April 10, 2017

GIMP Collage of Polaroids Using Layer Mask [New Guide]

Today's tutorial will explain to you as to how to create a collage of Polaroids for a given image in GIMP.

We will use the Scale Tool to resize the image, the Move Tool to move the image, the Rectangle Select Tool to draw rectangle selection, Drop Shadow to add a drop shadow,  the Rotate Tool to rotate a Polaroid's frame and Layer Mask to insert the image.

Let's get started!
GIMP Collage of Polaroids Using Layer Mask
Final result.



Video: GIMP Collage of Polaroids Using Layer Mask.

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1. Create a New Image
Use File>New or else just press Ctrl+N.

The Create a New Image dialog box appears.

In the pop-up window, you can set the Width and Height of the new image.

Enter a value for the initial width with 3000 px and height with 2000 px manually or through the up and down arrows.

Click Advanced Options, select Background Color for “Fill with”.

Click OK.
Create a new image.
Create a new image.

2. Insert Image
For this GIMP Collage tutorial, I'll use this image that I downloaded from Pixabay, stock image: 817369

Use File> Open As Layers command in the top menu to open the image you'd like to insert.

Click on the image, then click OK.

You can now edit the image as follows:
  • Use Tools>Transform Tools>Scale command to resize the image to match the size of the Background layer. Click anywhere inside the image. In the Scale dialog box, click the chain to keep the image does not distort. Set the new values for the image's width and height. Press the Scale button when you are done.
  • Use Tools>Transform Tools>Move command to move the image. Click and hold anywhere inside the image and drag.
The Open As Layers dialog box.
The Open As Layers dialog box.

Open photo as layers.
Open photo as layers.

The Scale Tool.
The Scale Tool.

Adjust the size of the image/layer using the Scale Tool.
Adjust the size of the image/layer using the Scale Tool.

3. Draw a Rectangle Selection
Select Rectangle Selection Tool from the toolbox or use Tools> Selection Tools> Rectangle Select (R).

Click and drag your mouse to choose a portion of the document.

If you are done, just leave the mouse.

You should see a dotted line or marching ants outline the selection.

Now, the selected portion of the document has been picked in rectangular shaped.
Draw a rectangle selection.
Draw a rectangle selection.

4. Create a New Layer
Use Layer> New Layer or press Shift+Ctrl+N to create a new layer.

The New Layer window open.

Type a name in the Layer Name text box and choose Transparency in the Fill with drop-down menu.

Click OK.

A new, empty layer, added to the layer stack of the image, just above the active layer.
Create a new layer.
Create a new layer.

5. Fill Selection With White Color
Make sure the background color is white by pressing keyboard key D, then go to Edit> Fill with BG color (or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+.). 

Now the white color fills the active layer selection.
Make sure the background color is white by pressing keyboard key D.
Make sure the background color is white by pressing keyboard key D.

Fill the selection with the background color.
Fill the selection with the background color.

6. Shrink Selection
Use Select> Shrink.

The Shrink Selection dialog box appears.

In the pop-up window, set your shrink value manually or through the up and down arrows.

Click OK to apply.

The Shrink command reduces the size of the selected area.
Shrink selection.
Shrink selection.

7. Fill Selection With Green Color
Click the background color box.

The Change Background Color dialog box appears.

Choose a green color and click OK.

Go to Edit> Fill with BG color (or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+.).

Now a green color fills the active layer selection.

You can remove the selection by going to Select> None.
Choose a green color for the background.
Choose a green color for the background.

Fill the selection with green color.
Fill the selection with green color.

8. Add Drop Shadow
Make sure you already use Select>None to remove the selection.

Use Filters> Light and Shadow> Drop Shadow.

The Script-Fu: Drop Shadow dialog box appears.

Here, you can just leave the default value and then click the OK button.

Merge the two layers by choosing Layer> Merge Down.
Drop Shadow.
Drop Shadow.

Merge Down.
Merge Down.

9. Rotate The Polaroid Layer
Use Tools>Transform Tools>Rotate, a Rotation Information dialog is open.

Set the angle, center X, and center Y manually or through the up and down arrows.

Click the Rotate button when you're done.
Rotate the layer using the Rotate tool.
Rotate the layer using the Rotate tool.

10. Duplicate The Polaroid Layer
Use Layer> Duplicate Layer.

Click the Move Tool icon or else use Tools>Transform Tool>Move and then Click and hold anywhere inside the duplicate rectangle layer and drag to the position you want.
the Move Tool.
The Move Tool.

Drag to another position.
Drag to another position.

11. Rotate The Duplicate Polaroid Layer Using the Rotate Tool
Now you can rotate the duplicate layer to the position you want.

Use Tools>Transform Tools>Rotate, a Rotation Information dialog is open.

Set the angle, center X, and center Y manually or through the up and down arrows.

Click the Rotate button when you're done.
Rotate the duplicate polaroid layer.
Rotate the duplicate polaroid layer.

12. Duplicate Layer Polaroid As Many as You Want
Repeat steps 10 through 11 to duplicate and rotate the rectangle layer as many as you want and then arranged it all to your satisfaction.
Duplicate the layer of Polaroid as many as you want.
Duplicate the layer of Polaroid as many as you want.

13. Duplicate The Image Layer
Activate the image's layer by clicking on it and then duplicate layer by choosing Layer> Duplicate Layer.

Move the image's layer right on top of one of the duplicate polaroid layer.
Duplicate the image's layer.
Duplicate the image's layer.

drag the duplicate image's layer on top of one layer of Polaroid.
Drag the duplicate image's layer on top of one layer of Polaroid.

14. Create a Layer Mask
Toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left.

Click “Select by color” tool or else use Tools>Selection Tools>By color Select and then click on the inner Polaroid shaped layer that is in green color.

Click on the image's layer. Again, toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left and then go to Layer> Add Layer Mask, choose “Selection”.

Click the Add button.

When you're done, remove the selection by going to Select> None.
Toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left.
Toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left.

the Select by color tool.
The Select by color tool.

Select the Polaroid layer then click on the inner Polaroid layer that is in green color.
Select the Polaroid layer then click on the inner Polaroid layer that is in green color.


Select the image's layer on the Layers Dialog and toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left.
Select the image's layer on the Layers Dialog and toggling the visibility of the image's layer by clicking on the eye icon on the left.

The Add Layer Mask dialog box.
The Add Layer Mask dialog box.

Now the content of the Polaroid layer, clips the layers above it (the image layer).
Now the content of the Polaroid layer, clips the layers above it (the image layer).

15. Fill All Polaroid Frame With Image
Repeat steps 13 through 14 to fill all polaroid frame with the image.
Fill All Polaroid Frame With Image.
Fill All Polaroid Frame With Image.

16. Save Your Document
Use File>Save command in the top menu or else just press Ctrl+S to save your project file.

The Save Image dialog box appears.

Navigate to the folder where you want to store your project file.

Type a name in the Name text box and leave the default GIMP (*.XCF) format.

XCF is GIMP's native format and is useful because it stores everything about your image and will allow you to later edit your image in GIMP, in case you notice a problem.

Click Save to store the project file.

Once you have finished, you will probably also want to export the image in a more widely used format, such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.

Here is the result:
GIMP collage of Polaroids.
GIMP collage of Polaroids.

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