Gimp Effects Tutorial - how to make effects with Gimp

GIMP provides you with a large number of effects with which you can spice up your pictures. This tutorial will show you how to get the most out of some of these GIMP effects.

Gimp Effect Tutorial 1: Alienate images with GIMP

You achieve an alienation effect by pixelating. This filter is particularly useful if you want to make faces or license plates unrecognizable, for example.

1. First select the area you want to pixelate.
2. Now click on "Filters"> "Blur" and "Pixelate" one after the other.
3. In the window that opens for editing, enter the desired level of pixelation and confirm your selection.

Gimp Effect Tutorial 2: Swirling pictures with GIMP

With the "Rotate and push" function, you can distort a subject so that it looks as if there is a pull.

1. For this effect you also select the desired area and then click on "Filter".
2. Navigate to "Distort" and then to "Rotate and Push".
3. Enter the desired values ​​in the following pop-up window. The preview shows you immediately what the result will look like.

Gimp Effect Tutorial 3: Roll up pictures with GIMP

You can easily implement a curl or flipping effect with GIMP.

1. You can achieve this striking effect by clicking on "Filter"> "Distort" and "Roll in".
2. Then you determine the position of the effect by selecting one of the possible options.

Gimp Effect Tutorial 4: Insert coffee stains into pictures with GIMP

This original coffee stain effect is a real eye-catcher.

1. To do this, click on "Filters"> "Decoration" and "Coffee stains".
2. You can use the slider to determine how many spots you want.

Gimp Effect Tutorial 5: Use Fractal Explorer in GIMP

Add patterns to your images for special effects. To do this, use the Fractal Explorer.

1. Click "Filters"> "Render"> "Clouds" and "Fractal Explorer".
2. Now you can choose from many different options. It is best to try the effects to your heart's content.

Tip: Free GIMP effects for download

An interesting script package is available as a free download from the GIMP FX Foundry website. This extends GIMP from version 2.6 by a whopping 117 effects.