Tutorial for GIMP Smudging
Learning how to use the "Smudge" tool of the free digital imaging program GIMP can help you smooth over image distractions such moles, pores, hairs and wrinkles on face portraits. The "Smudge" tool mixes the paint from regions your brush has previously passed through with paint from the current region. If you want to try other GIMP tools that blur or smudge over image flaws, learn about the "Blur" filters and the tool palette's "Blur" tool. The latter gives you greater control over the effect, because you apply it as you apply the "Paintbrush" tool, by dragging the mouse.
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Instructions
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Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then navigate to and double click a photo or other picture to which you'd like to apply the "Smudge" tool. GIMP will load the photo for editing.
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Right click the highlighted item in the "Layers" window, which represents the picture you loaded. Click the "Duplicate" command, which makes a copy of the loaded picture. By doing this you safeguard the picture.
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Click the finger-shaped icon from the tool palette to run the "Smudge" tool. Click one of the paintbrush icons from the "Brush" gallery, which is in the "Tool options" panel below the tool palette. Choose a round brush if the image region you'll smudge depicts a smooth, rounded surface, such as the cheek of a face. Choose a brush with sharp edges for sharp-edged regions, such as mosaics or broken glass.
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Press the "[" key repeatedly to shrink the brush size, and press "]" to increase it. GIMP will indicate brush size with a dashed outline attached to your mouse cursor. Use the keys just mentioned to fit the brush's size to a region you want to smudge. For example, if you want to smudge away a mole on a portrait of a face, use "[" and "]" to size the brush's size to match that of the mole.
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Drag the "Flow" slider to the right if you want the smudge action to rapidly mix and apply paint. Drag to the left for slow mixing. In general, the more subtle you want the smudging to be, the further to the left you should drag the "Flow" slider.
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Drag over the edge of the blemish, flaw or other image region to which you want to apply the smudge brush. GIMP will mix the paint on the canvas as described in the introduction.
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References
- "The GIMP User Manual"; GIMP documentation team; 2009
