How to Make Explosions in GIMP

GIMP's Sparks paintbrush digitally creates the look of explosions.

Use the free graphics design program GIMP to create and edit digital images. GIMP's offering of tools and filters can recreate the look of explosions with a few clicks of the mouse. The program has a Sparks paintbrush, which can produce a diversified set of fiery particles. The explosive scene can be further embellished with GIMP's Motion Blur Filter before the image is saved as a picture file, using a standard extension such as JPG or PNG.

Instructions

1. Launch GIMP and create a new explosive workbook by clicking "File" and "New." Size the workbook according to your preferences by inserting custom dimensions into the Width and Height fields, or choose a "Template" from the drop-down box.

2. Click on the "Edit" tab and select "Fill with BG Color." Every time you open GIMP, the default foreground color is white and the background color is black.

3. Select the "Paintbrush Tool" located in the main toolbox and the bottom-half of the toolbox will show the tool's settings. Click on the "Brush" preview icon and select "Sparks." Double-click and drag the tab of the Scale scrollbar to the right to increase the size of your brush.

4. Double-click your cursor in the center of your workbook and drag the cursor in circular motions outward to create an elliptical shape filled with the tool's circular balls of fire. Continue to drag your cursor over the shape to add depth to your explosive scene.

5. Click the "Filters" tab and then click "Blur" and "Motion Blur." Select a Blur Type of "Zoom" and click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• Save your explosions by clicking "File" and "Save As."

References

• GIMP: Paintbrush
• GIMP: Motion Blur
• GIMP: Save As

Resources

• GIMP