in front of us. We take a
piece of cut glass and place it on the image. Of course, visually the image has changed, it
looks like stained-glass. The image has changed when we looked at it through a piece of
glass.

The afore-given example illustrates how the filter works. The image on the sheet of
paper is our opened image, whereas the cut glass is the filter applied to the image.
However, not all filters can be explained by the said example. GIMP features several
 GIMP 178
filters that work in a slightly different manner but they all change the image by
modifying its exterior view and adding additional elements to it.

You can find the list of all available commands for the work with filters under the menu
item Filters

Filters are divided into groups; they are very well structured. For instance, the Distorts
sub-menu is designed for image distorting; the Artistic sub-menu is used for imitating
various artistic styles and the methods of creating a painting, etc.

The selected filter is applied to a full image on the current layer. If we have just opened
the image and applied a filter, the filter will affect the sole layer (Background). If the
image is composed of several layers, the layer containing the element to which the filter
is applied is first selected and then followed by the application of the filter. Certain
filters do not change the image.

The area of filter effect can be limited by selecting, i.e. first of all, the image area is
selected and then followed by the application of the filter to the selected area.

It should be noted that the dialog boxes for setting all filter parameters contain a
preview window that enables a real-time preview of modifications in the image to be
made by the filter after setting the parameters and before the application of the filter.
The user should be aware that certain filters significantly overload computer memory,
therefore, sometimes the preview option should be closed.

The methodology of application is similar for all filters. Let's analyse several filters from
each group.

Blur filters
It is a group of filters that blur the image, i.e. it becomes less clear. After selecting Filters
Blur command a list of filters belonging to this group appears where each filter blurs
an image in a different way.

Blur
In this group the Blur filter is the simplest filter that does not require any additional
settings and makes the image more blurred. You can see a blue bar at the bottom of the
main program window which shows the filter loading. The speed of filter application to
the image depends on the size of the edited image and computer technical properties.
The filter may be applied instantly or its loading may take several minutes. Once the
filter is applied the image becomes slightly blurred.
179
It is applied to cover unwanted marginal speckles, tears or small defects caused by
scanner glass dust while scanning. If required, the filter may be used repeatedly. If a
stronger blur effect is needed, the GAUSSIAN BLUR filter is a better option.

Note!
Once the filter is applied, the image seems like captured by a moving camera. The filter
calculates an average colour value for each pixel by means of the values of two adjacent
pixels.

Gaussian blur

It is a more sophisticated filter as it provides more possibilities for adjusting the intensity
of the blur effect.

The filter is applied in the following way:

1. Open the image to which you want to apply the filter;

2. Choose FiltersBlurGaussian Blur command. It opens the Gaussian Blur
dialog box.

3. Set the following parameters:

 Blur Radius – select the blur intensity of the image. Enter the radius value in
the Horizontal and Vertical boxes.

Note!
The key point of the Gaussian Blur method is that the colour of each pixel changes
depending on the colour of the pixels surrounding it. The larger the area around the
pixel, the more blurred the image gets. This parameter specifies the radius of the area of
the surrounding pixels for formatting each of the following pixels.

The values Horizontal and Vertical are interdependent; when one value is
changed, the other changes as well. It is required to make the blur even.
Once they are disconnected and different values are entered, the result is a
movement effect, however, there is a separate filter to cover this function;

 Select Blur Method:

o IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) works best for real images, such as
photographs, i.e. for images which are not computer-generated;
 GIMP 180
o BLE (Run-Length Encoding) works best for the images of computer
graphics.

Note!
There is no visual difference between one or another type of blur because the difference
lies on the program level only.

TASK. Open image fil_1.jpg. Apply the Gaussian Blur filter to the central blossom by
setting the following parameters:
a) blur radius Horizontal and Vertical – 20 mm;
b) blur radius Horizontal – 20 mm, Vertical – 10 mm.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Press Ellipse Select Tool . Select the central blossom

3. Choose FiltersBlurGaussian Blur command. It opens the Gaussian Blur

dialog box;
4. Set the following parameters:
Select the measurement unit - millimetres. Press button and select
mm from the list;
Set Blur Radius:
 Horizontal – 20 mm;
 Vertical – 20 mm;
5. Select Blur Method – IIR;
6. Press OK;
7. Choose SelectNone command to cancel selection;
181

a) original image b) image after the Gaussian blur filter is applied

(Blur Radius – 20 mm)

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Select Ellipse Select Tool . Select the central blossom;
3. Apply FiltersBlurGaussian Blur command. It opens the Gaussian Blur dialog
box;

4. Press button to enter different blur radius values;

5. Set the following parameters:
Select the measurement unit - millimetres. Press button and select
mm from the list;
Set Blur Radius:
 Horizontal – 20 mm;
 Vertical – 5 mm;
6. Select Blur Method – IIR;
7. Press OK;
8. Apply SelectNone command to cancel selection;

Selective gaussian blur

 GIMP 182
What makes this filter interesting is that the blur effect is limited to conditionally
monotonous areas rather than a full image. Only the pixels that belong to the groups of
the same colour are blurred. If the image contains a single more pronounced element, a
relatively monotonous background rather than this element will become blurred. This
filter is applied when a single element of the image needs to be highlighted.

How to use this filter?

Open the image that contains a single more pronounced object in the
monotonous background;
Select FiltersBlurSelective Gaussian Blur command. It opens the Selective
Gaussian Blur dialog box

Set the following parameters:

 Blur radius – control blur intensity. The higher the radius value, the stronger
the blur effect;
 Max. delta – determine filter sensitivity level in respect of the differences in
pixel colours. Reduce the value of the this parameter in case the edges of
the main element are excessively pronounced and significantly differ from
the background colour; slightly increase it in case the difference is marginal.
Press OK.

Note!
After applying the filter, the image background gets blurred and the objects in the
foreground as if separate from it, thus rendering the depth effect.

Pixelize

This filter approximates the low resolution effect, i.e. by increasing pixels the image gets
blurred. We know that each image is composed of tiny pixels. This filter, otherwise
known by the name of Abraham Lincoln, essentially enlarges the pixels of the image,
thus creating the blur effect.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image or a photograph.

183
2. Apply FiltersBlur Pixelize command. It opens the Pixelize dialog box

3. Set the following parameters:

Pixel width – the width of the created pixel;
Pixel height – the height of the created pixel.

Note!
If the pixels that compose the blurred image need to be square-shaped, select identical
width and height. In case different values are indicated, pixels will be rectangular.

The higher the values of width and height selected, the more blurred the
image gets

4. Press OK.

TASK. Open image fil_1.jpg. Apply the Pixelize filter to the image with the pixel size set
to:
a) square pixels: width – 15 px; height – 15 px;
b) rectangular pixels: width – 30 px; height – 10 px;
c) square pixels: width – 25 px; height – 25 px;
A.

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersBlur Pixelize command. It opens the Pixelize dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
 Pixel width – 15;
 Pixel height – 15;
4. Press OK
 GIMP 184

B.

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersBlur Pixelize command. It opens the Pixelize dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:

press button to enter different values of width and height;

Pixel width – 30;
Pixel height – 10;
4. Press OK

C.

4. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

5. Apply FiltersBlur Pixelize command. It opens the Pixelize dialog box.
6. Set the following parameters:
Pixel width – 30;
Pixel height – 30;
7. Press OK
185

Motion blur

The filter creates the blur effect with motion imitation as it blurs each pixel to the
specified direction. The effect resembles a view captured by a low-quality camera from a
driving car; once developed, the result is a blurred view.

How to use this filter?

Open an image or a photograph.

Select FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens a dialog box.

Set the following parameters:

 Blur type – set the type of camera movement at the time of shooting:
o Linear radio button– blur the image in lines;
 GIMP 186
o Radial radio button– blur the image in circle. You may select the
circle centre by specifying X and Y coordinates;
o Zoom radio button– blur the image from the centre to the edges. It
results in blurry edges, while the centre remains intact;
 Blur Parameters – specify blur depth and direction:
o if Linear blur type is selected, specify:
Length – parameter which affects blur depth;
Angle – an angle, i.e. blur direction;

Note!
Where the angle is set to 0, it produces a horizontal blur; where the angle equals to 90,
it results in a vertical blur.

o if Radial blur type is selected, specify:

Angle – parameter which affects blur depth;
o if Zoom blur type is selected, specify:
Length – parameter which affects blur depth.
Press OK.

TASK. Open image fil_1.jpg. Apply the Motion Blur filter to the image by setting the
following parameters:
a) Blur type – Linear; Blur Parameters:
Length – 25;
Angle – 45;
b) Blur type – Radial; Blur Parameters:
Blur Center:
 X – 588;
 Y – 703;
Angle – 10;
c) Blur type – Radial; Blur Parameters:
Blur Center:
 X – 250;
 Y – 500;
Angle – 45;
d) Blur type – Zoom; Blur Parameters:
check the Blur outward checkbox;
Length – 45;
e) Blur type – Zoom; Blur Parameters:
uncheck the Blur outward checkbox;
Length – 45;
A.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens the Motion Blur dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Blur type – Linear; Blur Parameters:
Length – 25;
Angle – 45;
4. Press OK
187

B.

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens the Motion Blur dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Blur type – Radial; Blur Parameters:
Blur Center:
 X – 588;
 Y – 703;
Angle – 10;
4. Press OK

C.

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Select FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens the Motion Blur dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Blur type – Radial; Blur Parameters:
Blur Center:
 X – 250;
 Y – 500;
Angle – 45;
4. Press OK
 GIMP 188

D.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Select FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens the Motion Blur dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Blur type – Zoom; Blur Parameters:
check the Blur outward checkbox;
Length – 45;
4. Press OK

E.

1. Select FileOpen command to open file fil_1.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersBlurMotion Blur command. It opens the Motion Blur dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Blur type – Zoom; Blur Parameters:
uncheck the Blur outward checkbox;
Length – 45;
4. Press OK
189

Enhance filters
The filters of this group enhance the general view of the image, remove various noises,
spots, red-eye effect.

Unsharp mask

This filter sharpens the image in a certain way. It should be noted that the sharpness of
the image is not enhanced for a full image at once but by sharpening its borders,
silhouettes and contours. For example, we have an image picturing a man with a rather
dim silhouette. By applying this filter only the man's silhouette is sharpened.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Select FiltersEnhanceUnsharp Mask command. Once the Unsharp Mask
dialog box opens, set the parameters

The sharpness of the silhouette edges results by blurring the areas of the image
behind the silhouette edges. The higher the Radius value, the larger the distance
of the blur from the silhouette edges. By increasing the value, we increase the
number of blurred adjacent areas;
The Amount parameter controls sharpness. The higher the value, the sharper
the contour borders;
 GIMP 190
The Threshold parameter describes the difference in pixel values on contour
borders. The image usually contains various contours. By setting the parameter
values, we change the filter sensitivity to various edges that allows the
maximum focus of filter effect;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open a dim photograph unsharp1.jpg. Sharpen the photograph by applying the
Unsharp Mask filter.

1. Open image unsharp1.jpg;

2. Select FiltersEnhanceUnsharp Mask command. It opens the Unsharp Mask

dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Use the slider of the Radius scale to set the value to 10;
Use the slider of the Amount scale to set the value to 1.0;
Use the slider of the Threshold scale to set the value to 10;
4. Press OK;

Nl filter
191
The filter is designed to remove noises, spots and to enhance sharpness on the whole
image rather than the selected area. It operates in three modes where each processes a
pixel depending on its value and the values of adjacent pixels. The filter makes seven
choices by the values of the hexagon edges surrounding the pixel. The size of the
hexagon is described by the Radius parameter.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Select FiltersEnhanceNL filter command. Once the NL filter dialog box
opens, set the parameters

Select the operating mode of the filter in the Filter group-box control:
 Alpha trimmed mean – the hexagon centre value is replaced by the mean of
the 7 hexagon values. All the values are first of all sorted by alfa; then, the
top and bottom values are excluded from the mean. To improve the visual
effect, use the slider of the Alpha scale to set the value to 0.0 and the slider
of the Radius scale to set the value to 1.0;
 Optimal estimation – the filter performs the smoothing over the image. The
Radius parameter specifies the area of filter effect. In this case the optimal
radial values range from 0.8 to 1.0;
 Edge enhancement – enhance edges by performing an action opposite to
smoothing. The Alpha parameter describes the intensity; if it equals to 0.1,
the effect is barely visible; if it is set to 0.9, the effect is very sharp. The
Radius parameter is used to specify the area of filter effect.

Sharpen

This filter is designed to enhance the sharpness of a full image without distinguishing
any areas or contours.

How to use this filter?

 GIMP 192
1. Open an image;
2. Select FiltersEnhanceSharpen command. It opens the Sharpen dialog box
with the sole parameter

The Sharpness parameter enhances or reduces the sharpness effect. If a value is

set high, the image may show "abrasion" marks after applying the filter;
3. Once the parameter is set, press OK;

a) original image b) Sharpness = 50

c) Sharpness = 75 d) Sharpness = 100

193
Red eye removal

This filter does not only remove this effect but also provides the opportunity to change
eye colour.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Select FiltersEnhanceRed Eye Removal command. It opens the Red Eye
Removal dialog box with the sole parameter

 Eye colour changes with the changing value of the Threshold

parameter. The preview window shows the result of different
parameters;
3. Once the desired eye colour is set, press OK;

Note!
It is advisable to select an eye before applying the filter because in such a case the filter
will only be applied to the selected area rather than a full image.

TASK. Open image eye_1.jpg and change the eye colour to green.
1. Open image eye_1.jpg;
2. Select Zoom Tool and double or triple click the mouse cursor on the image
in the main program window to enlarge an eye to make its editing simpler;
3. Choose Free Select Tool . Select the exterior side of the iris
 GIMP 194
4. Remove the pupil from the selected area. Go to Free Select Tool and press the

Subtract from the current selection button in the Mode settings and then
select the pupil;

5. Select FiltersEnhanceRed Eye Removal command. It opens the Red Eye

Removal dialog box;
6. Use the slider of the Threshold scale to set the value to 100;
7. Press OK;
8. Apply SelectNone command to cancel the selection of the iris;
9. Select Zoom Tool and press the Zoom Out radio button in the tool settings;
10. Double or triple click the mouse cursor on the image to restore the original size
of the image;

Note!
The filter may also be applied without selecting the pupil. In such a case the filter will be
applied to a full image. The filter effect on the image is illustrated in the image

DISTORT FILTERS
It is a group of filters that distort the image in a variety of ways. The group includes a
number of commonly used filters. See the table below for short descriptions of the
filters in this group:

Filter name Short description

195
Filter name Short description

Waves Create the concentrated wave effect. Such waves are

usually caused by throwing a stone into the water.

IWarp Interactively distort certain areas in the image. The dialog

box includes the Animate tab containing the parameters
that allow the creation of darkening and lightening
animation between the original and the distorted image.
Such animation always enlivens a website

Engrave Render an old engraving effect to the image

Emboss Give the "embossing" effect to the image or its part where
the light parts are lifted upwards and the dark parts are
lowered. The filter is only applied to RGB images. It is not
active (not available) for grey images

Erase Every Other Row Erase every second row or every second column

Newsprint The filter halftones the pixels in the image, thus creating
the newsprint effect

Lens Distortion Remove geometrical distortions caused by means of

optical lens

Mosaic Create the mosaic effect

 GIMP 196
Filter name Short description

Shift Shift the pixels of the active layer in each row at a random
distance horizontally or vertically

Polar Coordinates Displace the image to polar coordinates and vice versa

Page curl Create a curled page effect. It is possible to choose which

page to curl and how to curl it

Ripple Distort the image to create the ripple effect

Value Propagate Render the brightness of the selected colour to adjacent

pixels

Whirl and Pinch Distort the image concentrically. It is possible to select the
operating mode - whirl or pinch. In the former case the
distortion resembles a tiny hole, like in water escaping
from the sink. In the latter case the distortion resembles a
stretched rubber mat
197
Filter name Short description

Curve Bend Bend the image using two control curves

Wind Create a fast movement effect. Such an effect is seen when

taking a photo of a fast moving object

Video Create an effect of the image being reviewed in a low

resolution monitor or TV set

Blinds The image is seen through horizontal or vertical blinds

Let's analyse the application of several most popular filters in this group.

Pagecurl

This filter renders a pagecurl effect to the image.

How to use this filter?

