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<h1>Photo magic with Gimp</h1>
<h4>ArticleCategory: [Es gibt verschiedene Artikel
Kategorien]</h4>
Graphics
<h4>AuthorImage:[Ein Bild von Dir]</h4>
<img src="../../common/images/katjasocher.gif" alt=
"[Photo of the Author]" height="148" width="120">
<h4>TranslationInfo:[Autor und Übersetzer]</h4>
<p>original in de <a href=
"mailto:katja(at)linuxfocus.org">Katja Socher</a></p>
<p>de to en <a href="mailto:katja(at)linuxfocus.org">Katja
Socher</a></p>
<h4>AboutTheAuthor:[A small biography about the author]</h4>
<p>Katja is the German editor of LinuxFocus. She likes Tux,
computer graphics, film & photography and the sea. Her
homepage can be found <a href=
"http://www.toppoint.de/~utuxfan/k/">here</a>.</p>
<h4>Abstract:[Hier sollte eine kleine Zusammenfassung
stehen]</h4>
Holiday season is over and you have your digital photos on your
hard disk. Now it's time to give them a final touch with The
Gimp. In this article we show you with several examples what
you can do to enhance your photos with The Gimp (the latest
stable version when I wrote this was Gimp 1.2.5).
<h4>ArticleIllustration:[Das Titelbild des Artikels]</h4>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/tuxcamerasmall.png" width="320" height= "240" alt="[tux and camera]" vspace="10" hspace="10">
<h4>ArticleBody:</h4>
<h2>Photo magic with Gimp</h2>
<h2>Colour Correction</h2>
<p>Sometimes a photo looks a bit colourless, it is too light or
too dark or there are other reasons why a colour correction
would help the photo. To improve the colours of your photos you
can use the tools that you find in the menu under
Image->Colors (you get to the menu by right clicking in the
image that was opened with the Gimp). Most of the time there
will be a preview field that you can tick to make the changes
viewable at once. If you click on Reset the changes won't
affect your image and even if you already clicked "okay" you
can still get your old image back by clicking crtl+z.<br>
<br>
However to try out several effects and compare them with each
other it is better to make one or several duplicates of your
photo (Image->Duplicate) before you apply the canges to
them.<br>
<br>
It's always the best if you keep a copy of your original.
Perhaps you won't like the changes that you did anymore next
year or you want to try out something else. Then you will be
glad to still have the original. So it's always better to save
the changed photo with a slightly different name.<br>
<br>
</p>
<h3>The Curves-Tool</h3>
If the photo is a bit too light or too dark you can work on it
with the Curves-Tool (Image->Colors->Curves). If you move
the curve a bit up the photo gets a bit lighter and if you move
it a bit down it gets darker. But you also have the possibility
to change the colour values of red, green and blue
individually. Because of this the curves tool is very well
suited to deal with colour cast. In the example the shop in
St.Tropez is a bit too blue:<br>
<br>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/shopinsttropezblue.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[Shop in St. Tropez that is a bit too blue]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.1 Shop in St. Tropez that is a bit too blue
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/gimpcurvesshop.png" width="211" height= "320" alt="[The Curvestool]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.2 The Curvestool
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/shopinsttropez.png" width="320" height= "240" alt="[The shop in St. Tropez]" vspace="10" hspace= "10"><br>
Fig.3 The shop in St. Tropez
</center>
<h3>The Levels-Tool</h3>
Some photos don't use the entire colour range. Therefore they
tend to look a bit gray. That's the time for the levels tool.
Often it will already be sufficient to go to
Image->Colors->Levels and click Auto. If you are not
satisfied with the result you can also easily do it by hand:
You look at the curves and move the arrows so that the space at
the ends isn't empty anymore. If Value is selected above the
tool will be applied to the whole picture but you can also do
it separately for each colour which often gives a better
result. By moving the two arrows at the ends often the whole
picture gets a bit darker which can be corrected by moving the
arrow between them accordingly.
