Removing backgrounds Tip 6: Resizing photos without losing image quality When the Border Selection dialog opens, choose 2 px in the Border Selection By field, then choose Smooth. NOTE: If the edges on your new layer are a little rough, choose Select > Border. But don’t forget, you must right-click that layer in the Layers palette, and choose To New Layer from the popup menu before it becomes an actual layer. Or, you can just use the Free Select tool, outline the object, select Cut, then Paste As > New Layer. Hold down the Shift key to add to your selection.

You can start with the Fuzzy Select tool, then fine-tune the selection with the Free Select tool (called the Polygonal Lasso in Photoshop). It’s not as simple as many of the online tutorials claim.īecause most photos have busy backgrounds and millions of colors, the trick is to use a combination of tools to cut the object in the “foreground” out of the background, then delete or replace the background. If the background is real busy with dozens of images and colors such as a train station full of people or a garden full of plants, you’ll be clicking that Fuzzy Select tool 50 times or more. If the sunflower has white streaks and the background is white, using the Fuzzy Select tool (called the Magic Wand in Photoshop) will be harder because it will select the white background AND the white streaks in the sunflower. Use a Selection tool ( Tools > Selection Tools) to draw a circle, rectangle, or square or use the Free Select tool ( Tools > Selection Tools > Free Select) to outline an existing object. The Move tool is in Tools > Transform Tools > Move. There is no Hand tool in GIMP, and don’t look for the Pointer/Move tool in the Selection menus.

Looking for the Pointer tool (that moves objects) or the Hand tool (that moves the image around inside the active window), like in Photoshop? Sorry. Reassign GIMP shortcut keys to match Photoshop Tips 3 & 4: Selection and Transform tools Notice that some of the shortcut keys are the same in both programs such as Copy, Cut, Paste, etc.-a CUA (Common User Access) standard that still applies. GIMP adds the new reassigned shortcut to the correct GIMP menus, so you can always see what they are. Follow the instructions beside the lightbulb at the bottom of the window, then click Save.

To remap your keyboard shortcuts in GIMP, select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, and the Configure Keyboard Shortcuts dialog window opens. If Photoshop and its keyboard shortcuts are part of your muscle memory, you can reassign the GIMP shortcut keys to match Photoshop’s.

Gimp gnu image manipulation program