Open an image or a photograph.

Select FiltersDistorts Pagecurl command. It opens the Pagecurl Effect
dialog box.
 GIMP 198

Set the following parameters:

 Curl Location – specify which corner of the page to curl;
 Curl Orientation – set the orientation of the curled area;
 Shade under curl checkbox– specify whether the curled area must contain a
shadow;
 There is a list opening beneath the Shade under curl checkbox displaying a
list of the available colours for the curled corner

 Use the slider of the Opacity scale to make the curled area of the page
transparent.
Once the parameters are set, press OK.

Note!
The layers dialog is supplemented with a new layer and a part of the image is deleted
from the Background layer.

TASK. Open image fil_7.jpg. Apply the Motion Blur filter to the image by setting the
following parameters:
a)
Curl Location – at the upper right;
Curl Orientation – vertical;
Check the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
The curled corner is coloured by Foreground/background colors
Opacity – 100;
b)
Curl Location – at the bottom right;
Curl Orientation – horizontal;
Uncheck the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
Colour the curled corner by the gradient Greens;
199
Opacity – 100;
c)
Curl Location – at the bottom right;
Curl Orientation – horizontal;
Check the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
Colour the curled corner by the gradient Greens;
Opacity – 45;
A.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_7.jpg;

2. Select FiltersDistorts Pagecurl command. It opens the Pagecurl Effect
dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Curl Location – at the upper right;
Curl Orientation – vertical;
Check the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
Colour the curled corner by Foreground/background colors
Opacity – 100;
4. Press OK.

a) original image b) after the filter is applied

B.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_3.jpg;

2. Select FiltersDistorts Pagecurl command. It opens the Pagecurl Effect
dialog box.

3. Press Blend Tool .

4. Select the Gradient parameter– Greens for this tool

5. Set the following parameters:
Curl Location – at the bottom right;
Curl Orientation – horizontal;
Uncheck the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
Colour the curled corner by the Current gradient
Opacity – 100;
6. Press OK.
 GIMP 200

C.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_3.jpg;

2. Select FiltersDistorts Pagecurl command. It opens the Pagecurl Effect
dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Curl Location – at the bottom right;
Curl Orientation – horizontal;
Check the Shadow under Curl checkbox;
Colour the curled corner by the Current gradient
Opacity – 50;
4. Press OK.

Blinds

This filter creates the effect of looking through the blinds.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters DistortsBlinds command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
201

3. Set the following parameters:

Orientation – arrangement of battens Horizontal or Vertical;
Displacement – parameter of blinds opening. The higher the value, the larger
the distance between battens;
Number of segments – a number of battens; the higher the number, the
narrower the battens.
4. Press OK.

TASK. Open image fil_3.jpg. Apply the Blinds filter to the image by setting the
following parameters:
a)

Orientation – Horizontal;
Displacement – 30;
Number of segments – 5.
b)

Orientation – Vertical;
Displacement – 30;
Number of segments – 5.
A.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_3.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsBlinds command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Orientation – Horizontal;
Displacement – 30;
Number of segments – 5.
4. Press OK
 GIMP 202

B.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_3.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsBlinds command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Orientation – Vertical;
Displacement – 30;
Number of segments – 5.
4. Press OK:

Note!
When the same filter is applied twice, the image looks like viewed from behind the bars.
203

The colour of battens depends on the Background colour

Wind

This filter renders the wind effect to the image

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters DistortsWind command. It opens the Wind dialog box

3. Set the following parameters:

Style – specify the type of wind:
 Wind – traditional steady wind;
 Blast – squall wind blowing in blasts;
Direction – specify wind direction from the left (Left) or right (Right);
Edge Affected – how the wind encircles the silhouette edges in the image:
 Leading – the edges of silhouettes in the image are blurred with them;
 Trailing – internal silhouette borders are blurred to the outside;
 GIMP 204
 Both – both options;
Threshold – set the filter sensitivity to the silhouette borders. The lower the
value, the higher the sensitivity and at the same time more objects in the image
are affected by the wind. The higher the value, the less silhouettes of the image
are affected by the wind;
Strength – specify the strength of the wind. The higher the value, the more
blurred the silhouettes in the image get.
4. Press OK.
TASK. Open image fil_8.jpg. Apply the Wind filter to the image by setting the following
parameters:

a)

Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Leading
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
b)

Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Both;
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
c)

Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Trailing;
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
d)

Style – Blast;
Direction – Right;
Edge Affected – Both;
Threshold – 5;
Strength – 20;
A.

1. Open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWind command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Leading
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
4. Press OK
205

a) original image b) after the filter is applied

B.

1. Open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWind command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Both;
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
4. Press OK

C.

1. Open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWind command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Style – Wind;
Direction – Left;
Edge Affected – Trailing;
 GIMP 206
Threshold – 10;
Strength – 20;
4. Press OK

D.

1. Open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWind command. It opens the Blinds dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Style – Blast;
Direction – Right;
Edge Affected – Both;
Threshold – 5;
Strength – 20;
4. Press OK

Waves

This filter gives the wave effect. The image is placed in the water and topped by
concentric waves.
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How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters DistortsWave command. It opens the Waves dialog box

3. Set the following parameters:

Mode – specify how the areas of the image rendered empty because of the
waves should look like:
 Smear – fill the empty areas with adjacent colours;
 Blacken – fill the empty areas with black colour;
Reflective checkbox – create the reflective waves that significantly change the
image;
The slider of the Amplitude scale is used to select the wave height. The higher
the value, the more embossed the image gets;
The values chosen by the slider of the Phase scale change the location of waves
without changing their characteristics;
The slider of the Wavelength scale is used to set the length and distance
between the waves. The higher the value, the longer and milder the waves get.

TASK. Open image fil_8.jpg. Apply the Wind filter to the image by setting the following
parameters:
a)

Mode – Smear;
Uncheck the Reflective checkbox;
Use the slider of the Amplitude scale to set the value to 12.00;
Use the slider of the Phase scale to set the value to 72.00;
 GIMP 208
Use the slider of the Wavelength scale to set the value to 1.70;
b)

Mode – Smear;
Check the Reflective checkbox;
Use the slider of the Amplitude scale to set the value to 5.00;
Use the slider of the Phase scale to set the value to 72.00;
Use the slider of the Wavelength scale to set the value to 1.70;
A.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWave command. It opens the Waves dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Mode – Smear;
Uncheck the Reflective checkbox;
Use the slider of the Amplitude scale to set the value to 12.00;
Use the slider of the Phase scale to set the value to 72.00;
Use the slider of the Wavelength scale to set the value to 1.70;
4. Press OK;

B.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsWave command. It opens the Waves dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Mode – Smear;
Check the Reflective checkbox;
Use the slider of the Amplitude scale to set the value to 5.00;
Use the slider of the Phase scale to set the value to 72.00;
Use the slider of the Wavelength scale to set the value to 1.70;
4. Press OK;
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Curve bend

The filter distorts the image by means of a special curve.

How to use this filter?

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsCurve bend command. It opens the Curve Bend dialog
box:

The preview window at the upper left of the dialog box displays all the changes made by
the filter to the image, a special curve on the right distorts the image.
 GIMP 210
Before moving to parameters, check the Automatic preview checkbox. Once you make
any change, its effect will be seen in the preview window; otherwise, you will have to
press Preview Once after each change.

Click the left mouse button to create additional nodes on the curve; by changing their
position the image changes as well.

3. Let's analyse the key parameters:

Options :
 Rotate – rotate the distorted border by the specified angle;
 Smoothing checkbox – apply/cancel the smoothing of the distortion;
 Antialiasing checkbox – apply/cancel the antialiasing of the distortion;
Curve for Border – specify the border of the image to be distorted:
 Upper radio button – if checked, it shows that the distortion actions will be
performed on the upper border of the image;
 Lower radio button – if checked, it shows that the distortion actions will be
performed on the bottom border of the image;
Curve Type:
 Smooth radio button – if checked, it shows that a smooth curve will be
created for distorting the image. The curve is created by dragging nodes;
 Free radio button – if checked, it shows that the curve is drawn manually.
Instead of the nodes, there is a special instrument for creating a desired
curve;
Buttons:
 Copy – copy the active curve to the other border;
 Mirror – show a mirror reflection of the active curve;
 Swap – swap the curves;
 Reset – reset the active curve;
4. Press OK.

TASK. Open image fil_8.jpg. Apply the Curve Bend filter by setting the following
parameters:
a)
Options :
 Rotate – 30;
 Check the Smoothing checkbox;
Curve for Border – Upper;
Curve Type – Smooth;
b) Set the following parameters to the distorted image (according to the parameters
under option a)):

Options :
 Rotate – 0;
Uncheck the Smoothing checkbox;
Curve for Border – Lower;
Curve Type – Free;
A.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image fil_8.jpg;

2. Apply Filters DistortsCurve bend command. It opens the Curve Bend dialog
box;
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3. Set the following parameters:
Check the Automatic preview checkbox;
Options :
 Rotate – 30;
 Check the Smoothing checkbox;
Curve for Border:
 Check the Upper radio button.
Curve Type:
 Check the Smooth radio button. It creates a curve that will be applied in
distorting the upper border of the image

4. Press OK

B.

5. Apply Filters DistortsCurve bend command. It opens the Curve Bend dialog
box;
6. Set the following parameters:
Options :
 Rotate – 0;
 Uncheck the Smoothing checkbox;
Curve for Border:
 Check the Lower radio button.
Curve Type:
 Check the Free radio button; It creates a curve that will be applied in
distorting the upper border of the image
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7. Press OK

Note!
This filter is most commonly used for changing the text form.

Light and shadow filters

It is a group of filters that render various light effects to the image by simultaneously
supplying it with light elements. Some filters in this group imitate real lighting, while
some other filters give unrealistic lighting. All filters in this group can be divided into
three groups:

Group I – light effects group. Render various illumination effects. This group consists of:

Lighting Effects – render various illumination effects;

Gradient Flare – create a gradient flare in the image;
Lens Flare – add a reflection to the image;
Supernova – add a stellar explosion to the image;
Sparkle – light areas become sparkling in the image;

Group II – shadow filters:

Drop Shadow – give a shadow to the selected area;

Perspective – perspective creates a shadow;
Xach-Effect – add a translucent 3D effect to the selected area;

Group III – glass filters. The filters create a "glass" image:

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Apply Lens – create an effect of looking through a lens;
Glass Tile – create an effect of looking at the image through square tiles.
Let's analyse some of them.

Lighting effects

This filter imitates the lighting of the image in one or another way.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose Filters Light and ShadowLighting Effects command. Once the
Lighting Effects dialog box opens, set the main parameters and use four tabs to
set other parameters

3. First of all, set the light source. Use the blue dot in the preview window. Set the
light source by moving the dot from one place to another by the mouse;
4. Use the slider of the Distance scale to set the height of the light source and its
distance to the image;
5. Tabs:
Light:

 Type – specify the type of the light source:

None – there is no light source, and the overall image is seen in the
twilight;
Directional – the light source resembles a spotlight targeted at a
certain point;
Point – a point source emanates light all over the image like a
simple light bulb;
 Color – once a rectangular box is pressed, choose the desired colour of the
light source in a dialog with a range of colours. The hue of the image
 GIMP 214
depends on the chosen colour. Let's say that we have chosen the red light
source; once the filter is applied, a full image will acquire a red hue;
 Intensity – specify the source intensity and the strength of its colour. The
higher the value of the parameter, the more intense the light source is. If
the image needs marginal illumination only, the value must be reduced;
 Position – determine the coordinates of the light source;
 Direction – set the direction of the light source;

Note!
The latter two parameters are not always active because they depend on the type of
light source. For instance, if the Point type is chosen, it is not possible to set the
direction of the light source as it illuminates the entire image.

Gradient flare

The filter adds a glare to the image.

How to use this filter?

Open an image.
Choose Filters Light and ShadowLighting Gradient Flare command. It
opens the Gradient Flare dialog box which contains two tabs for setting the
parameters Settings and Selector

Set the following parameters:

 Check the Auto update preview checkbox. The flare is seen in the preview
window, therefore, its location can be formatted at once. It only takes a
mouse-click in the preview window in the place where the glare should be
located
 The Selector tab – select the flare pattern:
o Bright_Star;
o Classic;
o Default;
o Distant_Sun;
o GFlare_101;
o GFlare_102;
o Hidden_Planet;
 The Settings tab – select the type of the gradient flare, i.e. its shape and
exterior view. The tab is divided into three parts:
215

o Center – set the coordinates of the flare centre. As mentioned

above, you can select the centre manually by a mouse-click in the
desired location of the preview window. Or you can enter precise X
and Y coordinates. Choose the measurement units from the list

o Parameters – specify certain flare characteristics;

Radius – specify the flare radius; the higher the value, the
larger the flare;
Rotation – flare turning angle;
Hue rotation – change the glare colour. Once the slider of
the Hue rotation scale is moved, the glare colour changes;
Vector angle – each flare has a tiny light line, i.e. direction
vector. When the slider of the Vector angle scale is moved,
the inclination angle of the line changes;
Vector length – change the length of the light line;
o Adaptive supersampling – the settings of this group control the
level of flare smoothing;
Press OK.

Lens flare

This filter creates a reflection, a flare in the image.

How to use this filter?

 GIMP 216
Open an image.
Choose Filters Light and ShadowLens Flare command. Once the Lens Flare
dialog box opens, set the flare coordinates

Specify the location of the glare/reflection in the image. You can set this
parameter in two ways:
o set precise X and Y parameters of glare centre;
o click the mouse cursor in the location of the preview window where
you want to locate the flare;
Press OK.

Note!
If you need a different flare shape or intensity, use the Gradient Flare filter.

Supernova

The filter adds the supernova effect to the image.

1. Open an image.
2. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSupernova command. Once the
Supernova dialog box opens, set the main parameters
217

Center of Nova – choose the location of the star in the image; You can also set
its location manually, i.e. by dragging the star to the desired location in the
preview window by the mouse.
Color – select the star colour;
Use the slider of the Radius scale to set the size of the star;
Use the slider of the Spokes scale to select the number of rays;
Use the slider of the Random hue scale to select a random colour to the star and
its rays.

TASK. Open image sup_1.jpg and add a shining star to the image.
1. Open the image.
2. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSupernova command. Once the
Supernova dialog box opens, set the main parameters:
Manually select the location of the star in the preview window – the upper right
corner;
Color – yellow (HTML notation – ffff7f);
Radius – 85;
Spokes – 195;
Random hue - 256
 GIMP 218

a) image before the filter is applied

b) image after the filter is applied

Sparkle

The filter makes the light points sparkling, thus making the image more dynamic.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image containing light points - spots.

2. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSparkle command. Once the Sparkle
dialog box opens, set the external view parameters of the sparkle effect
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3. Set the following parameters:

Use the slider of the Luminosity threshold scale to select the luminosity
threshold of the sparkling elements. The higher the value, the more sparkling
the elements will be;
Use the slider of the Flare intensity scale to set the intensity of the flare. To
increase the flare intensity, increase the value;
Use the slider of the Spike length scale to specify the spike length; the higher
the value, the longer the spikes;
Use the slider of the Spike point scale to select the number of the sparkle spike
points;
Use the slider of the Spike angle (1: random) scale to select the sparkle spike
angle by simultaneously changing the spike direction angle. When the value is
set to (-1), the inclination angle will be selected by the program;
Use the slider of the Spike density scale to select the number of sparkles. The
higher the value, the more sparkles there will be;
Use the slider of the Transparency scale to specify whether sparkling will be
transparent, half-transparent, white, etc.;
Use the Random hue slider to change the sparkle colour randomly;
Use the Random saturation slider to change the sparkle saturation at random;
There are three checkboxes:
 If the Preserve luminosity checkbox is checked, luminosity is preserved;
 If the Inverse checkbox is checked, black pixels in the image become
sparkling (in black);
 If the Add border checkbox is checked, a border is added to the image;
There are three radio buttons for choosing the sparkle colour:
 GIMP 220
 If the Natural color radio button is checked, the sparkle acquires a natural
colour (white);
 If the Foreground color radio button is checked, the sparkle acquires the
foreground colour, which can be changed in the Toolbox bar by pressing

;
 If the Background color radio button is checked, the sparkle can acquire the

background colour which can be changed by pressing in the

Toolbox bar;
4. Press OK.