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/montrealoriginal.png" width="320" height="240" alt="[View from Mont Royal on Montreal]" vspace= "10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.4 View from Mont Royal on Montreal on a muddy day
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/montrealenhanced.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[View from Mont Royal on Montreal after working on the photo with Gimp]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.5 View from Mont Royal on Montreal after working on the
photo with Gimp (Image --> Color-->Levels, then click
on "auto",Image-->Color-->Hue-Saturation, moving of the
sliders to the right with "master" being ticked and
Filter-->Enhance-->Unsharp Mask (see below))
</center>
<br>
<br>
<h3>More colourful looking colours and warmer looking
photos</h3>
If a photo is just a bit colourless because it was a muddy day
while the colour range is okay you can get a more colourful
picture with Image->Colors->Auto->Color Enhance. The
photo will look warmer that way so that you might like to try
this tool even with already good looking photos. With some
photos the colors look a bit unnatural though. If you still
want a warmer looking photo you can try Hue-Saturation and
increase the saturation there (master needs to be clicked to
get the effect for the whole image). <br>
<br>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/kasteelerensteindark.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[A photo of Kasteel Erenstein that is too dark]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.6 A photo of Kasteel Erenstein that is too dark
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/kasteelerensteinlevels.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[Photo of Kasteel Erenstein after applying the Levels-Tool]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Abb.7 Photo of Kasteel Erenstein after applying the
Levels-Tool to the image (you could have used the Curvestool
as well), the photo is lighter now but looks a bit colourless
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/levels.png" width="648" height="320" alt="[The levels tool]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.8 The levels tool without having made any changes, with
the arrows moved and after applying the tool
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/kasteelerensteinready.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[Photo of Kasteel Erenstein after the additional application of Enhance Colors]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.9 Photo of Kasteel Erenstein after the additional
application of Enhance Colors
(Image->Colors->Auto->Enhance Colors), the photo is
still a bit dark in the foreground but the castle itself is
well lighted and gets the attention of the viewer
</center>
<h2>Increasing the sharpness of your photo</h2>
<p>Some digital photos are just a little bit unfocused or the
photo lost focus by applying some other tools to it. To
increase the sharpness of your image there are the tools
unsharp mask and sharpen in The Gimp. Both can be found under
Filters->Enhance. With unsharp mask you often get a better
result as this method improves on the edges. In many cases you
will already be satisfied if you apply it with its default
values.<br>
<br>
</p>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/liege.jpg" width="320" height="240" alt= "[Black and white picture of row of houses in Liège]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.10 Black and white picture of row of houses in
Liège
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/liegesharp.png" width="320" height="240" alt="[The row of houses after applying the Unsharp Mask]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.11 The row of houses after applying the Unsharp Mask
</center>
You should only use this filters after you have applied all
other changes as some tools (e.g. scaling of the photo) can
change the sharpness of the image.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<h2>Reducing the depth of focus</h2>
<p>Sometimes it's difficult to take a picture with your digital
that has the focus on the foreground and your object you focus
on and a blurred background. Gimp can help you to reach this
effect afterwards.<br>
<br>
For this you select the part of the photo that you want to be
sharp with the intelligent scissors (that's the tool in the
main menu that actually looks like a pair of scissors). You
make some points around the object that you want to select. The
intelligent scissors find the outline themselves. Therefore it
is important to make more points in those areas where the
object doesn't have a big contrast to its environment. To make
the selection effective click on the first point that you made
again, the scissors change into a square, now you click
somewhere inside your object. Now you can see the selection.
Next you sharpen it a bit. For this you click on
Filters-->Enhance-->Unsharp Mask (or Sharpen). After that
you invert the selection (Select-->Invert) and blur the
background. To do this you go to Filters->Blur and choose
the blur tool that you like best. Sometimes you won't like the
transition between the sharp and blurred areas. In that case
you can select the blur tool and draw around the outline as you
would do with a paint brush.</p>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/fetedesenfants.png" width="320" height= "240" alt="[Bear with Jessica]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.12 Bear with Jessica at the Fête des Enfants in
Montreal
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/fetesdesenfantsblur.png" width="320" height="240" alt= "[Bear with Jessica with a blurred background]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.13 Bear with Jessica at the Fête des Enfants in
Montreal with a blurred background
</center>
<h2>Blurred vision: Soft looking photos and Movement</h2>
<p>With a non-digital camera you can get a soft looking image
by using long shutter speeds. Of course you can create this
effect with the Gimp afterwards. The blur tools can very well
be used for this. The photo gets a softer look and may even
look kind of romantic. Selective Gaussian Blur
(Filters->Blur->Selective Gaussian Blur) is best to use
here as the blur filter will only be applied to areas that
don't have a big contrast.<br>
<br>
</p>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/erensteinweich2.png" width="344" height= "264" alt="[Kasteel Erenstein looking softer]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.14 Kasteel Erenstein looking softer after applying
Selective Gaussian Blur and a frame added with Script
Fu-->Decor-->Fuzzy Border
</center>
<br>
<br>
If you want to create an impression of movement the Motion
Blur Filter (Filters-->Blur-->Motion Blur) will do best.
