Do you want to squeeze the maximum GIMP? Well, don't stop applying these tips

In a context in which the culture of visuals is the order of the day and in which the photo retouching has become something that goes beyond professionals, know the best image editor is essential.One of the best known is Photoshop, a tool used by experts that, however, is not free.

Fortunately, it is possible to achieve practically identical results with another that does not imply any cost: GIMP.The utility, which has more than 20 years behind it is very similar and integrates, practically, the same features .Today we collect some of the best tips and tricks to get the most out of it and squeeze it to the fullest.

Use the guides

To start, we can talk about one of those benefits usually forgotten by many of us: the guides.A complement that will help us maintain symmetry and that we can easily visualize by simply dragging them from the sides to the inside of the editing panel.

In GIMP they appear in the upper and left frame ; and they give us the opportunity to establish specific areas with greater precision, maintain symmetry, make it easier for us to reframe, etc.Another way to find them is by accessing the Image menu and clicking on guides, from where the program also gives us the opportunity to eliminate them from a stroke and other advanced features.

We can include as many as we need .If we have problems to do so, it is likely that the brush option is activated in the tool panel.Instead we will choose to "move" and ready.

Black and white with some color element

One of the most typical and cool effects is which is achieved by turning a photograph in black and white, but maintaining (or even recoloring) one of the elements of the image .capture, we will try to give color to the nipple again.To achieve this, a good selection will be essential.

The program offers different options , from the free selection tool, which brings the points drawn to the lines corresponding to the image, to those of geometric selection and the magic wand.The most convenient is to combine them and add to the selection (to enter these settings you will have to repeatedly click on the tool in question).

As for the latter, it is possible to modify the threshold .The lower it is, the more precision it will offer.Next, we will choose the color with which we want to fill and the software will automatically adapt the shadows.

Fill color easily

Following the above and if what we want is to "paint" or fill a very specific area with color more quickly, we can choose those keyboard shortcuts that will make it easier and They will let us do more than color.We are referring, for example, to fill in with the background tone (to know what it is we will look at the bottom of the toolbox, where two small overlapping boxes appear; it is the second of them).

In this case, the ideal is that we have a selected area in the way we have indicated in the previous point.For large areas it is also advisable to invert it-select tab and invert selection-to expedite the task.Act followed and to get this background color what we will do is press CTRL and the dot key .On Mac it is replaced by the command key.

The photographic tack, a great ally

The photographic tack is another technique that will allow us to achieve somewhat different finishes, introduce nostalgic nuances .Before carrying it out , it is convenient to duplicate the general layer of the image (using the specific tab or the built-in dialog, depending on the visualization we have chosen).

Next, we will click on this copy, we will access the color section and choose "desaturate" .To save us problems or mistakes, it is also possible to block the original with a single click on its corresponding box.

Next, we will create a new layer as the background color and apply whatever is to our liking with the paint bucket.We will determine the opacity in the same frame.Finally, we will overlap both layers by combining "down" or "visible layers" if we have hidden the copy.

In any case, in GIMP we can apply specific filters in the tab dedicated to this end, where we find predefined effects, animations, decorative, artistic and more.We are left with the latter, especially those that They have to do with the style of famous painters such as Van Gogh, Cubism and others.The process can be extended a few more seconds of the account, but it is worth it.

On the other hand and for the one known as black and white, it will only be necessary to enter image, mode and select grayscale.Here it is also possible to change to RGB and the like.

Create your own brush

One of the most outstanding possibilities of GIMP is that lets us create our own brushes, configuring their features according to our tastes and needs; and saving them to access them later .We will start by creating a new, transparent image (fill with transparency), and whose dimensions will have to be the same as those we want our tool to have.

With the canvas open, we will draw the shape we want it to have or "leave" the tip of the brush in question and double the number of times as the colors with which we want to use it.We will save it as brush animated , something that we will have to do by exporting it.Then, and in the files of our system, we will take it to the place where the rest is located (C: Program Files GIMP-2.0 share gimp 2.0 brushes ) and we will update.

Pixela like a pro

Sometimes and as a result of the use we are going to give to photography, we are forced to pixelate, blur and, in short, to camouflage the identity of the person who is in it or of certain elements, for example, erotic.To do so, we will access the filter tab located in the menu and select the option to blur.This will display a panel with several possibilities, among which is the pixelar one.

Once we click on it, it will be possible to determine the width and height of the pixel , something that will directly affect the intuition (or not) of the area to which we have applied it.shows us by default a preview.It should be commented that we must have previously selected it as in some of the previous cases.

Get rid of wrinkles

Finally and if what we want is to look younger and blur the most marked wrinkles , GIMP also allows us in various ways.In any case, our favorite is carried out with the sanitation tool (the strips icon), also known as a clone buffer in other editors such as Photoshop.

Once chosen, we will try to choose a brush that adapts well to the wrinkle we want to cover.The most important thing, again, will be to select correctly.Additionally, it should be assessed that, the smaller this selection is, More realistic will also be the final effect.Another option is to use the clone buffer and drag zones of similar tones.In any case, we must combine the command or CTRL keys with the usual click to do so.

Images | Agueda A.Llolor