Drop shadow

The filter adds a shadow effect to an object. It is most commonly applied to give a more
three dimensional appearance to the silhouette. The filter effect is best seen when
working with a text. We will analyse several examples to clarify on the application of the
filter.

1. Apply FileNew command to create an empty image of any size.

2. By means of Text Tool use large font to enter six words on different
layers: Riga, BDA, Panevezys, KTU PI, Talllin, Koolitus. Textual parameters:
Font – Sans Bold;
Size – 72 px;
3. Choose Filters Light and ShadowDrop Shadow command. Once the Script-
Fu: Drop Shadow) dialog box opens, set different parameters to each word:

Offset X, Offset Y – specify the shadow direction;

Blur radius – choose the strength of blur;
Color – select the shadow colour;
Use the slider of the Opacity scale to select the shadow intensity. The higher the
value, the more intense the shadow is; if a light shadow is required, select a
lower value;

Note!
221

To apply the filter to a word, make the word layer active, i.e. select the desired layer in
the layers dialog.

a) parameters: b) parameters:
Offset X – 15; Offset X – 5;
Offset Y – 5; Offset Y – 15;
Blur radius – 15; Blur radius – 15;
Color – c040c0 (HTML notation); Color – c040c0 (HTML notation);
Opacity – 80 Opacity – 80

c) parameters: d) parameters:
Offset X – 8; Offset X – 8;
Offset Y – 8; Offset Y – 8;
Blur radius – 5; Blur radius – 20;
Color – 72b4dc (HTML notation); Color – 72b4dc (HTML notation);
Opacity – 80 Opacity – 80

e) parameters: f) parameters:
Offset X – 8; Offset X – 8;
Offset Y – 8; Offset Y – 8;
 GIMP 222
Blur radius – 5; Blur radius – 5;
Color – 72b44c (HTML notation); Color – 72b44c (HTML notation);
Opacity – 20 Opacity – 90
4. Press OK.

Noise filters
It is a group of filters that "distort" the image by adding speckles or otherwise smearing
it.

Hsv noise

The filter covers the image with various pixels that are selected by hue, saturation,
sharpness.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Choose FiltersNoiseHSV Noise command. Once the HSV Noise dialog box
opens, set the following parameters:

The slider of the Holdness scale controls how much the new pixel color is
allowed to change when affected by the filter. The higher the value, the milder
the filter effect is; the pixels covering the image are not that sharp and
contrasting. The lower the value, the larger the filter effect to the image that
becomes multi-coloured;
The slider of the Hue scale controls the values responsible for the range of hues
of the pixels added to the image. The higher the value, the more colours are
used;
The Saturation scale is responsible for the saturation of pixels scattered in the
image. The lower the value, the closer the pixel colour to black-and-white is. The
higher the value, the more saturated and multi-coloured the pixels are;
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The slider of the Value scale increases or reduces the brightness of pixels. When
the value is set high, the brightest pixels cover the image.
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK.

Pick

The filter covers the image by randomly chosen pixels. The majority of the filters of this
group include the opportunity to choose the colour, brightness, saturation and hue of
the scattered pixels. In this filter no pixel parameters can be set, therefore, the image is
covered by random pixels. We may only select their amount.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Choose FiltersNoisePick command. Once the Random Pick dialog box
opens, set the following parameters

Use the slider of the Randomization scale to select the amount of pixels
scattered in the image;
 GIMP 224
The slider of the Repeat scale represents the number of times the filter will be
applied. If the value is set really high, there will be no image, we will only see
randomly scattered pixels;
3. Once the parameters are set, press OK.

Rgb noise

This filter adds colourful pixels to the image or its selected area.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Choose FiltersNoiseRGB Noise command. Once the RGB Noise dialog box
opens, set the following parameters
225
If checked, the Independent RGB checkbox specifies that each of the below
colours may be set to a different value. When the parameter is unchecked, the
sliders of all scales will move synchronically and all pixels will either be grey or
black due to the mixture of colours.
The sliders of Red, Green, Blue scales set values that show the intensity of these
colours.
3. Once the parameters are set, press OK

a) Independent RGB checkbox is checked b) Independent RGB checkbox is unchecked

Spread

The filter scatters the pixels in the image – by randomly replacing them, the borders
become obscure and colours get mixed.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Choose FiltersNoiseSpread command. Once the Spread dialog box opens,
set the following parameters:
 GIMP 226

Spread Amount group-box control sets the strength of filter effect. By increasing
the spread distance along the horizontal and vertical axis, we can spread the
pixels at a far distance;
3. Once the parameters are set, press OK;

Note!
The spread distance along the horizontal and vertical axis is interconnected; it is shown

by an uninterrupted chain . To spread the pixels along the horizontal and vertical axis

unevenly, we have to break the chain, i.e. press button; when the chain is broken
enter the required values to the boxes: Horizontal and Vertical.

a) original image b) spread distance along the b) spread distance along the
horizontal and vertical axis is the horizontal axis (20) and vertical
same (65) axis (85) is not the same

Slur

The filter effect makes the image look like placed on a melting ice plate as certain pixels
in the image move downwards and are replaced by the pixels directly above them.

How to use this filter?

227
1. Open an image;
2. Choose FiltersNoiseSlur command. Once the Random Slur dialog box
opens, set the two main parameters

Randomization (%) – specify the amount of pixels which will be affected by the
filter. The higher the value, the larger area of the image gets slurred;
Repeat – select the strength of filter effect, i.e. the number of times the filter
will be applied;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image nova.jpg and apply the Slur filter with the following parameters:
Randomization (%) – 84;
Repeat – 100;

1. Open image nova.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersNoiseSlur command. It opens the Random Blur dialog box;
3. Set the filter parameters:
Set the slider of the Randomization (%) scale to the value 84;
Set the slider of the Repeat scale to the value 100;
4. Press OK;

Edge-detect filters
 GIMP 228
The filters of this group search for borders between different colours and so can detect
contours of objects. The filter is most commonly used to make selections. It is first of all
advisable to apply the blur filter which flattens small ripples before using the filter of this
group.

a) the Difference of Gaussians filter is applied. b) the Difference of Gaussians filter is applied.
Invert checkbox is checked; Invert checkbox is unchecked

c) the Edge filter is applied. Algorithm – Prewit compass is used

Generic filters
It is a group of filters that do not belong to any other group. Convolution Matrix is the
most powerful filter in this group that allows to build custom filters by changing the
matrix values. Since all filters use the convolution matrix, we will create a custom filter
by entering our values.

Select FiltersGeneric Convolution Matrix command to open the dialog box:

229

Enter values to the matrix boxes. The below-listed matrix values create certain effects.

a) Sharpen b) Blur effect c) Edge-Detect d) Edge e) Emboss

effect effect Enhance effect effect

Custom filters are usually built by professionals.

ARTISTIC FILTERS
These filters imitate various styles and methods of painting. We may create the effects
of comics, oil painting, canvas instead of paper.

Oilify

This filter makes the image look like an oil painting.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters ArtisticOilify command. Once the Oilify dialog box opens, set
the two main parameters:
 GIMP 230

Use the slider of the Mask size scale to select the size of the brush mask. Higher
values produce an oilier render. If a neat work is required, a brushstroke must
be small;
The slider of the Exponent scale controls the clarity of painting. The higher the
value, the clearer the painting; if the value is set low, the painting is blurred,
obscure;
3. Press OK.

TASK. Open image oil_1.jpg and apply the Oilify filter with various parameters:
a)

Mask size – 8;
Exponent – 8;
b)

Mask size – 20;

Exponent – 8;
c)

Mask size – 20;

Exponent – 20;
a)
231
1. Open image oil_1.jpg;
2. Apply Filters ArtisticOilify command. It opens the Oilify dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Use the slider of the Mask size scale to select the size of the brush mask – 8;
Use the slider of the Exponent scale to select the value – 8;
4. Press OK;

Original image After the filter is applied

b)

1. Open image oil_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticOilify command. It opens the Oilify dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Use the slider of the Mask size scale to select the size of the brush mask – 20;
Use the slider of the Exponent scale to select the value – 8;
4. Press OK;

c)

1. Open image oil_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticOilify command. It opens the Oilify dialog box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Use the slider of the Mask size scale to select the size of the brush mask – 20;
Use the slider of the Exponent scale to select the value – 20;
 GIMP 232
4. Press OK;

Weave

The filter places the image on the woven surface, as if on the woven basket.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters ArtisticWeave command. Once the Script-Fu: Weave dialog
box opens, set the following parameters

With Ribbon width and Ribbon spacing options you can set the view of the
woven ribbon and the distance to the neighbouring ribbon;
With Shadow darkness and Shadow depth options you can set the exterior
weave surface;
Thread length, Thread density and Thread intensity options set the exterior
weave view;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK.
233
TASK. Open image can_1.jpg and apply the Weave filter with various parameters:
a) b)

Ribbon width – 50; Ribbon width – 80;

Ribbon spacing – 10; Ribbon spacing – 5;
Shadow darkness – 75; Shadow darkness – 15;
Shadow depth -75; Shadow depth -75;
Thread Length – 200; Thread Length – 200;
Thread density – 50; Thread density – 50;
Thread intensity – 100; Thread intensity – 100;
c)

Ribbon width – 150;

Ribbon spacing – 5;
Shadow darkness – 55;
Shadow depth -75;
Thread Length – 200;
Thread density – 25;
Thread intensity – 5;
a)

1. Open image can_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticWeave command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave dialog
box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Ribbon width – 50;
Ribbon spacing – 10;
Shadow darkness – 75;
Shadow depth -75;
Thread Length – 200;
Thread density – 50;
Thread intensity – 100;
4. Press OK;

b)

1. Open image can_1.jpg;

 GIMP 234
2. Apply Filters ArtisticWeave command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave dialog
box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Ribbon width – 80;
Ribbon spacing – 5;
Shadow darkness – 15;
Shadow depth -75;
Thread Length – 200;
Thread density – 50;
Thread intensity – 100;
4. Press OK;

c)

1. Open image can_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticWeave command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave dialog
box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Ribbon width – 80;
Ribbon spacing – 5;
Shadow darkness – 15;
Shadow depth -75;
Thread Length – 200;
Thread density – 50;
Thread intensity – 100;
4. Press OK;
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Cubism

This filter modifies the image so that it appears to be constructed of various small cubes.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters ArtisticCubism command. Once the Script-Fu: Weave dialog
box opens, set the following two parameters:

The slider of the Tile size scale determines the value describing the size of the
cubes. When the value is set higher, the cubes get bigger, and the image
becomes rough, barely detailed. When the value is set lower, the cubes get
smaller, the image becomes clearer but the effect on the image is not
significant;
The slider of the Tile saturation scale controls the value determining the
number of the cubes. The higher the number, the more saturated the image is;
 GIMP 236
3. Press OK;

TASK. Open image kub_1.jpg and apply the Cubism filter with the following
parameters:
a) b)

Tile size – 10; Tile size – 10;

Tile saturation – 2.5; Tile saturation – 1.7;
Uncheck the Use background color Check the Use background color
checkbox; checkbox;
c)

Tile size – 30;

Tile saturation – 2.5;
Uncheck the Use background color
checkbox;
a)

1. Open image kub_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticCubism command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave
dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Set the slider of the Tile size scale to the value 10;
Set the slider of Tile saturation scale to the value 2.5;
4. Press OK;

b)

1. Open image kub_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticCubism command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave
dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Set the slider of the Tile size scale to the value 10;
Set the slider of the Tile saturation scale to the value 1.7;
Check the Use background color checkbox;
4. Press OK;
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c)

1. Open image kub_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticCubism command. It opens the Script-Fu: Weave
dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Set the slider of the Tile size scale to the value 10;
Set the slider of the Tile saturation scale to the value 1.7;
Check the Use background color checkbox;
4. Press OK;

Apply canvas

The filter applies a canvas-like effect to the image.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters ArtisticApply Canvas command. Once the Softglow dialog box
opens, set the following parameters
 GIMP 238

Direction – set the starting direction of the canvas render:

o Top-right;
o Top-left;
o Bottom-left;
o Bottom-right;
The slider of the Depth scale controls the apparent depth of the rendered
canvas effect. The higher the value, the more apparent and deeper canvas effect
is; the lower the value, the less apparent and dim the effect is;
3. Once the parameters are set, press OK.

TASK. Open image can_1.jpg and apply the filter with the following parameters:
a)

Direction – Top-right;
Depth – 20;
b)

Direction –Bottom-left;
Depth – 30;
a)

1. Open image can_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticApply Canvas command. It opens the Softglow dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Direction – Top-right;
Set the slider of the Depth scale to the value 20;
4. Press OK;
239

a) original image b) image after the filter is applied

b)

1. Open image can_1.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticApply Canvas command. It opens the Softglow dialog
box.
3. Set the following parameters:
Direction – Bottom-left;
Set the slider of the Depth scale to the value 30;
4. Press OK;

Softglow

The filter renders a soft glow effect to the image. The glow may differ in brightness and
intensity.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Apply Filters ArtisticSoftglow command. Once the Softglow dialog box
opens, set the following three parameters
 GIMP 240

The slider of the Glow radius scale sets the value that specifies the size of glow.
The higher the value, the larger the glow. The larger the glow in the image, the
more blurred the image seems and the better the effect is;
The slider of the Brightness scale sets the value that controls the brightness of
the glow. The higher the value, the larger the glow;
The slider of the Sharpness scale specifies the value that controls the sharpness
and clearness of the glow. The higher the value, the clearer and sharper the
glow is. When the value is set low, the glow effect disappears;
3. Press OK.

TASK. Open image soft_2.jpg and apply the Softglow filter with various parameters:
a)

Glow radius – 25;

Brightness – 0.5;
Sharpness – 0.5;
b)

Glow radius – 50;

Brightness – 1.0;
Sharpness – 1.0;
a)

1. Open image soft_2.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticSoftglow command. Once the Softglow dialog box
opens, set following parameters:
Set the slider of the Glow radius scale to the value 25;
Use the slider of the Brightness scale to set the value to 0.5;
Use the slider of the Sharpness scale to set the value to 0.5;
3. Press OK;
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a) original image b) after the filter is applied

b)

1. Open image soft_2.jpg;

2. Apply Filters ArtisticSoftglow command. Once the Softglow dialog box
opens, set the following parameters:
Set the slider of the Glow radius scale to the value 50;
Set the slider of the Brightness scale to the value 1.0;
Use the slider of the Sharpness scale to set the value to 1.0;
3. Press OK;

Note!
The more colours of bright hue in the image, the larger the glow effect.

Decor filters
The filters of this group create decorative borders and add some nice special effects. The
image may be framed, its corners may be rounded, etc.

Round corners
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The filter rounds the corners of the image, though it remains rectangular because any
raster image may be rectangular-shaped. Nevertheless, visually we will see round-
shaped corners.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorRound Corners command. Once the Script-Fu: Round
Corners dialog box opens, set the following parameters

Edge radius – set the level of rounding the corner. The higher the value, the
larger the rounding;
If checked, the Add drop-shadow checkbox adds a shadow to the image;
Shadow X offset – specify the size of the shadow according the horizontal axis at
the bottom of the image;
Shadow Y offset – specify the size of the shadow according the vertical axis on
the right of the image;
Blur radius – the higher the value, the larger the dropping shadow;
If checked, the Add background checkbox adds a background layer behind the
round corners of such a colour which is set as a background colour; though the
corners are rounded, the image remains rectangular-shaped;
If checked, the Work on copy checkbox specifies that the filter is applied to the
copy of the image and a new file is created after the filter is applied;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Apply the Round corners filter to image bor_1.jpg that would round image
corners, where the edge radius equals to 160 and drops the shadow equal to 80 the
size of which according to the horizontal and vertical axis equals to 50 and a yellow
background would be seen behind the round corners. The image to which the filter is
applied has to be placed in a separate file.

1. Open image bor_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorRound Corners command. It opens the Script-Fu:
Round Corners dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Set the Edge radius value to 160;
243
Check the Add drop-shadow checkbox;
Set the Shadow X offset value to 50;
Set the Shadow Y offset value to 50;
Set the Blur Radius value to 80;

In the Toolbox press the bottom square and change the background

colour by selecting yellow ;

Check the Add background checkbox;
Check the Work on copy checkbox;
4. Press OK;

Coffee stain

The filter adds realistic looking coffee stains of any size and at any place in the image.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorCoffee Stain command. Once the Script-Fu: Coffee
Stain dialog box opens, set the sole parameter

Use the slider of the Stains scale to select the number of stains. The stains
appear at any place of the image and their size is random.

