How to Color Splash Photos With GIMP

Colorizing a photo takes just a few short steps.

Color-splashing a photo in the GIMP photo-editing software program is relatively easy and allows the user to change the color of an entire picture across the color spectrum. Colorizing a photo can be accomplished in these few short steps.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Photo(s)
• GIMP program

Instructions

Colorizing a Photo in GIMP

1. Download your photo on to your computer. Save the file to your desktop or designated folder.

2. Open the GIMP program. If you have not already installed the program, download it at gimp.org/downloads/. Open it by double-clicking on the GIMP desktop icon or through your computer's start menu.

3. Open the photo file in the GIMP program. Click on "File," then "Open," then select the image file and click the "Open" button.

4. Select "Color" on the file menu. Select "Colorize" on the drop-down menu. Adjust the hue, saturation and lightness to color-splash the photo with the color of your choice. You also could colorize your photo by selecting "Color Balance" under the "Color" drop-down box. "Color Balance" allows you to manipulate the color of a photo by adjusting the color levels (cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, blue).

5. Save the photo by opening the "File" drop-down menu and clicking "Save As." Choose another name for your colorized photo so that you do not copy over the original photo image. Example: A picture of a flower is saved as "Flower"; after you turn the picture of a flower completely red, save it as "RedFlower."

Tips & Warnings

• Playing with the "Filter" options on the GIMP task bar may offer various ways of color-splashing and manipulating a photo.

• Remember to save the edited photo under a different name than your original file or you could lose the original picture.

Resources

• GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program