Gimp- Curves Tool- Bite 5

The "curves tool" is one of those quick editing tools in Gimp that you will find yourself using a lot. It is a fast and excellent way to make adjustments to your pictures. In our previous posts I have talked about important short cuts to know and the importance of getting familiar with the selection tool. If you learn these, you will find Gimp much easier to use. The possibilities of editing photos and specific areas in a photo, open up all kinds of way to enhance your pictures. These are the foundations you will  always find yourself working from. The "curve tool" is the next big block in that foundation.


So how do I use the curve tool? If you followed my prior posts in this series, I briefly showed you the "curve tool in the "4th bite". To access the "curve tool" look for  the "colors" tab in your photos toolbar

Clicking on the Colors Tab will give you a drop down menu of selections, one of which is the "curves tool"

Simply select "curves" by clicking it on and the following  "curves tool" will open. It looks like a graph. If you haven't opened an image, now is the time to do so.

Simply Click your mouse anywhere along the graph line to create a point. Typically I always click in the middle of the line, then while holding the mouse down, drag upwards to lighten and downwards to darken your picture. You will find that you can drag your line in any direction. A slight  "s" curve supposedly will give you a better enhancement at times. 

The curves tool graph displays  the location  of your various  colors occurring in your photo via a histogram. To find out where the color of my shirt appears on the histogram above, I simply clicked that portion of the photo with my mouse. You will notice that a vertical x line will automatically  appear  on the curve's graph displaying  it's location. Now I can drag on that portion of the line which will display where that color appears. Dragging the line slightly up or down will make changes, however it may affect other areas of my photo too. In order to minimize the area effected I can create a new point to drag by clicking a point on each side of the vertical line in the histogram below. This way it will make slight adjustments to that color.  Below is an example of  a point I created. Simply drag your new mid point up or down to adjust. You will be able to see the change in your photo while you are doing it. If you like the results click ok. Always click  ctrl +Z  to "undo"

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You  will notice  in the "curve tool" above  where  I created new points on each side of the  vertical color  line. This line was automatically shown by the "curves tool" when I clicked on a particular  area  in the photo you see me using. In this case I clicked on the shirt I was wearing. I could have just as easily clicked on the water. Try clicking around the various points on the photo you are displaying and see where they fall on your histogram. Next try creating a point on each side of that vertical color line and play with adjusting it.

Once you become proficient using the selection tools,  especially the "path tool", going to the "curve tool"  will  be the next step to adjust various areas in all your photos. How many of us have that great shot of their family or friends  that have  faces  hidden by shadow. You will find that harmony   can be restored  in these photos using the "path tool" along with the "curve tool" in combination. I opt for using the "path tool" in selecting the area to edit because I find that outlining faces with the " ellipse tool " leaves an obvious line. With the "path tool"  I always  try to break my adjustment off on a hat, the person's hair or neckline where the clothing meets. I can then use the "smudge tool" to erase some of the more obvious lines without touching the face. This way most will never even notice the photo had been touched up.  I'll touch on the Smudge Tool , Healing Tool and Clone Tool in an upcoming post.

Once again I would like to reiterate that my purpose in writing these posts is to get you using Gimp quickly. There are great videos, tutorials and other post that go more into detail on what I have mentioned. All I'm doing here is throwing you the keys and telling you to start driving. You can worry about the mechanics and the fine points of Gimp later. I just want you to get a feel for Gimp and the amazing ride it can take you on. This concludes my brief description of the " curves tool" 

Gimp- First Bite

You can't take a bite until you have installed the program. So if you haven't go to Cnetdownload

Once installed click the Gimp desktop Icon and you should see  a screen similar to this one below when the application  opens. "Notice there are 3 Boxes".  Please Don't let this alarm you.

Box Number one is  the  "Tool Box" is on the left hand side. It has various tools in it for cropping, selecting, erasing, painting and etc. We will get more into what each tool does later in this series of post. Right now I simply wanted to identify it for you. Never close the toolbox unless you plan to exit the program. 