Note!
 GIMP 244

1. The stain location can be changed. Click the mouse cursor on the edge of the stain in
the image in such a way that a solid frame would appear around it and move the stain to
the desired location without unclicking the left mouse button. At the time of moving the
stain the mouse cursor changes its form.
2. When checked, the Darken only checkbox gives darker stains.
3. The number of stains ranges from 1 to 10.

3. Once the number of stains is selected, press OK;

TASK. Open image stain_1.jpg and apply the COFFEE STAIN filter to it by selecting the
presence of 4 stains in the image after the filter is applied. Change the location of any
stain. Uncheck the Darken only checkbox.

1. Open image stain_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorCoffee Stain command. It opens the Script-Fu: Coffee
Stain dialog box.
3. Use the slider of the Stains scale to select the number of stains – 4;
4. Uncheck the Darken only checkbox.
5. Press OK;

b) after the filter is applied

b) certain stains are moved to a different location

Fuzzy border
245
The filter adds a fuzzy, blurred and uneven border to the image.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorFuzzy Border command. Once the Script-Fu: Fuzzy
Border dialog box opens set the following parameters

Color – select the border colour;

Border size – set the thickness of the border;
If checked, the Blur border checkbox makes the border blurred;
Use the slider of the Granularity scale to set the value that affects the
granularity of the shift from the image to the border area;
If checked, the Add shadow checkbox adds a shadow on the interior side of the
border;
Use the slider of the Shadow weight scale to set the value that controls the
shadow sharpness;
If checked, the Work on copy checkbox specifies that the filter is applied to the
copy of the image and a new file is created after the filter is applied;
If checked, the Flatten image checkbox merges down all layers;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

Note!
When the filter is applied, each operation takes place on a different layer. A number of
layers appear in the layers dialog after the filter is applied.

TASK. Apply the Fuzzy border filter to image bor_1.jpg. The border delineating the
image must be white with a sharp shadow, size 50, blurred with the image; granularity
– 20. Merge down any emerging layers. Place the image to a separate file once the
filter is applied.

1. Open image bor_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorFuzzy Border command. It opens the Script-Fu: Fuzzy
Border dialog box;
 GIMP 246
3. Set the following parameters:
Select white colour of the border;
Set Border size to 80;
Check the Blur border checkbox;
Use the slider of the Granularity scale to set the maximum value 16;
Check the Add shadow checkbox;
Use the slider of the Shadow weight scale to set the maximum value;
Check the Work on copy checkbox;
Check the Flatten image checkbox;
4. Press OK;

Add border

The filter adds a border to the image.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorAdd Border command. Once the Script-Fu: Add Border
dialog box opens, set the following parameters

Border X size – set the thickness of the horizontal part of the border;
Border Y size – set the thickness of the vertical part of the border;
Border color – set the border colour;
247
Delta value on color – make the border seem raised; the higher the value, the
more raised the border appears;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Apply a border to image bor_1.jpg with the following parameters:

a)

Set Border X size to 85;

Set Border Y size to 85;
Border color – sand (HTML notation – d49f5e)
Delta value on color – 25;
b)

Border X size – 85;

Border Y size – 85;
Border color – sand (HTML notation – d49f5e)
Delta value on color – 100;
a)

1. Open image bor_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorAdd Border command. It opens the Script-Fu: Add
Border) dialog box
3. Set the following parameters:
Border X size – 85;
Border Y size – 85;
Border color – sand (HTML notation – d49f5e)
Delta value on color – 25;
4. Press OK;

b)

1. Open image bor_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorAdd Border command. It opens the Script-Fu: Add
Border dialog box
3. Set the following parameters:
 GIMP 248
Border X size – 85;
Border Y size – 85;
Border color – sand (HTML notation – d49f5e)
Delta value on color – 25;
4. Press OK;

Old photo

The filter makes the image look like a very old photo.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorOld Photo command. Once the Script-Fu: Old Photo
dialog box opens, set the following parameters

If checked, the Defocus checkbox makes the image more blurred and less clear;
Border size – set the size of a light border framing the image;
If checked, the Sepia checkbox applies the hues of brown apparent in the aging
old photographs rather than black-and-white;
If checked, the Mottle checkbox specifies that the image must be marked with
mottles;
249
If checked, the Work on copy checkbox specifies that the filter is applied to the
copy of the image and a new file is created after the filter is applied;
3. Once the parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image old_1.jpg and apply the Old photo filter with the following
parameters:
Check the Defocus checkbox;
Set Border size to 180;
Apply brown hues to the image;
The image must not contain any stains;
After the filter is applied, the image must appear in a new file;

1. Open image old_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorOld Photo command. It opens the Script-Fu: Old Photo

dialog box
3. Set the following parameters:
Check the Defocus checkbox;
Enter number 180 in the Border size entry box;
Check the Sepia checkbox;
Uncheck the Mottle checkbox;
Check the Work on copy checkbox;
3. Press OK;
 GIMP 250
Slide

The filter makes the image look like placed in a slide.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image.
2. Choose FiltersDecorSlide command. Once the Script-Fu: Slide dialog box
opens set the following parameters

Text – enter a text that will be displayed at the top of the slide;
Number – enter the slide number;
Font – click on the Serif bottom and choose the desired font in the
opened Script-Fu Selection font dialog, press Close;

Font color – select font color;

3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

Note!
If checked, the Work on copy checkbox creates a new file without a name which
features the image in a slide. If unchecked, the image is placed in a slide in the same file.

TASK. Open image kil_1.jpg and apply the Slide filter with the following parameters:
Text – Kilimanjaro;
Number – 1;
Font – Liberaton Sans Bold;
251
Font color – yellow (HTML notation –ffa00 );
Uncheck the Work on copy checkbox;

1. Open image kil_1.jpg;

2. Choose FiltersDecorSlide command. It opens the Script-Fu: Slide dialog box
3. Set the following parameters:
Text – Kilimanjaro;
Number – 1;
Press the Serif button. Once the Script-Fu Selection font dialog opens, flip
through the list until you find the Liberaton Sans Bold font. Select it. Press Close;
Font color – yellow (HTML notation –ffa00 );
Uncheck the Work on copy checkbox;
4. Press OK;

Map filters
The filters of this group use a special object to modify the image. By using this filter, we
map the image to the object. We can even create a 3D image by mapping the image to
another embossed image. The group includes the following filters:

Filter name Designation

Fractal20 Trace Create a fractal trace. The dialog

box specifies the parameters of
the Mandelbrot set; the final
result is the orbit fractal effect.

20
Derives from a Latin word frachtus (meaning fractured). A fractal is a complex geometric shape
that can be split into fragments, each of which is similar or identical to the whole or other
fragments. The key common property of fractals is their self-similarity, i.e. an enlarged small part
of a geometrical shape seems identical to the larger part. (lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktalas)
 GIMP 252
Filter name Designation

Illusion The copies of the image are

repeatedly placed one on top of
the other

Tile Creates a copy of the selected area or a full image

Warp Curl, distort and smear the image in a variety of ways

Map Object The image may be mapped on a

plane, sphere, box or cylinder

Small Tiles The image is composed of

several original copies

Make Seamless By creating seamless edges, the filter makes the image look
seamless

Displace The pixels in the image are

moved at specified distances

Paper Tile The image is cut to paper

straps which are moved from
their original location

Bump Map The emboss effect is created

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Filter name Designation

Render filters
This group of filters differs from others as it does not change the image but creates a
new image or adds new elements to the image. Certain filters in this group (Clouds),
(Nature), (Pattern) have their own filter groups.

Clouds filters

Plasma

The filter creates a colourful abstract image that is added on the full active layer or its
selected part.

How to use this filter?

1. Open or create an image;

2. Apply FiltersRenderCloudsPlasma command. Once the Script-Fu: Plasma
dialog box opens set the following parameters

The Random seed parameter affects the plasma texture, i.e. its exterior view;
By pressing the New Seed button the program selects a random number
attributed by Random seed, and thus changes the plasma texture;

Note!
You can select the Random seed parameter manually.
 GIMP 254
The slider of the Turbulence scale controls the value responsible for plasma
brightness, saturation, contrast and image structure. Higher values make the
said properties more apparent, lower values make the effect milder, plasma
becomes similar to colourful smoke clouds;
If the Randomize checkbox is checked , the former two properties become
inactive, and the plasma structure is selected at random;

Note!
Once the parameter is changed, its effect is seen in the preview window of the dialog
box.

TASK. Open image nova.jpg and apply the Plasma filter to the sky, by choosing the
Random seed parameter at random and setting the plasma brightness, saturation,
contrast and image structure to value 3.9.

1. Open image nova.jpg;

2. In the Toolbox bar press Free Select Tool . It selects the sky in the image.
3. Apply FiltersRenderCloudsPlasma command. It opens the Script-Fu:
Plasma dialog box;
4. Set the following parameters:
Use the slider of the Turbulence scale to set the value to 3.9;
Click the New Seed button several times until you get the plasma of the desired
structure in the preview window;
5. Press OK;

Pattern filters

Jigsaw
The filter divides the image into certain fragments that resemble a jigsaw puzzle.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Apply FiltersRenderPatternJigsaw command. Once the Script-Fu: Jigsaw)
dialog box opens, set the parameters
255

The Number of Titles group-box control controls the number of tiles horizontally
and vertically:
o The slider of the Horizontal scale controls the number of tiles on
the horizontal axis;
o The slider of the Vertical scale controls the number of tiles on
the vertical axis;

Note!
The higher the number of tiles, the smaller they are, because the size of the image does
not increase.

The Bevel Edges group-box control controls the configuration of jigsaw pieces,
i.e. the piece texture:
o The Bevel width parameter controls the slope of the edges of
the puzzle pieces. When the minimum value is set, the pieces
seem as if drawn by a pencil and do not feature any slope of the
edges;
o The Highlight parameter controls the strength of the highlight
that will appear on the edges of each piece;
The Jigsaw Style group-box control controls the shape of pieces:
o If checked, the Square radio button shows that the pieces will
be square-shaped;
o If checked, the Curved radio button shows that the pieces will
be irregular-shaped;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image puzzle.jpg and divide it to 30 irregular-shaped sloped pieces with
highlighted edges.

1. Open image puzzle.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersRenderPatternJigsaw command. It opens the Script-Fu:
Jigsaw dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
 GIMP 256
In the Number of Tiles group-box control:
o Use the slider of the Horizontal scale to set the value to 6;
o Use the slider of the Vertical scale to set the value to 5;
In the Bevel Edges group-box control:
o Use the slider of the Bevel width scale to set the value to 10;
o Use the slider of the Highlight scale to set the value to 0.95;
In the Jigsaw Style group-box control:
o Check the Curved radio button;
4. Press OK;

Grid

The filter divides the image to squares. The filter is useful when printing the image or
transferring it on a different surface layer in parts.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Apply FiltersRenderPatternGrid command. Once the Script-Fu: Grid
dialog box opens, set the parameters
257

The Width parameter sets the width of grid line. Once the width of the
Horizontal grid line is set move to the Vertical box that shows the same value as
set in the Horizontal box if there is a link between boxes, i.e. if the chain is not
broken . In case different values are required, press
to get . Now you can enter different values to
both boxes;

Note!

By pressing , a list opens where you can choose the measurement units for
the width of a grid line, spacing between lines, and the offset.

The Spacing parameter sets the spacing between grid lines. The higher the
value, the larger the squares;
The Offset parameter sets the distance of moving the grid to the sides or to the
upper part;
You can choose the grid colour by pressing and selecting the desired
colour in the colour dialog. You may choose different colors for vertical and
horizontal grid lines, you only have to break the chain;

Note!
The colour and shape of the intersections between grid lines can only be set when their
width is higher than zero and the distance is equal to zero.

3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image grid_2.jpg and apply the Grid filter. After using the filter, a red grid
must be applied to the image with the line width equal to 6 mm, spacing between
 GIMP 258
lines equal to 145 mm, black 10 mm width intersections between grid lines with 10
mm offset.

1. Open image grid_2.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersRenderPatternGrid command. It opens the Script-Fu: Grid
dialog box;
3. Set the following parameters:
Width group-box control:
o Press . Choose the measurement unit mm from the
opened list;
o Enter 6 to the Horizontal box;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Vertical box, which
is set to the value 6;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Intersection box
and enter 10;
Spacing group-box control:
o Press . Choose the measurement unit mm from the
opened list;
o Enter 145 to the Horizontal box;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Vertical box, which
is set to the value 145;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Intersection box
and enter 0;
Offset groupbox control:
o Press . Choose the measurement unit mm from the
opened list;
o Enter 0 in the Horizontal box;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Vertical box, which
is set to the value 0;
o Press Tab on the keyboard and move to the Intersection box
and enter 10;
4. Press OK;

LAVA
259
The filter covers all layers or the selected area of the image with a special ornament
resembling of the boiling lava. Usually, the area of the image is selected and the filter is
applied to it; otherwise, the ornament covers a full image.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Select the area of the image if you want to apply the filter to the selected part
only;
3. Apply FiltersRenderLava command. Once the Script-Fu: Lava dialog box
opens set the parameters

Seed – this parameter does not have any effect on the external lava ornament
but allows to change it. Let's say that we have created a lava ornament and
want to create a new one. We now have to change the value and to use the
filter again;
Size – set the number of curls in the image;
The slider of the Roughness scale controls the value that is responsible for the
shape of the lines of the lava ornament. The higher the value, the rougher and
more irregular the lines are;
Gradient – select the colours the mixture of which produces a lava ornament. By
default, black, red and yellow colours are mixed. Once you press , it
opens the Script-Fu Gradient Selection dialog box, then choose the desired
gradient from the gradient selector
 GIMP 260
If checked, the Keep selection checkbox specifies that when the filter is applied
to the selected area, it must remain selected because otherwise the selection
disappears;
If checked, the Separate layer checkbox specifies that the filter is applied to a
separate layer;
If checked, the Use current gradient checkbox specifies that the same gradient
will be used for a lava ornament as set for Blend Tool;
4. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image lava1.jpg and apply the filter to craters (1, 2, 3) where the Seed
parameter =1, the size of ornament curls equals to 10, the lines of ornament curls are
not rough (4), three colours are mixed to picture lava – black, red and yellow; once the
filter is applied, the image is placed on a separate layer, and the selection of the
selected areas disappears.

1. Open image lava1.jpg;

2. In the Toolbox bar press Zoom Tool and double click the mouse cursor on
the image to enlarge it for a more convenient selection of craters;
3. In the Toolbox bar press Free Select Tool . Select the first crater;
4. Press the Shift key on the keyboard and hold it down while selecting the second
crater (the Shift key performs the additional action, i.e. it adds the second
selection to the first selection). Press Shift again and start selecting the third
crater; tree branches apparent in certain places must remain. Divide the
selection, i.e. select each part by holding down the Shift key;
261

5. Apply FiltersRenderLava command. It opens the Script-Fu: Lava dialog box;

6. Set the filter parameters:
Seed – 1;
Size – 10;
Use the slider in the Roughness scale to set the value to 4;
Gradient – German flag smooth ;
Uncheck the Keep selection checkbox;
Check the Separate layer checkbox;
Uncheck the Use current gradient checkbox;
7. Press OK;
8. In the Toolbox bar press Zoom Tool . Press the CTRL key on the keyboard
and hold it down while double-clicking the mouse cursor on the image to restore
the image to the normal size;

Line nova

The filter creates a lot of rays emanating outward from the centre. It resembles a large
shining star. The filter is applied to a full image.
 GIMP 262
How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Apply FiltersRenderLine Nova command. Once the Script-Fu: Line Nova
dialog box opens set the parameters

Number of lines – set the number of star rays;

Sharpness (degrees) – determine the value affecting the area which is under
filter effect, i.e. the shape. By setting the values from 0 to 1, the filter covers a
full image. When the values are set above 1, only the central area of the image
is seen after the filter is used;
Randomness – the starting point for each ray is selected randomly according to
the value chosen;
3. Once all parameters are set, press OK;

TASK. Open image nova.jpg and apply the Line nova filter to it, where the number of
lines equals to 100, sharpness – 0.7, offset radius – 300, randomness value – 1.

