How to Make a Lightsaber in Gimp

GIMP is a freeware graphics program that rivals Photoshop in its capabilities. In the past, if you wanted a cool effect for an image, you automatically went to Photoshop. But GIMP is changing all that. Just one example of this is the ability to make a glowing lightsaber in GIMP.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 

   Get an image of someone holding a stick or something similar. For this, I am using an image of a woman swinging a sword around. Open the image in GIMP.

2. 

   Create a layer above the image layer. In the dialog bow that pops up, select Foreground, which will fill the layer with black. Change the layer blending mode to Screen.

3. 

   Now use the Path tool to run a line around the area you want to be the light part of the lightsaber. Hit Enter to make it a selection.

4. 

   Take the Brush tool and paint white into the selection.

5. 

   Duplicate the top layer twice. You should now have three layers with the white painted area on them. Deselect your selection. Then go to the layers and click on the bottom one above the image you brought in. Go to Filters and select Gaussian Blur. Set it to 10. Do the same with the next layer up, except set the Gaussian to 20. Finally, do the top layer, setting the Gaussian to 40.

6. 

   Go to Colors and select Color Balance. Slide the controls until you have changed the color to a light green. And there you have it. A lightsaber made in GIMP.

Resources

• GIMP