The Special Effects in Gimp
The free graphics design program GIMP has a wide variety of special effects and filters you can use to edit a digital image, which is why GIMP is such a commonly-used piece of software. Despite all that the advanced editor has to offer, its special effects can be grouped into four main categories.
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Blur/Enhance
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Under the Filters tab, you can find one subsection titled Blur and another section titled Enhance. Depending on your project, you may want to use one or the other of these two types of effects. You can introduce a new element with the blur filters, giving a photo a vintage vibe by selecting Gaussian Blur or creating a sporty look by implementing Motion Blur. Alternatively, you can enhance a blurry image by performing a Despeckle or Sharpen effect. With any of these effects, you can click on the name of the effect to be guided through the custom settings to enact the change.
Distorts
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The Distorts section features transforming filters such as Emboss and Mosaic. These types of effects come with a simple settings guide which will let you customize the effect according to your preferences. Other filters such as IWarp and Lens Distortion provide more options within the tool's settings to achieve a desired result, but each are capable of changing your image in some dynamic and explosive way. To add waves, whirls or ripples, you can use GIMP's Distorts filters.
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Light and Shadow
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To create special effects involving lights and shadows, you can use the aptly-named subsection of GIMP filters: Light and Shadow. You can add a gradient flair, sparkle or supernova in addition to a drop shadow or perspective shadow. Each filter will launch its own settings guide to help you customize the tool to meet your particular expectations. You can adjust the colors, sizes and intensities of these filters to be more or less pronounced.
Artistic
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For the design effects you would expect out of an advanced editor, effects such as Cartoon, Oilify and Photocopy, look at the Artistic category of filters. You will be able to change the settings of each special effect to dictate how dramatic your changes will be. You can implement an effect to try it out and then remove it if the change does not meet your standards.
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