1. Open image nova.jpg;

2. Apply FiltersRenderLine Nova command. It opens the Script-Fu: Line Nova

dialog box
3. Set the following parameters:
Number of lines – 100;
Sharpness (degrees) – 0.5;
Offset radius – 300;
Randomness – 1;
4. Press OK;
263

Circuit

The filter create The filter may be

applied to a full image or the selected area.

How to use this filter?

1. Open an image;
2. Apply FiltersRenderCircuit command. Once the Script-Fu: Circuit dialog box
opens, set the parameters

Oilify mask size – with this option you can set the value that determines the
width of the pattern line and its curvedness;

a) Oilify mask size – 3; b) Oilify mask size – 12; c) Oilify mask size – 24; d) Oilify mask size – 36;
Circuit seed – 3; Circuit seed – 3; Circuit seed – 3; Circuit seed – 3;
Circuit seed – the specified value affects the exterior view of the pattern but it
has no affect on other characteristics;
 GIMP 264

a) ) Oilify mask size – 3; b) ) Oilify mask size – 3; c) ) Oilify mask size – 3; d) ) Oilify mask size – 3;
Circuit seed – 3; Circuit seed – 12; Circuit seed – 24; Circuit seed – 36;
See previous chapters for other parameters;
3. Press OK;

ANIMATION
Animation21 is the rapid display of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to
create an illusion of movement.

Let’s say you want to paint a bouncing ball. At first you draw a ball in the initial position
when it is on the ground, then the same ball above the ground, then a little bit higher
above the ground and finally the ball falling down. If you look at the frames quickly and
in series, you will see a bouncing ball.

To make sure that a human eye sees movement when looking at frames, the speed of
changing frames should be 18 frames per second. In modern films and cartoons, frames
change at the speed of 24 frames per second.

CREATING SIMPLE ANIMATION

Let’s create a face by painting facial elements in different layers.

1. Open a new working window using the command FileNew. A new dialog
Create a New Image opens, but do not change anything in it;

2. Press OK;

3. Select the Ellipse Select Tool and paint a circle in the working window;

21
Latin word "animare" means "to give life to".
265

4. Select the Bucket Fill Tool ;

5. Choose a fill colour. Click on the Foreground color and in a new dialog
Change Foreground Color select a colour ffff9b (in HTML notation).

6. Fill the circle you drew with the selected colour;

7. Now, paint eyes in a different layer. To open a new layer, use the command
LayerNew Layer. A New Layer dialog opens;

8. Name the layer by entering Eye in the Layer name input box;
9. Press OK;

10. Select the Ellipse Select Tool and paint a small ellipse in the yellow circle
– it will be an eye;

11. Select the Bucket Fill Tool ;

 GIMP 266

12. Choose a fill colour. Click on the Foreground color and select the black
colour in the Change Foreground Color dialog;
13. Fill the eye with the selected colour;
14. Copy the eye to a buffer using a CTRL+C combination;
15. Paste the eye through CTRL+V.

Note!
When you use the Paste command, the second eye is placed on the top of the first one.
You have therefore to move it to the place you need.

16. Select the Move Tool and clicking on the eye move it to the place you
need.

Note!
In the Layers dialog a Floating Selection (Pasted Layer) appears. Anchor it to the Eye
layer.

17. Click on the Anchor the floating layer button;

18. Paint a nose in a different layer. To open a new layer, use the command
LayerNew Layer. A New Layer dialog opens. Name the layer by entering Nose
in the Layer name input box. Press OK;

19. Select the Paintbrush Tool ;

20. Choose the paintbrush colour. Click on the Foreground color and in a
new dialog Change Foreground Color select a brownish colour (HTML notation
– d39c59);
21. Paint a nose;

22. Now, paint eyebrows. To open a new layer, use the command LayerNew
Layer. A New Layer dialog opens. Name the layer by entering Brow in the Layer
name input box. Press OK;
23. Paint eyebrows using the Paintbrush;
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24. Paint a mouth. To open a new layer, use the command LayerNew Layer. A
New Layer dialog opens. Name the layer by entering Mouth in the Layer name
input box. Press OK;
25. Paint a mouth using the Paintbrush.

To view the animation you just created, select the command

FiltersAnimationPlayback. A dialog called Animation Playback: Untitled opens.
Here you can preview the animation, stop it, preview animation frames.
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Every frame consists of operations performed in one layer. In the Layers dialog you can
see all layers that you have created:

Save the animation.

Saving animation
You should save the animation in two formats: GIMP and GIF. The first format is needed
for editing. You already know how to save in this format. Now, try to save a file in a GIF
format.

1. For this purpose, use the command FileSave As.

2. In the Save Image dialog click on Select File Type (By Extension):
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3. As a drop-down list of file extensions opens, select GIF image;

4. Press the Save button. An Export File dialog opens;

5. To save the file as animation, click on the Save as Animation checkbox;

6. Press Export;
7. When a Save as GIF dialog opens set the delay time for each frame. In the Delay
between frames where unspecified input box enter 1000 (milliseconds) which is
equal to 1 second.
 GIMP 270

Please pay attention that the file size is 6.8 KB, i.e. it is small, but the animation is not
long, too. When you create a high-quality animation and banners, the file size may be 70
or more kilobytes. Sometimes such size is not convenient. If so, you can optimise a GIF
file. When optimisation is in operation, you can view all layers and find all points that
changed compared to the previous layer. Layers are cut leaving only the points that
were changed. In this way, optimisation reduces the file size two or three times.

Using a FiltersAnimationOptimize (for GIF) command you create a new image

which you can save in a GIF format. Repeat steps 1–7. If you look at the file size, you will
see that it is smaller.

Note!
You can unoptimise the file that was optimised. For this purpose, use the
FiltersAnimationUnoptimize command.

Practice

Working with images

We have already discussed how to edit the image, what toolbars, dialogs and filters are
available in the program.

You should remember that each raster graphic image is rectangular-shaped.

We will now discuss how to work with image color models, how to make
transformations, how to change its measurements, direction, resolution and other
important settings which allow you to prepare the very basis of the image, i.e. the place
where the image is drawn or edited.

Color models

The menu entry Image includes all the main commands for working with the image. We
will first analyse the Mode entry; click on it to open a drop-down list of commands
allowing you to work with color models:
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RGB

RGB is the default color model which is most popular among the editors of raster
objects. Colors are preserved when editing the same object by several editors.

Grayscale

The model is best for editing old photos and creating old-photo type images or black-
and-white images. Open the image and select ImageModeGrayscale to make the
image grayscale.

a) original image b) after ImageModeGrayscale command is

applied

When editing the image, you cannot use other colors but grey hues. If you select green
for the Pencil tool , you will paint in light grey in the image.

Note!
When you return to RGB mode, you will not restore colors because the information on
the color for each pixel is lost. You may select colors for tools and use them to
supplement the image as well as to apply filters.

Indexed

This mode lets you set hues and the amount of colors mixed in the image independently.
Select ImageModeIndexed command to open the dialog
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Select one of the given palettes from the Colormap group-box control:
Generate optimum palette – lets you generate RGB color model, by setting the
maximum applicable number of colors. The maximum number is 256; however,
by reducing it, we also reduce the number of hues in the image:

a) maximum applicable number of colors – 256 b) maximum applicable number of colors – 1

Use Web-optimized palette – it automatically moves the image to the mode

adjusted to Web design with a low range of hues. Such an image takes little
space and gets loaded on the web really quickly;
Use black and white (1-bit) palette – the image becomes black-and-white
without any hues;
Use custom palette – you can select the palette from the list:

There is an icon next to the title of the color palette which shows the colors in
use. When you choose one or another palette, the image limits with those
colors.
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By means of the color model selection command (Mode), you can freely adjust the color
model for the image by choosing the available variants (RGB, Grayscale) or setting
custom variants (Indexed).

Transformation
You can find all commands that let you rotate the image to the desired angle and flip it
along the horizontal or vertical axis under the menu entry Transform. Click on it to open
the list of commands:

Flip

The first two commands (Flip Horizontally), (Flip Vertically) duplicate the Flip Tool
actions, as if creating a mirror reflection of the image along the horizontal and vertical
axis. However, the commands differ from the tool actions by their availability for all
image layers. The tool can only be applied to an active layer.

Rotate

This operation consists of three commands: Rotate 900 clockwise; Rotate 900 counter-

clockwise; Rotate 1800. It immediately reminds of the Rotate Tool , however, this
tool only applies to an active layer. The value of these commands reveals when you
need to rotate an image or a picture which is scanned out of alignment.

Guillotine

The Guillotine option lets you slice the image into pieces along the specified guides.
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Dimensions and resolution

Canvas size

When you open any image or photo and apply ImageCanvas Size command, it opens
the Set Image Canvas Size dialog where you have to adjust the settings of three groups:

The Canvas Size group-box control controls the canvas size. The Width and
Height values are inter-connected, i.e. when one value is changed, the other
changes as well. Once they are disconnected, each value can be changed
irrespective of the other. The pixels button opens the list of measurement units.
When the values of Width and Height are increased, you can observe how the
image changes its position in the working window; it can best be seen in the
preview window:

The Offset group-box control allows you to set the location of the image in
respect of the working window. Use the X and Y values to set the position of the
image along the horizontal and vertical axis. The Center button lets you position
the image in the centre of the working window;

Note!
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If the working window (canvas) is smaller than the image, the preview window will
feature a frame within the image which shows the canvas size and the visible area of the
image.

In the Layers group-box control you can choose the target of the command:

Image size

The Image Scale image command lets you change the size of canvas and the image
and the resolution of the image at a time. The command opens the Scale Image dialog
where the following settings must be adjusted:

Image size group-box control:

o A new size of the image is adjusted using Width and Height values. By
changing these values, you automatically change the canvas parameters
without leaving any empty areas. The pixels button opens the list of

measurement units. Use the button to interconnect or disconnect

the values;

o You can use the X resolution and Y resolution options to change the
image resolution, i.e. the number of pixels per area unit. The higher the
values, the brighter the image. The standard value is 72 pixels per
square inch. You should set the value to 300 pixels / inch for image
printing.

Print size

The ImagePrint Size command allows you to set the size and resolution of the image
for printing. The settings adjusted do not affect the active image, i.e. editing does not
 GIMP 276
change the image. However, when the image is set for printing, it is sent with new
settings.

We often have to work with large images and photos to be printed by means of plotters
or special printing devices, and such images are difficult to edit because they take a lot
of memory. In such cases it is advisable to work with a reduced variant, and when you
need to print it – adjust the required settings. It is a time-saving method.

Apply the command to open the Set Image Print Resolution dialog where you can adjust
the settings which change the width, height and resolution of the image for printing:

Note:
The settings adjusted only affect the image for printing, not the edited image.

Guides and grid

Guides and grid are two auxiliary objects that are often used to ease the work with the
image.

Guides
Guides are auxiliary lines which are placed on the image for the following reasons:
orientation in the image;
snapping the cursor to guides (guiding lines);
dividing the image to composite parts.
Once you open the image and select the command, it opens the list of additional
commands:

New Guide (by Percent)

This option is used when you need to align objects or layers, to arrange them in one line.
It will not be seen when printing because it is only an auxiliary line (guide). It is also used
to snap the cursor to it or to divide the image.
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Apply ImageGuidesNew Guide (by Percent)) command to open the Script-Fu: New
Guide (by Percent) dialog:

When you open the Direction list, you may choose the guide direction –
Horizontal or Vertical;
In the Position (in %) input box, enter the number which decides the location of
a guide in terms of width and height of the image. If you set the value to 25, the
horizontal guide (line) will be positioned at a quarter distance from the border
of the image in terms of the image width. If you set the value to 50, the line will
be located in the centre of the image.

Note!
You may apply the command to the image several times, which will result in several

guides. If you use the Pencil Tool or the Paintbrush tools to draw a line on the
guide, the line will be straight.

If you apply ImageGuidesNew Guide (by Percent) command three times, three
vertical guides will appear in the image. if you then apply
ImageTransformGuillotine command, it will divide the image to as many parts as
there are guides. The division results in as many new images as there are guides, and
each of them will be opened in a new working window.
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Note!
Each guide can be dragged to a different location. To do it, you have to select the Move
Tool , position the mouse pointer right on the guide and drag the guide to the
desired location by left-clicking the mouse. At that time the guide becomes red.

New Guide

Select ImageGuidesNew Guide to select the guide location by pixels. Once you
apply the command, it opens the Script-Fu: New Guide dialog where the guide location
is given in pixels (points) from the borders of the image, i.e. the distance of the
horizontal guide from the upper border of the image and the vertical guide – from the
left border:

For instance, when you set the value of the Position option to 100 and Direction to
Horizontal, it adds a horizontal guide to the image which is positioned at a distance of
100 pixels from the upper border of the image.

New Guides from Selection

Another way to create guides is by the area selected in the image. The distances and
directions of guides will be set by selection. For instance, select one bird in the image

using the Free Select Tool . After selection is completed, apply

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ImageGuidesNew Guides from Selection command. Four guides appear in the
image, which form a rectangle around the selected area:

Remove guides

Any guide can be removed from the image. Select the Move Tool , press the mouse

pointer on the guide and drag it outside the borders of the image while holding
down the left mouse button. You should bear in mind that the horizontal guide is
dragged up to the upper ruler and the vertical guide is dragged to the left ruler.

You can remove all guides at once by clicking ImageGuidesRemove all Guides.

Note!

You used the Move Tool to remove the guide from the image. The same applies if
you want to drag the guide out of the vertical and horizontal rulers.

Grid
It is a special kind of tool that allows you to split the image into a grid, which often
makes the processes of painting, drawing and editing easier. You can always cancel the
grid.

Open any image and go to ViewShow Grid. The image becomes covered by a fine
grid:
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Go to ImageConfigure Grid which opens the Configure Grid dialog and adjust the
following settings:

The Appearance group-box control controls the appearance of grid lines:

o After opening the Line style drop-down list:

select the line style which will appear in the image at once;
o Use the Foreground color option to adjust the color of grid lines;
o The Background color option is active only when Line style – Double
dashed is selected;
The Spacing group-box control – controls the size of the grid squares. The Width
and Height of the square are expressed in two measurement units - pixels and
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one of the selected units because when you press the in button, it opens a drop-
down list of measurement units:

In the Offset group-box control, you can set the distance of moving the grid in
one or another direction.

Note!
If the grid is visible, all the changes will be seen in the image when you change or select
one or another option.

You can remove the grid from the image by repeating ViewShow Grid command.

Image Properties
You can review the properties of the image file through ImageImage Properties. In
the Image Properties dialog, you can see three tabs – Properties, Color Profile,
Comment:

The first tab Properties shows the main settings of the image.
In the second tab Color Profile, you will find full information on the color model in use.
In the third tab Comment, you may add a comment describing what is in the image or
provide technical characteristics of the image.

TASKS
I. Scale image proportionally.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image rosebay.jpg;

2. Apply ImageScale Image command to open the Scale Image dialog;
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3. proportional scaling requires an unbroken chain . Reduce the image width by

300 pixels; once you move to the Height box, its size will proportionally reduce
(or increase if you increase the value);

Note:

If the chain is broken , you can select each setting irrespective of the other.

4. Press the Scale button.

II. Flip/rotate images

1. Select FileOpen command to open image rosebay.jpg;

2. Go to ImageTransformFlip Vertically:

a) original image b) flipped vertically

3. Apply ImageTransformRotate 900 counter clockwise command;

4. Click on Rotate Tool. Click the mouse pointer on the image to open the Rotate
dialog;
5. Enter the rotation value in the Angle box (enter – 45):

0 0
a) image rotated 90 counter clockwise b) rotated image (-45 )

III. Remove small defects from the image

Scanning often adds various speckles to the image which can be removed by means of
GIMP tools.

1. Select FileOpen command to open image car.jpg; We will now remove the
defects in the image delineated by a white circle:
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2. Press Smurge Tool . Remove the speckles by moving the pointer around the
white delineated speckles while holding the left mouse button down:

3. Use the Blur/Sharpen Tool to smooth out the red delineated speckles. Select

Blur/Sharpen Tool . Adjust the following settings:

3.1. Brush – Circle (19);
3.2. Set the Scale slider to 2.45;
3.3. In the Brush Dynamics group-box control, press Hard edge;
3.4. In the Convolve Type group-box control, press the Sharpen radio button;
3.5. Set the slider of the Rate scale to 98;
3.6. Click the left mouse button to sharpen the edges of the car roof:

Retouching photos
 GIMP 284
Old photos often contain folds, tears. When scanning, all defects become more
apparent. They can be removed by GIMP tools, i.e. you can retouch the photo.

