Tutorials2D GraphicsGIMPHow To GIMP: Create A Simple Vignette Effect

How To GIMP: Create A Simple Vignette Effect

Written by Marc Roberge | 11 June 2011

In this how to GIMP tutorial, we will examine a few ways to create a classic vignette effect. “Vignette” is the term used to describe the photographic effect or technique by which an image’s brightness, saturation or clarity fades towards the edges or corners. For more information about vignettes, Wikipedia is always a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignetting.

Before we get started, I should also mention that typically vignettes tend towards dark, smoky hues although they work equally well with lighter tones. For the purposes of this tutorial, I will be using this photo of Marylin Monroe.

The first technique we will look at requires creating a new transparent layer. You can do this by selecting “Layer>New Layer” from the menu or pressing Ctrl+Shift+N on your keyboard.

In the “Create a New Layer” dialog, select the “Transparency” option and click “OK”.

From the Toolbox, select the “Ellipse Select Tool” and drag a selection over your image leaving a moderate but equivalent distance from all sides (left, top, right and bottom). In this example, I’ve kept my selection about 40 pixels from the edges.

Next, we need to invert our selection which will allow us to fill the outer edges of our image. To do this you can select “Select>Invert” from the menu or press Ctrl+I on your keyboard.

A vignette typically has a marked but gradual fade from the clear center image towards its edges. To achieve this, we need to apply feathering to our selection. A general rule of thumb for setting the feathering value for a vignette effect is 10% of your image resolution. For example, this particular image of Marylin has a relatively low resolution of 521x640 pixels, therefore, I would use anywhere from 50 to 60 pixels as my feathering value. If your image had a resolution of 2000 pixels, then I would recommend you set your feather value at or around 200 pixels.

To apply feathering, choose “Select>Feather” from the menu.

In the “Feather Selection” dialog, type in your feather value (10% of image resolution) and click “OK”.

Now, we simply need to fill this selection. Select the “Fill Tool” from the Toolbox and select your desired fill color. If using black or dark gray, I would suggest adjusting the fill opacity in the 30%-80% range. If using white or beige, leave the fill opacity at 100%.

Here are a few examples of this first technique using different fill colors and opacities:

Another way to create a vignette is by using layer blending modes. Starting with our original image, we want to create a duplicate layer by pressing Ctrl+Shif+D your keyboard or clicking the “Duplicate” button in your Layers Panel.

Again, using the “Ellipse Select Tool” from the Toolbox, drag a selection over your image keeping an equal distance from all sides. You’ll note here that my selection is much closer to the edges than in the previous part of this tutorial. Again, it’s all about experimenting!

Keeping in mind what we discussed about Feathering in the first part of this tutorial, we want to apply feathering to our selection (Select>Feather) at a ratio of about 10% of our image resolution.

We also want to make sure that our image has an Alpha channel. From the Layers Panel, right-click on your duplicate layer and select “Add Alpha Channel” from the contextual menu.

Again, from the Layers Panel, in the Blend Mode drop down, select either “Multiply” or “Burn” (depending on the effect you prefer”.

Finally, press Delete on your keyboard. This leaves only the outer blended edge giving you a different vignette effect. To cancel the active selection, press Ctrl+Shift+A or “Select>None” from the menu. This technique also works well with color images.