English version of my GIMP tutorial. Translated from German language. Original:
@irgendwo/gimp-tutorial-wie-du-deine-bilder-ein-wenig-aufbessern-kannst-durch-nachbearbeitung
Hello,
There are a lot of professional photographers and digital artists on steemit, who are maybe less interested in this tutorial or nothing at all. For all others who are not so familiar with editing, I would like to recommend GIMP.
GIMP is a very good and free Photoshop alternative. The Photoshop of the little man / woman. Because not everyone has the money to start with PS.
GIMP is available here: https://www.gimp.org/
GIMP is an open source project and is regularly updated. Photoshop can do much more conveniently, easily and sometimes automatically. Sometimes you will need the help of plugins, to could do the same as you could do it with PS. But more about this later. On the whole, with GIMP much is possible. Also helpful are the many video tutorials on YouTube.
After download & installation please have a look at the interface and you can start.
Let's get started
I am not an expert in this field and therefore cannot serve with "technical jargon".
I take my pictures for steemit with a normal middle class smartphone. Sometimes these pictures can seem too gray and colorless. I'm sure many people are familiar with the problem. That's why I'm handling the whole thing with GIMP.
Briefly the procedure:
First I edit the black & white values
Then comes the red, green and blue channel
Color balance
I'll start with this picture. Unprocessed as the camera recorded it.
Black & White Values
To be found in: Colors -> Levels
As a reference point where the left and right slider should go (picture below), are the waves and spikes for me. The sliders are navigated to the beginning of a shaft. Depending on whether the result is satisfactory or not, I push it further towards the middle or away from the waves. The slider in the middle is used for fine tuning. I rarely use it myself.
Before:
After:
The colours are a little more intense and the grey is out of the picture. The details of the trees are almost lost in the shade. A sacrifice I have to make.
Continue with the R, G and B channel:
In the same window "Channel Value" - please select Red.
Same procedure as before. This should be done with every channel. These settings can be used to change the mood of the image. Only the change of the red channel can be seen here.
Evening atmosphere and everything seems a little warmer.
Please repeat the whole thing - with green and blue.
The result:
The difference is now clearest.
It can be that red or green first prevails, but then everything is balanced with blue. Therefore, try each channel until you are satisfied with the result.
It still seems too cold to me. That's why I focus more specifically on colours.
Colors -> Color Balance
As you can see, I worked my way through from the shadows to the highlights. With this I have adjusted the colors in the respective areas. Once again, the mood and the intensity of the colours were significantly influenced by this.
The end result of the whole thing:
Before:
After Levels:
After Color Balance:
If you are satisfied and want to save everything, you can export the edited image.
Saving only, means saving in GIMP's own format. This allows you to continue working on the picture at any time.
All layers and work steps are retained. The image must be exported and saved as. jpg if you want to use it elsewhere.
File -> Export As
Enter name and format and you're done. Example: Picture. jpg - Then save and determine quality. That's it, then.
Interesting could also be interesting for you:
Colors -> Hue / Saturation
Colors -> Brightness / Contrast
Colors -> Desaturation - For creating black / white images
For everyone else who wants to sharpen the image a bit, a High Pass Filter can be used.
To do this you have to download a plugin. For GIMP there is an extra page or database for GIMP.
http://registry.gimp.org/glossary/a
If you like, you can browse the site and find many ways to expand GIMP.
The High Pass Filter is available here: http://registry.gimp.org/node/7385
Download the plugin and copy it to the correct directory:
C: -> User -> [Your Name] -> .gimp-2.8 -> scripts
Then in GIMP. Filters -> Script Fu -> Refresh Scripts
Then: Filters -> Generic -> High Pass Filter
Use the High Pass Filter and play around with the value. I usually use a value between 5-10.
When the filter is executed, GIMP creates a copy that is being edited. This must then only be placed over your edited image with "Overlay". To be found on the right side.
Each level you work with has a small icon to the left of its name - an eye. Click on it to reduce the visibility of the layer to 0. This allows you to make a quick comparison before and after.
Before High Pass Filter:
After High Pass Filter:
NOTE: Unfortunately, plugins get less attention. Therefore, it may happen that they are no longer compatible with the latest GIMP version or there may be other problems.
OK, that was it. This is how I proceed when I want to get more out of my pictures. But one thing can't do a program, at least I don't know anything about it. If an image is too bright or dark, blurred etc. the quality is generally too poor. Then most programs can't help anymore.
And no matter which tutorial you watch. The more you play around with the program and try it, the more you can discover. In my opinion, there is no such thing as right or wrong. Just try it out until you like it. Playing with the values.
Since I have NEVER created a tutorial yet, let me know if it is understandable. Too few or too many pictures? Too much exuberance? Something confusing you? Your opinion matters to me.
Thank you for very much for every UpVote and resteem!