Open the folded and torn photo player.jpg. We will try to retouch it using GIMP tools.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file player.jpg. We will now retouch the places
marked by arrows:

2. Select FiltersEnhanceUnsharp Mask command to sharpen the photo. Once the

Unsharp Mask dialog box opens, adjust the following settings:
2.1. Set the sharpness of silhouette edges. Set the slider of the Radius scale to 61.2;
2.2. Adjust the sharpness of contour borders. Set the slider of the Amount scale to 5.5;
2.3. Adjust the difference in color values on contour borders. Set the slider of the
Threshold scale to 255;
2.4. Press OK;
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3. To make it easier to retouch, zoom the arrow-marked areas by applying Zoom Tool

. Zoom a single area that you want to retouch, i.e. click the mouse pointer
several times on the area;

4. Choose the Clone Tool and apply the following settings to it:
4.1. Select the brush size by pressing Brush and choosing Circle (19) from the drop-down
list;
4.2. Select the location in the image the pattern of which will be cloned to the area you
want to retouch. Click the Ctrl key on the keyboard, position the mouse pointer

to that location and left-click the mouse while holding down the Ctrl key;
4.3. Release the Ctrl key and correct the area that you want to retouch by the mouse
pointer;
Note!
4.2. and 4.3. should be repeated until you repair all the damaged areas in the image.

5. After you complete retouching, press the Zoom Tool . Adjust the following
setting to it:
5.1. In the Tool Toggle group-box control, press the Zoom out radio button.
Position the mouse pointer on the image and left-click the mouse several times, i.e.
until the image returns to its original state. The working window shows the image
after retouching:
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6. Apply FileSave As to save the image under the name player1.jpg. Choose the
location and folder in the disk where you want to save the file;
7. Press the Save button.

Pencil sketch
Let's try to turn a color photo into a pencil sketch.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file goat.jpg.

2. Create a copy of the Background layer. In the Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo –
Brushes, Patterns, Gradients dock press the button . It opens a new layer
Background copy;

3. Remove colors from the created layer in the image. Go to ColorsHue-Saturation.

It opens the dialog where you have to adjust the following settings:
3.1. Move the slider of the Saturation scale to (-100);
3.2. Press OK;

4. It creates a copy of the Background copy layer; press the button to open a new
layer Background copy#1;

5. Let's now apply the Gaussian Blur filter to the new layer. Apply
FiltersBlurGaussian Blur command to open the Gaussian Blur dialog and adjust
the following settings:
5.1. In the Blur Radius group-box control, set the following:
5.1.1. Horizontal – 4;
5.1.2. Vertical – 4;
5.1.3. Press OK;
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6. Now invert colors. Apply ColorsInvert command

7. Set the slider of the Opacity scale in the Layers dialog to 50; image contours will
be seen against the grey background;
8. Right-click the mouse on the Background copy#1 layer to open the context
menu and choose the Merge down command. It will merge the two upper
layers;
9. It creates a copy of the Background copy layer; press the button to open a
new layer Background copy#1;
10. Press the Mode button and select Addition from the drop-down list;
11. To make the lines sharper, repeat the following actions several times:
11.1. Right-click the mouse on the Background copy#1 layer to open the context
menu and choose the Merge down command. It will merge the two upper
layers;
11.2. It creates a copy of the Background copy layer; press the button to open a
new layer Background copy#1;
11.3. Press the Mode button and select Multiply from the drop-down list;

12.

Adding colors to an old photo

Filling an old photo with colors is a diligent and time-consuming work but it is
nevertheless very interesting. You should remember that you have to color each object
in a new layer.

Open an old photo sis.jpg and color it.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file sis.jpg.

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13.
2. Go to LayerNew Layer to create a new layer.
2.1. In the New Layer dialog, enter Face to the Layer name box ;
2.2. Press OK;
2.3. In the Layers dialog, open the Mode drop-down list and select Overlay;
3. We will now apply color to faces. Select Paintbrush Tool and adjust the
following settings:
3.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
3.2. Opacity – 100;
3.3. Press the Foreground color button to open the Change Foreground Color dialog
and use the HTML notation box to enter ffb782. Press OK;
4. Press the Zoom Tool and select the Zoom in radio button in the options of the
Tool Toggle group-box control ;
5. Click the mouse pointer on the image several times to enlarge it;
6. Select Paintbrush Tool and use it to apply color to faces and hands:

7. Color the fillets in white. Open a new layer, repeat step 2 and name the layer
Fillet;
8. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings:
8.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
8.2. Opacity – 48;
9. Foreground color – white;
10. Fill fillets with white:
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11. Now, we will retouch the eyes. As a rule, a grey pupil in a black-and-white photo
means that the eyes are either green or blue; if the pupil is dark, the eyes are
brown. In the image, a pair of eyes is lighter than the other, thus, we will fill the
eyes on the left with green, and the eyes of the right will be brown. We will now
create (see Item 2) a new layer and name it Eye;
12. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings:
12.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
12.2. Opacity – 75;
13. Set the Foreground color for brown eyes – 634008 (see Clause 3.3.);
14. Retouch the eyes of the girl on the right;
15. Set the Foreground color for green eyes – 656712 (see Clause 3.3.);
16. Retouch the eyes of the girl on the left;

17. Let's now make the lips rosy... Now create (see Clause 2) a new layer and name
it Kisser;
18. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings:
18.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
18.2. Opacity – 75 for the upper lip and 45 for the lower lip;
19. Set the Foreground color for red lips – e12424 (see Clause 3.3.);
20. Now retouch the lips;

21. Apply white color to the neckband. Create (see Clause 2) a new layer and name
it Neckband;
22. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings to it:
22.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
22.2. Opacity – 83;
23. Set the Foreground color for the neckband – ffffff (see Clause 3.3.);
24. Retouch the neckbands:

25. Now apply color to the neckwear. Create (see Clause 2) a new layer and name it
Neckwear;
 GIMP 290
26. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings to it:
26.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
26.2. Opacity – 98;
27. Set the Foreground color for the neckwear to red; while retouching, select a
different color for each band;
28. Retouch neckwear:

29. Color the uniform in black. Create (see Clause 2) a new layer and name it
Uniform;
30. Select the Paintbrush Tool and adjust the following settings to it:
30.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and click Normal;
30.2. Opacity – 98;
31. Set the Foreground color for a uniform – 000000 (see Clause 3.3.);
32. Retouch the uniform:

33. We will now add a gradient transition to the image background. Use Quick Mask
to select the objects in the photo. In the lower left corner of the image window

press the button . It covers the image with a translucent light red mask;
34. Select the Paintbrush tool and choose white color;
35. Zoom the image, use the brush to color both objects very accurately and press

the button in the lower left corner of the image window

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a) objects selected in the mask b) when the QuickMask feature is disabled

36. To select the background, apply the SelectInvert command;

37. Select the Blend Tool . Foreground color – black, Background color –
white;
38. Move the mouse pointer vertically down across the centre of the image;
39. Select SelectNone command;

Highlight
There are several ways how to make a thing, animal or human being stand out from the
group. Let's analyse the way how the selected object is placed to the centre of attention
irrespective of where it is located.

You can distinguish an object from the group using the Motion Blur filter.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file urchin.jpg;

2. Select the filter through FiltersBlurMotion Blur.
3. Once the Motion Blur dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
3.1. In the Blur Type group-box control, select the radio button Zoom. The user will
now focus his attention on the area of the image that is not blurred;
3.2. Set the Blur Center X and Y coordinates to 1350 and 1500 respectively. We
have now adjusted the coordinates of the central blurred area; they have to
correspond with the object which has to be the focus of attention. When
setting the coordinates, we may use the preview window for orientation. We
need to try to keep the object that must be the focus of attention unblurred;
3.3. Blur Parameters:
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3.3.1. Length – select the value to ensure that the central element does not get
too much blurred. In this case, set the value to 35;
4. Press OK. You can see the result in the working window:

a) original image b) after the filter is applied

a) original image b) after the filter is applied

Aging a photo consistently

In the Filters chapter, we used the filter to render an old-photo effect to a photo. By
means of certain actions, we can render the effect of consistent aging to the image,
where one part of the photo remains a color image and the other part looks like an old
photo. In this way, we can show the image aging process.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open file masaj.jpg. The photo should be bright;
2. Choose FiltersDecorOld Photo command;
3. Once the Script-Fu: Old Photo dialog opens, adjust the settings:
3.1. Set the Border size to no less than 20;
3.2. Uncheck the Work on copy checkbox;
4. Press OK;
5. Apply FileOpen as Layers command to open the same photo in a different
layer. The Layers dialog will be supplemented by a new layer which contains
your opened photo, whereas the aged photo will appear in the Background
layer:
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6. Move the Background layer up. Select the Background layer and press .
Now the aged photo will cover the original photo in the working window;
7. In the Layers dialog, position the mouse pointer on the Background layer and
right-click the mouse to open the context menu. Select the Add Layer Mask
command. It opens the Add Layer Mask dialog;
8. In the dialog, go to the Initialize Layer Mask to group-box control and select the
White (full opacity) radio button;
9. Press the Add button.

10. We will now create a mask. Select the Blend Tool . Use this tool to draw a
small horizontal line in the centre, thus creating a smooth transition. Use black
and white colors. The longer the line, the smoother the transition;
11. In the Layers dialog, position the mouse pointer on the Background layer and
right-click the mouse to open the context menu. Select the Apply Layer Mask
command. You will see the result in the working window:

a) result b) aged photo c) original photo

Stars
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When analysing the Sparkle filter, we saw how a sparkle effect is rendered to the white
spots in the image. However, it is important to note that sparkling spots do not always
appear where they are needed. What to do when there are no white spots in the image.

Let's create a starry sky.

1. Apply FileOpen command to open a photo picturing a flower at night. The

image appears in the Background layer;
2. Let's create a new layer and name it star1 by applying the LayerNew Layer
command;
3. When the New Layer dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
3.1. Enter star1 in the Layer name box;
3.2. In the Layer Fill Type group-box control, check the Transparency radio button;
4. Press OK;
5. Select the Pencil Tool;
6. Adjust the following settings for a pencil:
6.1. In the Foreground &background colors tool, click on the arrows . Now the
foreground color is white, i.e. the pencil draws in white;
Note!
If the Foreground &background colors tool shows the background color other than

white , press the icon in the lower left corner , restore the colors and then
click on the arrows. There is also another way to select the color.
7. Set the Brush to Circle (11);
8. Set the Scale slider to 0.01;
9. Use the pencil to draw small dots in the desired locations in the image;
Note!
Since you are painting on a white translucent page in white, you cannot see the dots,
but you can imagine where they should be.
10. Now apply the filter to the image. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSparkle
command;
11. Once the Sparkle dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
12. Move the slider of the Flare intensity scale to 0.46;
13. Set the slider of the Spike length scale to 63;
14. Move the slider of the Spike point scale to 1;
15. Press OK and you will see the image in the working window
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a) before the filter is applied b) after the filter is applied

Border
We have already dealt with borders when analysing filters. We applied
FiltersDecorAdd Border command; a simple border is placed to the image
automatically. However, we can draw beautiful borders manually. How to do that?

1. Select FileOpen command to open image olimp.jpg to which we will add a

border drawn by hand;

2. Once you open the image, zoom the visible area because the border requires an
additional area; otherwise, it will cover the image. Apply ImageCanvas Size;
when the Set Image Canvas Size dialog opens, adjust certain settings:
2.1. We will now use the Canvas Size group-box control. Increase Width and Height
by 200 pixels each. First, press the button , i.e. disconnect the two
values. Now we can adjust both settings irrespective of one another;
 GIMP 296

Note!
We know that by increasing width and height by 200 pixels, the image will be moved at a
distance of 100 pixels from top and bottom. It will be drawn from both sides at the same
distance.
2.2. Press the Centre button;
2.3. Press the Resize button;
3. We will now create a new layer. Apply the LayerNew Layer command. When
the New Layer dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
3.1. Give a name to the layer. Enter Border to the Layer name box;
3.2. Do not change any other settings; leave default settings;
3.3. Press OK;
4. Select only the image. Select the Rectangle Select Tool and left-click the
mouse to select the image;
5. Apply the SelectInvert command to make the selected part the border area;
6. We will now create a border. Let's first discuss several options. Select the Blend
Tool . Adjust the settings with regard to the image colors:
6.1. Open the gradient selector in the options by pressing the Gradient button and
select the gradient DARK1;
6.2. Open the Shape list and press Linear;
6.3. Use the mouse to draw a vertical line from bottom to top; if the selection is
correct and the Border layer is active, we will see the following result:

7. We may apply various filters to create a border:

7.1. Apply Filters ArtisticApply Canvas command. When the Apply Canvas
dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
7.1.1. In the Direction group-box control, check the Top-Left radio button;
7.1.2. Set the slider of the Depth scale to 19;
7.1.3. Press the OK button. You will see the result in the working window:
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7.2. Apply Filters ArtisticWeave command. When the Script-Fu:Weave dialog

opens, adjust the following setting.
7.2.1. Ribbon width – 8

Creating your own image

Specialists often create their "business-cards", i.e. an image which fully reflects him,
shows his interests, work, tastes and likes. He uses it when taking part in online chats,
forums, own websites. It takes much time for a specialist to design it because this
card/image is an indication of a person; though the image is small, it must carry the
maximum load of information on the person. The "business cards" are available in three
types:
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1. Reduced images or photos;
2. Individual reduced image parts;
3. Combined image (photo+graphics).

Reduced-image "business card"

Such a card is very easy to design. First, it is important to note the requirements
applicable to such an image. Since such a business card must reflect the very essence of
a specialist, the image should contain a large object, let's say himself, preferably his face,
his car (if he is a car lover), his pets (if he works in the forums of such type), etc. Most
importantly, the object has to be large, because if you reduce it, it may be lost in the
card.
1. Find a suitable photo angler.jpg and apply FileOpen command to open it:

2.
2. Go to ImageScale Image. It opens the Scale Image dialog. Adjust the following
settings:
2.1. Since we have to maintain the proportions of the image, check whether the values
Width and Height are interconnected;
2.2. Check which value - Width or Height - is larger. If the Width value is higher, enter
100 to the box; if the Height value is higher, enter 100 to the box;
2.3. Enter 72 In the X resolution and Y resolution box;
2.4. Press the Scale button. The working window shows a significantly reduced image:

3.
3. Now save the image. Go to FileSave As; when the Save Image dialog opens,
select:
3.1. Select the file extension .jpg from the list Select File type (By Extension);
3.2. Enter file name in the Name box;
3.3. Press the Save button. Now you have your "business card" which you can use online.

Note!
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Before designing such a "business card", it is important to find out the requirements
applicable for placing it on the website. 100 pixels may be too much, because some
websites allow no more than 70 pixels.