The original looks like this:
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/tuxoldtimeroriginal.png" width="160" height="120" alt="[Tux in Oldtimer]" vspace="10" hspace= "10"><br>
Abb.15 Tux in Oldtimer
</center>
And after applying Filters-->Blur-->Motion Blur with
Linear as type of blur and with the Length 20 and Angle 45 you
get this racing Tux:
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/tuxoldtimer.png" width="320" height= "240" alt="[racing Tux in Oldtimer]" vspace="10" hspace= "10"><br>
Abb.16 racing Tux in Oldtimer
</center>
<br>
<h2>When less is more: Removing disturbing objects</h2>
<p>One characteristic of a good photo is that is has a subject
it focuses on and not so many other things to distract or
confuse the viewer (except of course this was in the intension
of the photographer...).<br>
<br>
So it can happen that one or more objects in an image disturb
the overall impression of the picture and therefore it would be
better to remove them. To do this you can use the clone tool
(that's the button in the main menu that looks like a stamp).
If you have selected the clone tool you click with your mouse
in the area that is to be cloned while you hold the Ctrl-key
down.Then you release the key and click with the mouse in the
area that you want to paint over. Now you can use the clone
tool the same way you would use a paint brush. Sometimes you
will get a more natural looking picture if you define a new
cloning area several times. And practise makes the master
here!<br>
<br>
Certain mistakes in a photo like a tree that grows out of a
person can also be corrected this way.</p>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/gimpopa1.png" width="340" height="260" alt="[Photo of my grandfather]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.17 Photo of my grandfather
</center>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/gimpopa2.png" width="340" height="260" alt= "[Photo of my grandfather after working on it with the clone tool]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.18 Photo of my grandfather after working on it with the
clone tool
</center>
<h2>Framing the photo</h2>
<p>To get more focus and attention to your image you can give
it a frame. Gimp offers numberous possibilities for this.<br>
<br>
</p>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/whv.png" width="340" height="260" alt= "[Photo of Wilhelmshaven with a red frame]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.19 Photo of Wilhelmshaven with a red frame
</center>
First of all you can give your photo an ordinary frame. For
this you choose Script Fu --> Decor --> Add Border. Now
you need to decide the width of the frame and its colour. Then
click on okay and The Gimp gives the picture a frame whereby
the resulting picture will be increased. <br>
<br>
A very beautiful frame you get by usingScript Fu --> Decor
--> Fuzzy Border. This is actually my favourite frame. But
of course everything depends on the motive of the photo.
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/blume.png" width="340" height="260" alt= "[Flowers with Fuzzy Border]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.20 Flowers with Fuzzy Border
</center>
Another possibility is to select that part of the image that
you really want to see. After selecting it with the selection
tool you invert the selection (Selection ->Invert) and
change e.g. the lightness of the border (e.g. with the curves
tool),etc.. <br>
<br>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/sttropezframe.png" width="320" height= "240" alt="[Photo of St. Tropez with a lighter border]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.21 Photo of St. Tropez with a lighter border
</center>
If you like this or not is of course a matter of your taste.
<br>
<br>
<h2>Inserting text</h2>
Sometimes a picture will only become something special or
personal by adding some text at the right place. In the picture
below the text was simply written over the name of the bridge
that was hardly readable. With the colour picker (that's the
icon between the Texttool and the bucket) the colour of the
decoration of the bridge was chosen. Then the font elfring
elitelight was chosen in the text tool of Gimp and the text was
inserted into the photo.<br>
<br>
<center>
<img src="../../common/images/article311/fotozauberweddingsmall.png" width="340" height="253" alt="[Photo with inserted text]" vspace="10" hspace="10"><br>
Fig.22 Here is the photo that only got a special personal
photo after inserting the text.
</center>
<p>Of course The Gimp can't always do miracles and change a bad
photo into a good looking one. And it's also not possible to
write a cookbook with recipes for every photo as each tool has
a different effect on different photos. But still I hope that
this article will be useful for you to get the best out of your
pictures!<br>
<br>
Have fun and happy gimping! :)</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.gimp.org">gimp.org</a>: Here you find
documentation, you can download The Gimp etc.</li>
<li>On this site you find some very good tutorials on
manipulating photos with The Gimp: <a href=
"http://cs.uhh.hawaii.edu/~jeschke/photography/articles/gimp/">
http://cs.uhh.hawaii.edu/~jeschke/photography/articles/gimp/</a></li>
</ul>
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