Box Number 2 is the "layer box". This one may not always show or even be showing now when you load up the application. Simply hold down your control button on your keyboard and press the letter "L" the box below should appear. If it is already there, close it out and re-open using the command ctrl L. Knowing how to toggle it on and off will help you not freak out, when it isn't showing.

The last Box, no. 3, which is the one you work from should always remain open. If you close it  completely you will go out of the program. To simply close the image you are working on, click on the "file tab" and select close. This will remove the image and you  choose another image to upload from your my picture files. 

Gimp- Second Bite (Now that I know the Screens, what do I do?)

It's time to load an image.  I'm going to presume you have some type of photo image on your computer and I'm going to presume it is located in a file on your computer called "my pictures".  If you don't see one there then perhaps you need to get a friend to help you with your photo editing. If a friend is not available to help, I recommend  you to  take a computer class before continuing this series.

Below is an image I loaded of me. I  accomplished  this using the following steps:

1.  First I clicked on the file tab from the main Gimp Panel,that's the big box(see the previous post if you are unsure of what it looks like. If all the boxes see  are the same size, you might need glasses or attend a computer class before continue to step 2.

2. Next select open under the tab "file", You should see something like this

3. Once  "clicked open" your screen should look like this, listing a series of file choices to choose pictures from. 

4. Here is a picture of me I uploaded in front of the "Cape Lookout Lighthouse" .  If you see a lighthouse, you may be hallucinating  because I removed it with Gimp. The picture however still needs editing and trust me the lighthouse was there before I removed it. I just wanted to show you the power of Gimp. Since this is one of my favorite photos, you will notice me use it in examples along the way. Hopefully the latter tweaks will let you see a little more of me, than the person in the shadows here. 

This concludes my opening an image in Gimp post. 

Gimp- 3rd Bite- Duplicate Layers

One thing you will see repeated through the various Youtube Gimp tutorials is that almost everyone makes a duplicate copy of the image they are working on.  This way the changes you are making are to the copy and not the original. So how do I make a duplicate copy? The following steps will help you accomplish that

1.  Click on the image you had loaded previously. If you forgot how to go back to Gimp- 2nd bite. Remember the 3 boxes I had mentioned in the 1st post in this series. Box number 2 was your layer box. Some of you have 2 boxes showing on the application and some may have 3. To open up the layer box if you only have 2 showing, simply press "ctrl L" on your keyboard. You should see the layer box, which will be to the right and look something like this. (note you can drag and move all the boxes freely on the screen) sometimes I drag them to the far edge when I'm working in the main panel.  Anyway your Layer box should look like this.

At the bottom of the layer window you will see a toolbar. Click on what looks like a double photo(next to what looks like a tulip) to make a copy of your image. The new image will appear as a background copy. You can rename it, but most of the time I don't, because I'm only working on a few layers.  This is what the layers window looks like when you have copied it successfully. 

Get into the habit of duplicating all your images when editing. If you don't see your the layer box, don't worry. Simply toggle the ctrl L key to view. Opening and closing the layer box should become a could habit to learn. This concludes our 3rd bite- Duplicate layers * you can also create a duplicate layer from the  main panel tab under layers. 

Gimp- 4 bite- selecting images and Ctrl Z

Selecting items in a photo or a certain area in a photo to enhance or edit is what makes Gimp powerful.  There are several selection tools and some tutorials on how to select an image. My favorite selection tool are the "Gimp Path Tool". When I try to edit something that has a lot of twist and turns this is the only tool I will use, because it allows you to undo your changes.  The command to undo a change is accomplished by pressing "Ctrl Z " on your keyboard. This is an invaluable command. The path tool  looks like this in your Gimp Toolbox

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Simply click this to activate the area you wish to work on.  Move around the area clicking your mouse as you go. Once you clicked around and back over your original starting click, simply hit the enter key on your keyboard. You will see marching what looks like white marching ants circling the chosen image.  Now all you have to do is decide what you will do to the image.  Below is a video I made on "selection tools". Seeing a "how to"  is normally  better than reading a "how to"