"Business card" from image part

The image of this type is most commonly used on Skype, facebook, etc. To design a
"business card" of such type, you need to do the following:
1. Open photo angler.jpg;

2. Select the Crop Tool and use it to frame the part of the image to be used
for the "business card":

3. Click the mouse pointer on the selected area; it removes the blackened area -
only the selected part remains;
4. Whereas this part will be placed online, you need to reduce its size. Go to
ImageScale Image. It opens the Scale Image dialog. Adjust the following
settings:
4.1. Since we have to maintain the proportions of the image, check whether the
values Width and Height are interconnected;
4.2. See which value - Width or Height - is larger. If the Width value is higher, enter
100 to the input box; if the Height value is higher, enter 100 to the input box;
4.3. Enter 72 in the X resolution and Y resolution input box;
4.4. Press the Scale button. The working window shows a significantly reduced
image:

5. Now save the image. Use the command FileSave As. Adjust the required
settings in the Save Image dialog:

Combined "business card"

 GIMP 300
The card will contain a photo and graphics. It is up to each user to decide on how to
arrange them. This card will always be larger than the previously discussed type. A
combined business card is designed for a young man who is a fishing enthusiast,
transport engineer and motorcycle fan. We already have a part of the image, i.e. once
you complete the first 4 steps discussed in the "Business card" from image part section,
you have an image part ready for online use – a photo of a young man and his hobby.
Two more parts are now lacking. Let's try to create them:

1. Since motorcycles are one of the hobbies, open photo Suzuki.jpg picturing a
motorcycle:

2. Apply the Crop Tool to crop the image;

3. Apply ImageScale Image command and adjust the settings in the dialog in
such a way that the image length would be 100 pixels:

4. You now have two images. Let's create a new image by combining the two
images. Select FileNew. When the Create a New Image dialog opens, adjust
the following settings:
4.1. Width – 100 pixels;
4.2. Height – 200 pixels;

5. Return to the first image. Press Rectangle Select Tool:

5.1. Select the image;
5.2. Apply EditCopy command;
5.3. Go back to the new image and apply EditPaste command. The first image is
positioned in the centre. It opens a new Floating Selection (Pasted Layer);
5.4. Select the Move Tool and move the first image to the upper part of the new
image:

5.5. In the Layers dialog, press the Create a new layer and add it to the image
button to locate the first image to the new rather than the floating layer;
6. Return to the second image. Press the Rectangle Select Tool:
6.1. Select the image;
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6.2. Apply EditCopy command;
6.3. Go back to the new (third) image and apply EditPaste command. The second
image is positioned in the centre;
6.4. Select the Move Tool and move the second image to the desired location. Now
we have the border but no image, thus, carry out the steps under Clause 6.5;
6.5. In the Layers dialog, press the Create a new layer and add it to the image
button to locate the first image to the new rather than the floating layer:

7. Use to remaining space to enter the young man's type of work – Auto service.
Select the Text Tool and adjust the following settings:
7.1. Font – Serif Bold;
7.2. Click on the Antialiasing button;
7.3. Color – blue (HTML notation – 000074 );
7.4. Justify – Centered ;
7.5. Enter text Auto service. Now you have a new text layer Auto... .
8. Let's add a shadow to the text. Choose Filters Light and ShadowDrop
Shadow command. When the Script-Fu: Drop Shadow dialog opens, adjust the
following settings:
8.1. Offset X – 3;
8.2. Offset Y – 3;
8.3. Blur radius – 8;
8.4. Opacity – 100;
8.5. Uncheck Allow resizing;
8.6. Press OK:

9. Since each image in the "business card" is like a separate object, let's try to
merge them. First, merge all layers. Apply the ImageMerge Visible Layers
command. When the Merge Layers dialog opens, press the Merge button. We
now have a single layer;
10. We will now try to blur the intersections of the images. Zoom the image. Select
the Zoom Tool and click the mouse pointer on the image several times;

Note!
 GIMP 302

Make sure that the Zoom in radio button in the Tool Toggle group-box control of the
Zoom Tool settings is checked.

11. Click on the Blur/Sharpen Tool . Adjust the settings:

11.1. Check the Blur radio button in the Convolve Type group-box control;
11.2. Run over the intersections of the images;

Note!
Since images are small, select a small brush.

12. Choose the Zoom Tool and reduce the image window;

Note!
The Zoom out radio button in the Tool Toggle group-box control must be checked
13. "Business card" would look better if a border was added to it. Apply
FiltersDecorFuzzy border command. When the Script-Fu: Fuzzy border
dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
13.1. Color – 2c6f77;
13.2. Border size – 5;
13.3. Press the OK button. You will now see the result in a new working
window:

14. Save the "business card" through FileSave As.

Age a photo
1. Apply FileOpen command to open file rosebay.jpg.
2. We will turn a color image into a black-and-white image. Apply
ImageModeGrayscale command
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3. Go back to RGB color model. Apply ImageModeRGB command. The image

has not changed;
4. Set the foreground color to brown. In the Toolbox, press a black large rectangle
to open the Change Foreground Color dialog;
5. Adjust the following settings:
5.1. Red – 211;
5.2. Green – 156;
5.3. Blue – 89:

6. Now, we will create a new layer and name it Brown. In the Layers dialog, open
the context menu and choose the New Layer command to open the New Layer
dialog;
7. Enter Brown to the Layer name box;
8. In the Layer Fill Type group-box control, press the Foreground color radio
button;
9. Press OK. You now see an empty brown page in the working window;
10. In the Layers dialog, set the slider of the Opacity scale to 55:

Working with a selection

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When editing images, you often need to select their individual parts because then you
can change their color, drag to another location or retouch them. The first tools in the

Toolbox are used to select the parts of the image or color.

Crop the image

1. Select FileOpen command to open image sinagapore.jpg;

2. Press the keyboard shortcut Shift+C. The mouse pointer turns into ;
3. Left-click the mouse and hold it down while moving the pointer around the part
of the image which will be used for further editing:

4. Press the Enter key on the keyboard. The working window shows an image part:

5. Save the image by the name sing1.png

Copy, flip an image part

1. Select FileOpen command to open image sinag1.jpg;

2. Copy the skyscraper on the right to the left side. Press the Rectangle Select
Tool.
3. Select the skyscraper on the right:

4. Apply EditCopy command;

5. When you apply EditPaste command, the part already copied is placed on top
of the part which you want to copy.
6. Position the mouse pointer on the part that you are about to copy, left-click the
mouse and hold it down while dragging the skyscraper to the left side of the
image:
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7. Press the Flip Tool. Select the flip direction:

7.1. In the Flip Type group-box control, press the Horizontal radio button. Click the
mouse pointer on the part that you want to flip:

8. Cancel the selection through SelectNone command; We now see that the
command is not active. It is not active because you know that a new layer
appears while copying – Floating Selection (Pasted Layer);
9. In the Layers dialog, press the Anchor the floating layer button ;
10. Select SelectNone command.

Create a city-at-night image

1. Open the Create a New Image dialog through FileNew and adjust the
following settings of the image you are about to create:
1.1. In the Image Size group-box control:
1.1.1. Press the pixels button and select millimeters from the drop-down list;
1.1.2. Width – 200 pixels;
1.1.3. Height – 180;
1.2. When you press Advanced Options, a dialog of additional options opens. Select
the following:
1.2.1. X resolution – 100;
1.2.2. Y resolution – 100;
3. Press OK;
4. We will now fill the entire area dedicated to the image with a gradient. Select it
to fit your preferences. It may be: night, sunset, sunrise or gloomy day. We will
design a dormitory suburb on a late night after rain. Select the gradient Skyline
polluted. Select the Blend Tool and adjust the following setting to it:
4.1. Open the gradient selector and select Skyline polluted;
5. Left-click the mouse pointer in the working window and move it vertically down:
 GIMP 306

6. We will now draw multi-storey houses at night; they may be darker or lighter
than the sky. Draw the houses using the Rectangle Select Tool . As there are
a lot of houses, we need to merge the selected objects. Select the Rectangle
Select Tool :
6.1. Draw the first house;
6.2. In the Mode group-box control, press Add to the current selection ;
6.3. Draw the rest of the houses:

7. Fill the selected area with black. Select the Bucket Fill Tool and adjust the
settings to it:
7.1. In the Fill Type group-box control, check the FG color fill radio button ;
7.2. In the Affected Area group-box control, check the Fill whole selection radio button;
7.3. Fill the area with dark blue color. Change the foreground color to 00004d (HTML
notation);
7.4. Click the mouse pointer in the selected area:
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8. Draw the luminous windows for a house. For that, it is best to select the
Paintbrush and adjust the settings to it:
8.1. Open the list of available brushes and select Galaxy (AP) for larger windows;
8.2. Move the Scale slider to 1.45;
8.3. Position the mouse pointer on the image and draw larger windows;
8.4. Open the list of available brushes and select square (10x10) blur for smaller
windows;
8.5. Position the mouse pointer on the image and draw smaller windows:

9. Use a soft paintbrush to draw a path. Select Paintbrush and adjust the settings
to it:
9.1. Open the Mode drop-down list and select Soft light;
9.2. Open the list of available brushes and pick Circle (19);
9.3. Draw a path in the image:
 GIMP 308

10. Remove the selection using the command SelectNone;

11. Draw the poles for streetlights along the path. Press the Rectangle Select Tool
:
11.1. Draw the first pole;
11.2. In the Mode group-box control, press Add to the current selection ;
11.3. Draw the rest of the poles:

12. Color the poles in white. Select white as the foreground color, i.e. press the
Foreground & background colors button ;

13. Select Bucket Fill Tool and adjust the settings to it:
13.1. In the Fill Type group-box control, check the FG color fill radio button ;
13.2. In the Affected Area group-box control, check the Fill whole selection
radio button;
13.3. Click the mouse pointer in the selected area;
14. Remove the selection using the command SelectNone;
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15. We will now use the filter to render the illumination effect to the streetlights.
Apply the FiltersLight and ShadowGradient Flare. Once the Gradient Flare
dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
15.1. Select Classic from the Selector tab;
15.2. In the tab Parameters , adjust the following settings:
15.2.1. Flare centre – position the mouse pointer on top of the first pole (in the
preview window) and left-click the mouse;
15.2.2. Press OK;
15.3. Repeat clauses 14.1. – 14.2.2. for each pole;

16. Now, dress the sky with stars. Create a new layer and name it star1 by applying
LayerNew Layer command. When the New Layer dialog opens, adjust the
following settings:
16.1. Enter star1 in the Layer name box;
16.2. In the Layer Fill Type group-box control, select the Transparency radio
button;
16.3. Press OK;
17. Select the Pencil Tool. Adjust the pencil settings:
17.1. In the Foreground &background colors tool, click on the arrows .
Now the foreground color is white, i.e. the pencil draws in white color;
17.2. Set Brush to Circle (11);
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17.3. Set the Scale slider to 0.01;
17.4. Use the pencil to draw small dots in the desired locations in the image;
18. Now apply the filter to the image. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSparkle
command; Once the Sparkle dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
18.1. Set the slider of the Flare intensity scale to 0.18;
18.2. Set the slider of the Spike length scale to 14;
18.3. Move the slider of the Spike point scale to 4;
18.4. Set the slider of the Spike density scale to 0.25;
18.5. Press OK;

19. Merge both layers. In the Layers dialog, open the context menu and select the
Merge Down command;
20. We will now draw a reflection of the houses on the wet asphalt. Apply
EditCopy command to copy the upper part of the image;
21. Apply EditPaste command to place the copied upper part of the image on
top;
22. Apply LayerNew Layer command to create a new layer which merges with
Floating Selection (Pasted Layer);

23. Select the Flip Tool and adjust the following setting to it:
23.1. In the Flip Type group-box control, press the Vertical radio button;
23.2. Click the mouse pointer in the selected area:

24. We will now change the layer perspective. Select the Perspective Tool . It
opens the Perspective dialog:
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24.1. Drag the corners of the selected area with the mouse to create a
perspective;
24.2. Press the Transform button;

25. Use the Move Tool to move the selected area to the lower part of the
image;
26. Apply FiltersBlurGaussian Blur command. In the Gaussian Blur dialog, set
Blur radius – 5;
27. Apply the filter FiltersDistortsWaves to the selected area. When the
Waves dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
27.1. Amplitude – 6.62;
27.2. Phase – 64.92;
27.3. Wavelength – 0.10;
27.4. Press OK;
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Animated banner
1. Open a Create a New Image dialog through FileNew and adjust the following
settings:
1.1. Set the size of the image you are about to create:
1.1.1. Width – 176 pixels;
1.1.2. Height – 62 pixels;
1.2. Press OK;

2. Select the Blend Tool . Adjust the following setting:

2.1. Open the gradient selector by pressing the Gradient button and select – Golden;
3. Fill the working window with the selected gradient, i.e. left-click the mouse and
move it along the window to the desired direction:

4. Select Text Tool and adjust the following settings:

4.1. Font – Sans Bold;
4.2. Press the Antialiasing checkbox ;
4.3. Color – white (HTML notation – ffffff );
4.4. Justify – Centered ;
4.5. Enter text RIGA BDA:

5. We will now hide the RIGA BDA layer; in the Layers dialog, press the icon
on the left of the layer name. It is required to create the animation effect;
6. Make the Background layer active;
7. Select the Text Tool and adjust the following settings:
7.1. Font – Sans Bold;
7.2. Press the Antialiasing button;
7.3. Color – red (HTML notation – ff0000);
7.4. Justify – Centered ;
8. Enter the text PANEVEZYS KTU PI:

9. Now, hide the PANEVEZYS KTU PI layer; in the Layers dialog, press the icon
on the left of the layer name.
10. Make the Background layer active;

11. Select the Text Tool and adjust the following settings:
11.1. Font – Sans Bold;
11.2. Click on the Antialiasing checkbox ;
11.3. Color – cyan ( HTML notation – c8fffe );
11.4. Justify – Centered ;
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12. Enter text TALLINN KOOLITUS:

13. Now, hide the TALLINN KOOLITUS layer; in the Layers dialog, press the icon
on the left of the layer name.
14. Make the Background layer active;
15. Repeat the Duplicate Layer command three times. You can now see in the
Layers dialog:

16. In the Layers dialog, move the Background copy#2 layer above the layer

TALLINN… . The layer becomes active, press the button . We can also move
it by the mouse, i.e. click the mouse pointer on the layer and hold the left mouse
button down while dragging the layer to the desired location;
17. Apply LayerMerge Down command;
18. In the Layers dialog, move the Background copy#1 layer above the layer

PANEVEZYS… . The layer becomes active; double-click the button ;

19. Apply LayerMerge Down command;
20. In the Layers dialog, move the Background copy layer above the layer RIGA

BDA. The layer becomes active; triple-click the button . We now have four
layers:

21. We will now merge the RIGA BDA, PANEVEZYS..., TALLINK... layers in the form
of animation. Apply FiltersAnimation Blend command to open the Script-
Fu: Blend dialog:
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21.1. Press OK;
22. Apply FiltersAnimationOptimize (for GIF) command. We now have 12
layers;
23. In the Layers dialog, click the mouse pointer on the first layer Frame 1(100ms);
24. Position the mouse pointer on the layer and right-click the mouse to open the
context menu and select the Edit Layer Attributes command from the drop-
down list of commands. When the Layer Attributes dialog opens:
24.1. Enter Frame 1(1500ms) instead of Frame 1(100ms) in the box, i.e.
change the frame speed;
24.2. Press OK;
25. Do the same with the 5th and the 9th layer;
26. Apply ImageModeIndexed command. In the Convert Image to Indexed
Colors dialog:
26.1. Open the Color dithering list and select – Floyd-Steinberg (reduced
color bleeding Convert );
26.2. Press the Convert button;
27. Apply FileSave As to save the image. In the Save image dialog:
27.1. Enter the file name Banner to the Name box;
27.2. Specify the disk and folder for saving the file;
27.3. Open the Select File Type (By Extension) list and select GIF image;
27.4. Press the Save button;
Note!
If you want to save the file in the folder which has not yet been created, press the
Create a folder button.
28. When the Export File dialog opens, don't forget to check the Save as Animation
radio button;
28.1. Press the Export button;
29. When the Save as GIF dialog opens, enter 1000 to the Delay between frames
where unspecified box;
30. Press the Save button.

Banner
We will now create a classical banner of informative type. First of all, we need to decide
about the purpose of the banner. If it is a street banner, the image must be large –
around 4000 pixel width; if it is a leaflet - approximately 1500 pixel width; if it is an
online banner – some 150 pixel width. Let's say we are going to create an online banner.

