git ssb

title: "A Quick Vignette, Using the Gimp" date: 2007-11-11 12:18 modified: 2009-02-20 13:37 status: published description: > A brief tutorial.

tags: GIMP, image editing, tutorial

image: filename: decoration.png height: 6rem

links:

• url: http://gimp.org
  title: "The Gimp" rel: related type: text/html

<p>It's easy to fade out the edges of a picture using the <abbr title="Gnu Image Manipulation Program">Gimp</abbr>. Here's how: (using Gimp version 2.4) </p>
<ol>
<li>Decide how broad you want the fade to be </li>
<li>From the menu, <kbd><kbd><samp>Layer</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Transparency</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Add Alpha Channel</samp></kbd></kbd>; if this option is disabled (greyed out), then the current layer already has transparency enabled and you can skip this step </li>
<li>From the menu, <kbd><kbd><samp>Select</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>All</samp></kbd></kbd>, or on the keyboard, <kbd><kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd></kbd>
</li>
<li>
<kbd><kbd><samp>Select</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Shrink</samp></kbd></kbd>
</li>
<li>Shrink the selection by <em>half</em> the breadth you chose earlier, ensuring that <samp>Shrink from image border</samp> is ticked </li>
<li>
<kbd><kbd><samp>Select</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Feather</samp></kbd></kbd>
</li>
<li>Feather the selection by the <em>full</em> breadth you chose earlier </li>
<li>
<kbd><kbd><samp>Select</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Invert</samp></kbd></kbd> or <kbd><kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>I</kbd></kbd>
</li>
<li>
<kbd><kbd><samp>Edit</samp></kbd> → <kbd><samp>Clear</samp></kbd></kbd> or <kbd><kbd>Delete</kbd></kbd>
</li>
</ol>
<p>If you want to fade to a solid colour rather than transparency, skip the final step and instead use the <strong>Bucket Fill Tool</strong> with the <strong>Affected Area</strong> set to <kbd><samp>Fill whole selection</samp></kbd>. </p>