Easy GIMP Tips: Making Quick Image Borders

To me, this works better with larger images. I'm using a 640x478 picture that was actually cut and re-sized from a much larger picture.

I also feel that whenever you decide to make major changes to an image like this, use a duplicate so you do not ruin the original.

Don't worry, you won't need to use a picture with exactly these dimensions, in fact the best part of this trick is that it'll look great without having to worry about what the exact numbers are.

Click "File" then "New" for "Create New Image":

If you start from the work window you already have open, the new picture will automatically be the same size.

On the left side of your work window, you should have a floating column marked "Toolbox". Within your Toolbox, click on the Blend Tool icon:

To the right of your work window, you should see a floating column marked "Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo, Layers".

By default, the "Gradient" window is docked at the bottom of this column. From here, you can select the gradient you want to use:

Switching back to the Toolbox, you should see the selected gradient in the "Blend" settings beneath the tool icons:

In the main work window, click onto the point you want to begin the blend at, then move to where you want to end and click again.

I want a straight forward blend from top to bottom:

After the mouse click, the blend should fill the background of your picture based on where you made your clicks:

Remember, click "Edit" on the menu to undo the previous action, if you aren't satisfied with your results:

Now back to the original image, and select "Image" then "Scale Image":

This brings up the Scale Image dialog box:

Note that on the top right-hand corner, there is a thumbnail of the image I'm working on, this is very useful if you have several image windows open at the same time.

The width and height are linked so reducing or increasing one with automatically change the other by a related amount. If you just want to change one, not the other, click on the chain image to break the link.

Taking off 40 pixels from the width corresponded to 30 pixels on the height. There may be some math formula that'll tell me that, but I prefer to let GIMP do that for me!

If you do not want to permanently resize this copy, do not save this change! Just go to "Edit" then "Copy" so you can move a copy of it to the other work window.

In the other window, click "Edit" then "paste"

There! I have a border!

If you are not happy with the size of the border, select "Layer" then "Scale Layer" to change it. Remember to keep the width and height linked, or you will distort the picture.

When it looks the way you want, select "Layer" then "Anchor Layer":

Now it is ready to be saved. Select "File" then "Save As". Since this is new, GIMP will prompt you for a name, so selecting "Save" will also work, but I'm in the habit of selecting "Save As" every time I save anything.

If you do not specify a file format (I'm using JPEG because my base image was JPEG), GIMP will automatically save it as ".xcf" which you won't be able to use on a webpage.

When you save it as JPEG, GIMP will actually be converting it from ".xcf" to JPEG, and will ask you to choose the quality of the final image. Save an extra copy in ".xcf" in case you need to re-save at a different quality setting.

If you think you are going to want to make changes later, undo the anchored layer, and re-save in ".xcf", this will allow you to reopen the file later, and remove the layer if you want.

The more work I've done with GIMP, the more I've gotten use to saving my work at different stages so I can go back to work one it. Saving before layers are anchored, or merged is crucial for being able to make future changes.

Remember, once you've made copies, discard all other changes when you close down, if you want to protect the original image you started with. I usually leave GIMP open until I'm sure I'm happy with the saved copy.

My Squirrel-proof bird feeder complete with mooching squirrel!

This takes me about 10 minutes, if that. If you put a little creativity into it, there's a lot more you could do, but this could be enough to make your images stick out a little bit more than they normally would.

Obviously, if your starting image is too small to begin with, it won't look good after you've shrunk it. That's why I feel you are better off working with larger images. You can always scale your finished image down, if it turns out too big to upload, or display properly on your webpage. It's harder to make them look good when you scale them up, but it can be done.

GIMP © The GIMP Team

Original content:


Easy GIMP Tips:
Making Quick Image Borders
by CleanerLife
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
United States License.