1. Select FileNew. When the Create a New Image dialog opens, specify the
measurements of the image you want to create:
1.1. Width – 700 pixels;
1.2. Height – 300 pixels;
1.3. Precook;
2. We will now create the main caption by choosing a logo template. Go to
FileCreateLogos Glowing Hot. When the Script-Fu: Glowing Hot dialog
opens, adjust the following settings:
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2.1. Enter the banner text to the Text box – KTU PI;
2.2. Press the OK button. You will see the glowing letters against the dark
background in the new working window:

3. You now see three layers in the Layers dialog: KTU PI, Glow Layer; Background.
The first two contain a text; the last one – black background. Merge the first two
layers. Select the KTU PI layer and open the context menu while keeping the
mouse pointer on it. Apply the Merge Down command;
4. Make sure that the Glow Layer is selected. Apply EditCopy command;
5. Go back to the original working window with your created empty image;
6. Apply EditPaste command. In the Layers dialog, you can see the Floating
Selection (Pasted Layer). A caption appears against the white background:

7. Anchor the caption to the layer. In the Layers dialog, click on the Create a new
layer and add it to the image button ;
8. We will now deal with the background of the banner. In the Layers dialog, select
the Background layer;
9. We will now apply a filter to the layer. Apply FiltersRenderCloudsPlasma
command. It opens the Plazma dialog with the sole setting:
9.1. Set the slider of the Turbulence scale to 0.7;
9.2. Press the OK button. The background of the image has changed:

10. We will now add more text to the banner. Select the Text Tool . Click the
mouse pointer in the upper right corner. Adjust the following settings to the
text:
10.1. Font – Nimbus Roman No9 L Bold;
10.2. Size – 42;
10.3. Color – ffff9b;
10.4. Enter –KAUNAS:

11. . Select the Text Tool . Click the mouse pointer in the upper left corner.
Adjust the following settings to the text:
11.1. Font – Nimbus Roman No9 L Bold;
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11.2. Size – 42;
11.3. Color – ffff9b;
11.4. Enter –PANEVEZYS:
12. We will now add effects to the new text. In the Layers dialog, select the
PANEVEZYS layer;
13. We will now add a shadow to the text PANEVEZYS . Choose Filters Light and
ShadowDrop Shadow command. When the Script-Fu: Drop Shadow dialog
opens, adjust the following settings:
13.1. Offset X – 9;
13.2. Offset Y – 9;
13.3. Opacity – 100;
13.4. Press OK;
14. In the Layers dialog, press the KAUNAS layer;
15. We will now add a shadow to the text KAUNAS. Choose Filters Light and
ShadowDrop Shadow command. When the Script-Fu: Drop Shadow dialog
opens, adjust the following settings:
15.1. Offset X – 9;
15.2. Offset Y – 9;
15.3. Blur radius – 11;
15.4. Opacity – 100;
15.5. Uncheck– Allow resizing;
15.6. Press OK:

16. We can make the banner more varied by adding sparkling dots to it. Create a
new layer. Apply the LayerNew Layer command. It opens the New Layer
dialog. Give the name dot to the layer;
17. In the Layers dialog, select the dot layer;
18. Select the Pencil Tool. Adjust the following settings in the dialog:
18.1. Brush – Circle (03);
18.2. Set the Scale slider to 0.46;
19. Choose the foreground color – white;
20. Click the mouse pointer on the image in such places where you would like to see
the sparkling dots;
21. Choose Filters Light and ShadowSparkle command; When the Sparkle
dialog opens, leave the default settings;
21.1. Press OK;

22. We will now change the image background by adding the lighting effect to it. In
the Layers dialog, choose the Background layer;
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23. Choose Filters Light and ShadowLighting Effects command. It opens the
Lighting Effects dialog. Now adjust the following settings:
23.1. In the preview window of the dialog, position the mouse pointer in the
place where you want the light source to be. Click on it and drag it to the upper
right corner;
23.2. Open the Light tab and adjust the following:
23.2.1. Intensity – 1.7;
23.3. Open the Bump Map tab and check – Enable bump mapping;
23.4. Press OK;

24. We will now add a border to the image that will merge all elements. Choose
FiltersDecorAdd Border command. When the Script-Fu: Add Border dialog
opens, adjust the following settings:
24.1. Border X size –9;
24.2. Border Y size – 9;
24.3. Border color – 7b041c;
24.4. Press OK:

25. Apply FileSave As command and enter the image name and indicate where to
save it in the Save Image dialog.

Text
To make the designed images more varied, the text may be entered in various ways and
forms.

Text along path

We will now find out how to enter a text along a preconceived path.
1. Create an empty image. Open the Create a New Image dialog through
FileNew. Adjust the following settings to the image:
1.1. Width – 640 pixels;
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1.2. Height – 480 pixels;
1.3. Press OK;
2. Let's first create a path along which a text will be arranged. Select the Paths Tool
;
3. Draw a line. To draw a wavy line, use the guides:

4. Enter the text that you want to align along the path. Select the Text Tool;
5. Click the mouse pointer on the image and enter the text;
Note!
Choose a small font size to ensure that letters do not cover one another.
6. Arrange the text along the path. In the Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo, History –
Brusies, Patterns, Gradients palette, open the Paths dialog. Press the icon Open

the paths dialog ;

7. There is only one path in the list – Unnamed. Click on it;
Note!
Only the text will be seen the image. When the first checkbox on the left of the path is
checked in the Paths dialog, a path appears on the image

8. Select Text Tool. Click the mouse pointer on the text;

9. Click on the Text along Path button in the Text tool options of the Toolbox. The
text remains in place but another text appears on the path:

10. It creates a new path RIGA TALLINN PANEVEZYS. Now you need to turn a new

path to letters. Open the Layers dialog and click on the icon ;
11. In the Layers dialog, select the Background layer;

12. Click on the icon Open the paths dialog ;

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13. In the Paths dialog, click on the path RIGA TALLINN PANEVEZYS;
14. In the Paths dialog, press the Paths to selection button ;
15. The letter path became a selection. Now you can fill the selected part with color.

Select the Paintbrush Tool ;

16. Set the foreground color to red.
17. Click the mouse pointer on the letters. The letters become red:

18. You can now delete the original text. In the Layers dialog, click on the path RIGA
TALLINN PANEVEZYS;
19. Press the Delete path button;
20. Open the Paths dialog and press the eye on the left of the Unnamed path .
The path has disappeared:

Turning a text into an image

1. First, let's create a new empty image. Open the Create a New Image dialog
through FileNew and adjust the following settings to the image:
1.1. Width – 640 pixels;
1.2. Height – 480 pixels;
1.3. Press OK;
2. Select the Text Tool and adjust the following settings:
2.1. Font – URW Bookman L Bold;
2.2. Size – 72;
2.3. Color – 9d6917;
2.4. Adjust letter spacing – 8;
3. Click the mouse pointer on the image and enter LITHUANIA;
4. Make sure that the text contains no mistakes because you will not be able to
correct it afterwards. Press the LITHUANIA layer in the Layers dialog;
5. Position the mouse pointer on the LITHUANIA layer, open the context menu and
choose Discard Text Information. Now we have turned a text into an image:
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6. Press Smurge Tool ;

7. Smurge the borders of each letter - carry out the turning actions on the borders
of letters while holding down the left mouse button:

8. We can apply filters to this image like any other image. Choose Filters Light
and ShadowDrop Shadow command. When the Script-Fu: Drop Shadow
dialog opens, do not change any settings;
9. Press OK;

Filling text with patterns

Until now, we have dealt with a text filled with a pure color and one or another effect
applied to it. Can we fill the text with a desirable pattern? Yes, we can. Follow the steps
below:
1. Apply FileOpen command to open photo pine_1.jpg with the size of 1024x768
px;

2. Select the Text Tool and apply the following settings:

2.1. Font – DejaVu Sans Bold;
2.2. Size – 360;
2.3. Click the mouse pointer on the image to open GIMP Text Editor;
2.4. Enter the text – RIGA;
2.5. Press the Close button:
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3. Make sure that the options dialog of the text you have just entered is in the
Toolbox. Press the Path from Text button. Create a path of the shape identical

to letters. The path RIGA appears in the Paths dialog ;

4. Open the Layers dialog and select the Background layer;

5. Open the Paths dialog and press the sole available path – RIGA;
6. We will now form the selection area by the form of font. In the Paths dialog,
press the Paths to selection button :

7. Apply EditCopy command;

8. Go to FileNew to open a new image and set slightly larger measurements in
the Create a New Image dialog than for file pine_1.jpg. Increase width and
height by ten pixels:
8.1. Width – 1034 pixels;
8.2. Height – 778 pixels;
8.3. Press OK;
9. Apply EditPaste command:

10. We will now add a mosaic effect to the font. Apply Filters DistortsMosaic
command. Once the Mosaic dialog opens, adjust the following settings:
10.1. Tiling primitives – Octagons&squares;
10.2. Set the slider of the Tile size scale to 37.0;
10.3. Set the slider of the Tile height scale to 15.0;
10.4. Set the slider of the Tile neatness scale to 0.9;
10.5. Set the slider of the Light direction scale to 125.0;
10.6. Set the slider of the Color varianton scale to 0.55;
10.7. Uncheck Color averaging;
10.8. Check Pitted surfaces;
10.9. Press OK:
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3D text
1. Go to FileNew to open the image and adjust its settings in the Create a New
Image dialog:
1.1. Width – 300 pixels;
1.2. Height – 150 pixels;
1.3. Press OK;
2. Now, we will enter the text and apply a more prominent style to it. Select the
Text Tool and adjust the following settings:
2.1. Font – URW Bookman L Bold;
2.2. Size – 56 pixels;
2.3. Color – a41f1f;
3. Position the mouse pointer in the image window and when the GIMP Text
Editor dialog pops up, enter the text – TALLINN:

3.1. Press the Close button. It adds a new layer TALLINN to the Layers dialog;
4. Move to the Layers dialog and press the Create a duplicate of the layer and add
it to the image button . It adds a new layer TALLINN#1;
5. Now, make the TALLINN layer invisible. Press the eye on the left of the layer ;
6. In the Layers dialog, click the mouse pointer on the layer TALLINN#1; it becomes
active;
7. Open the context menu and select the Layer to Image Size command;
8. We will now apply a filter to the image that will let you map it to the desirable
object. Apply FiltersMapMap Object command; when the Map to Object
dialog opens, adjust the settings:
8.1. In the Options tab:
8.1.1. Select Plane in the Map to drop-down list;
8.1.2. Check the Transparent background checkbox;
8.2. In the Orientation tab:
8.2.1. In the Rotation group-box control, move the slider of the Z: scale to (-
45.00);
8.2.2. Press OK:
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9. Change the layer properties to the TALLINN#1 layer, i.e. open the context menu
and select Edit Layer Attributes;
9.1. When the Layer Attributes dialog opens, use the Layer name input box to enter
Tridimentional Top;
9.2. Press OK;
10. Open the context menu and apply Duplicate Layer. It opens a new layer
Tridimentional Top#1;
11. Change its name. Position the mouse pointer in the Layers dialog, on the
Tridimentional Top#1 layer and swiftly double-click the left mouse button. The
name becomes more prominent; enter Tridimentional Bottom and press Enter;
12. Move this layer below the Tridimentional Top layer, i.e. in the Layers dialog,
press the Lower this layer one step in the layer stac button ;
13. Create a copy of the Tridimentional Bottom layer, i.e. open the context menu
and select the Duplicate Layer command. It adds a new layer Tridimentional
Bottom#1 to the Layers dialog

14. Choose the Move Tool and slightly move the text in the image downwards:

15. Repeat clauses 13-14 four times. The result is as follows:

16. You can now see all your created layers in the Layers dialog:

17. Open the context menu and select the Merge Down command;
18. Now, merge all additional layers Tridimentional Bottom#2,3,4,5 to one, i.e.
repeat Clause 17 until the Layers dialog looks like that:
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19. Select the foreground color – c49393;

20. Select the Bucket Fill Tool and fill the letters of the merged layer with it:

Shining text
1. Go to FileNew to open the image and adjust its settings in the Create a New
Image dialog:
1.1. Width – 450 pixels;
1.2. Height – 175 pixels;
1.3. Press Advanced Options and select the Foreground color from the Fill with
drop-down list;
1.4. Press OK;

2. We will now enter the text. Select the Text Tool and adjust the following
settings:
2.1. Font – URW Bookman L Bold Italic;
2.2. Size – 64 pixels;
2.3. Color – ffffff;
3. Position the mouse pointer on the image and enter Koolitus in the GIMP Text
Editor dialog :

3.1. Press Close; It opens the Koolitus layer;

4. Set the size of the new layer to match the image size. Open the context menu in
the Layers dialog and select the Layer to Image Size command;
5. Create a new layer. Apply LayerNew Layer command and name the new layer
– Shine. It opens the New Layer dialog. Adjust the following settings:
5.1. Enter Shine In the Layer name input box ;
5.2. In the Layer Fill Type group-box control, check the Transparency radio
button;
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5.3. Press OK;
6. In the Layers dialog, position this layer below the textual Koolitus layer. Press
the Lower this layer one step in the layer stack button ;
7. Position the mouse pointer on the Koolitus layer, open the context menu and
select the Alpha to Selection command. You have now selected the following
letters:

8. In the Layers dialog, select the Shine layer;

9. Zoom the selected part (letters) by 3 pixels because we will now make it shining.
Select SelectGrow command;
10. Enter 3 to the Grow selection by box in the Grow Selection dialog;
10.1. Press OK;

11. We will now blur the borders of the text. Apply SelectFeather command to
open the Feather Selection dialog and adjust the following:
11.1. Enter 20 in the Feather selection by input box ;
11.2. Press OK:

12. We will now select the shining color. Select Background color – 007eff;
13. Apply EditFill with FG Color command:

14. We will now apply a filter to the text. Go to FiltersAlpha to LogoNeon. In

the Script-Fu: Neon dialog, adjust the following:
14.1. Check the Create shadow checkbox;
14.2. Press OK:
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31. We will now give several more examples of application of various filters:
32. Filter Alpha to LogoCool Metal:

33. Filter Alpha to Logo3D Outline:

Text in the ellipse border

1. First, create a new image. Open the Create a New Image dialog through
FileNew. Adjust the following settings:
1.1. Width – 480 pixels;
1.2. Height – 360 pixels;

1.3. Make the image landscape by clicking the button ;

1.4. Press OK;
2. Create a new layer and draw an ellipse in it. Apply the LayerNew Layer
command to open the New Layer dialog and adjust the following:
2.1. Layer name – Ellipse;
2.2. Press OK;
3. Select the Ellipse Select Tool and draw an ellipse in the image :
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4. Select the Blend Tool and adjust the setting to it:

4.1. Open the Gradient selector and choose Dark 1;
5. Fill the selected area with the gradient selected. Select the direction from left to
right across the centre of the selected area:

6. Reduce the selected area because it is required for the border. Apply
SelectShrink command to open the Shrink Selection dialog and adjust the
following:
6.1. Reduce the selected area by several pixels. Enter 25in the Shrink selection by
input box ;
6.2. Press OK:

7. Repeat clauses 4-5, only change the fill direction to the opposite:

8. Reduce the selected area again. Repeat Clause 6, but enter 10 to the Shrink
selection by input box ;

9. Create a new layer. Apply the LayerNew Layer command to open the New
Layer dialog and adjust the following:
9.1. Layer name – Inside;
9.2. Press OK;
10. Select the Foreground Color – 5a7440 and the Background color – 741515;

11. Select the Blend Tool and adjust the setting to it:
11.1. Open the Gradient selector and choose FG to BG (RGB);
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12. Fill the selected area with the gradient selected. Select the direction from right
to left across the centre of the selected area;
13. Remove the selection using the command SelectNone:

14. Select the Ellipse Select Tool and draw an ellipse in each border of the
central ellipse;
Note!
Before you draw the second ellipse, go to the ellipse options and click the Add to the

current selection button in the Mode group-box control

15. Create a new layer. Apply LayerNew Layer command to open the New Layer
dialog and adjust the following:
15.1. Layer name –Ellipse2;
15.2. Press OK;
16. Select Foreground Color – ffffff;

17. Select the Blend Tool and adjust the setting to it:
17.1. Open the Gradient selector and choose FG to Transparent;
18. Fill the selected area with the gradient selected. Select the direction from top to
bottom across the centre of the selected area:

19. Cancel the selection through SelectNone command;

20. We will now enter the text. Select the Text Tool and adjust the following
settings:
20.1. Font – Ubuntu Bold Italic;
20.2. Size – 30 pixels;
20.3. Color – ffd0d0;
20.4. Justify – Centered ;
21. Position the mouse pointer on the image and enter Leonardo da Vinci in the
GIMP Text Editor dialog :
22. Press Close. It opens the Leonardo da Vinci layer:
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23. We may apply various filters to the text. Apply FiltersLight and
ShadowDrop Shadow command; when the Script:Fu Drop Shadow dialog
opens, adjust the settings of the shadow you are about to create:
23.1. Offset X – 8;
23.2. Offset Y – 8;
23.3. Blur radius – 6;
23.4. Color – 000000 (black);
23.5. Press OK:

24. Apply the Xach effect to your created image. In the Layers dialog, choose the
Ellipse layer;
25. Apply FiltersLight and ShadowXach-Effect command to open the Script:Fu
Xach-Effect dialog; do not change any settings and press OK:
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