How to Make a Floating Selection Smaller in GIMP
GIMP is a free graphics design program which allows you to copy and paste areas that you select. Immediately after you paste in a region, the region is known as a "floating selection" because it has not yet been assigned to merge with a pre-existing layer, nor been assigned to become a layer of its own. While the selection is floating, use the "Scale Tool" to change the size of the area.
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Instructions
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Launch GIMP and open a digital picture or file you want to work with by clicking "File" and "Open." Your image will appear as the background of a GIMP workbook.
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Click on the "Rectangular Select Tool" or "Elliptical Select Tool" in the main toolbox. Double-click your cursor on one corner of the area you want to isolate and drag your cursor to the other corner, encompassing the entire region that you want to select. Click once within the selection to finalize the border.
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Select the "Edit" tab and click "Copy." Select the "Edit" tab again and this time click "Paste." In the Layers dialog you will see the addition of a temporary layer titled "Floating Selection."
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Click on the "Scale Tool" in the main toolbox and click once within your floating selection. A Scale dialog will appear. Decrease the width and height of your selection by inserting your desired dimensions, or using the down arrow next to each field. Click "Scale" and the shrinking will occur.
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Right-click within the Layers dialog on the floating selection thumbnail. Select "New Layer" to make your selection its own layer, or click "Anchor Layer" to merge the selection onto your original background layer. If you want to make changes to the selection without affecting your background, select "New." If you want to make changes to both the selection and background at the same time, select "Anchor."
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Tips & Warnings
To view the Layers dialog, click "Windows," "Dockable Dialogs" and "Layers."
