How to Draw a Bubble in GIMP
If you have a picture of someone on your computer that you’d like to augment with a speech bubble, you might prefer to draw the bubble with GIMP. You can make it look like someone is saying something by adding a layer above a photo, and then drawing in a text bubble. People use this technique to convey spoken words, such as a dialog in a comic strip or in an advertisement that uses direct speech to the viewer.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Launch the GIMP application on your computer.
-
2
Click “File,” click “Open,” and then navigate to the folder on your computer containing the photo of a person’s head to which you want to add a bubble. Click the file to select it, and then click “Open.”
-
-
3
Click “Layer” from the GIMP menu, and then click “New Layer.” GIMP creates a new layer above the image. Type a name for the layer, such as “Speech Bubble,” and then click “OK.”
-
4
Click the “Ellipse” tool on the “Paint Tools” palette. Left-click while dragging the cursor to create a speech bubble above the person’s head.
-
5
Click the “Paint Bucket” tool’s icon to select it. Click the colored square at the bottom of the palette. The color picker window appears. Click a color for your bubble, such as white. Click inside the bubble to fill it with the selected color.
-
6
Click the “Free Select” tool, which resembles a lasso, on the “Paint Tools” palette. Left-click at the point on the bottom of the speech bubble where you want to put the tail, then draw a thin triangular-shaped tail that points to the person’s head, and then double-click to connect this shape to the speech bubble. This should resemble a speech bubble that you have seen in a newspaper comic strip.
-
7
Select the “Paint Bucket” tool once more, and then click the tail of the speech bubble to fill it with the same color as the bubble.
-
8
Click “Layer” from the GIMP menu, and then click “New Layer.” GIMP creates a new layer above the image. Type a name for the layer, such as “Text for Bubble,” and then click “OK.”
-
9
Click the “Text” tool, marked with the icon of the letter “A” from the “Paint Tools” palette. Click the text bubble layer. A dialog box appears.
-
10
Type the text for the speech bubble. Click the “Font” pull-down menu on the “Paint Tools” palette, and then click a font if you want to change the font. Click the up/down arrows next to “Size” to make the font size larger or smaller.
-
11
Click “Close” on the text dialog box when you are finished adjusting the font and size of your text.
-
12
Click “File” from the GIMP menu, and then click “Save.” Type a name for your image in the “Name” field, then click a folder on your computer where you want to save the image, and then click “Save.”
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
