A guide to making censors in GIMP
I wrote a short guide on how to censor images in GIMP, to show you guys how easy it is. (and because I want to see more content makers)
1. Download and install GIMP from here: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
1a. This is just my preference, but go to [Windows > Single-Window Mode] for your first time launching.
2. Open your image in GIMP.
3. Select an area to censor, using [Tools > Selection Tools > Rectangle Select, Ellipse Select, or Free Select]. Rectangle and ellipse will let you click and drag to make a box, then you can adjust the borders of it. Free select you have the option to either drag the mouse to draw (not recommended unless you have a tablet) or you can click points and they will connect. Click your first point again to close the selection.
4a. For black boxes, if you plan to also use blur/pixels, its best to make a new transparent layer [Layer > New Layer > OK with the defaults], then you can use [Edit > Fill with FG Color] or [Tools > Paint Tools > Bucket Fill]. If you don't want to make a new layer, use [Edit > Fill with FG Color] as the bucket fill won't work as expected.
4b. For blur or pixelize, stay on the picture layer and go to [Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur or Pixelize]. The box will prompt you for a number of how hard to blur, the higher the blurrier.
4c. For cubism, it will be under [Filters > Artistic > Cubism]. The popup will ask you for Tile Size and Tile saturation. I like to keep the saturation at the default 2.5, and the tile size will depend on your image size but I like to use values between 20-30.
5. Before selecting something else, zoom out [View > Zoom > Fit Image in Window] to be sure your censoring looks good and covers enough (and not too much /s). If you need to change the number you used, go to [Filters > Re-Show X].
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the other areas needing censorship.
7. Captions are optional, but you can do them with [Tools > Text] then draw a text box. Set your font, size, and color there as well. I also recommend using Fit Image in Window to review how the caption reads.
8. Once you're happy with your edits, go to [File > Overwrite filename] to overwrite the original, or [File > Export As] to make a new file for your edit. Put .jpg at the end of the new filename for the file type.
Some tips for captions and others things:
Make them readable.
Use white on dark background or black on light background. If the background colors are too dynamic, make a new box behind your text or use white text with a black border.
Don't write so much that you end up rambling or compromising the text size. I'd say 1-3 sentences is enough, and more than 5-6 sentences total is too much. Instead of shrinking the text, split it to other boxes or cut down your word count.
[Tools > Transform Tools > Rotate] can rotate the rectangle select or text boxes if the perpendicular doesn't fit so well.
[Select > Invert] is great for censors focusing on body parts. Just use free select to connect the dots around the area, then invert so your'e selecting everything else.
To select multiple areas at once, hold Shift while making the first click of the second selection.
When using Free Select, backspace will let you undo the last point you placed.
1. Download and install GIMP from here: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
1a. This is just my preference, but go to [Windows > Single-Window Mode] for your first time launching.
2. Open your image in GIMP.
3. Select an area to censor, using [Tools > Selection Tools > Rectangle Select, Ellipse Select, or Free Select]. Rectangle and ellipse will let you click and drag to make a box, then you can adjust the borders of it. Free select you have the option to either drag the mouse to draw (not recommended unless you have a tablet) or you can click points and they will connect. Click your first point again to close the selection.
4a. For black boxes, if you plan to also use blur/pixels, its best to make a new transparent layer [Layer > New Layer > OK with the defaults], then you can use [Edit > Fill with FG Color] or [Tools > Paint Tools > Bucket Fill]. If you don't want to make a new layer, use [Edit > Fill with FG Color] as the bucket fill won't work as expected.
4b. For blur or pixelize, stay on the picture layer and go to [Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur or Pixelize]. The box will prompt you for a number of how hard to blur, the higher the blurrier.
4c. For cubism, it will be under [Filters > Artistic > Cubism]. The popup will ask you for Tile Size and Tile saturation. I like to keep the saturation at the default 2.5, and the tile size will depend on your image size but I like to use values between 20-30.
5. Before selecting something else, zoom out [View > Zoom > Fit Image in Window] to be sure your censoring looks good and covers enough (and not too much /s). If you need to change the number you used, go to [Filters > Re-Show X].
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the other areas needing censorship.
7. Captions are optional, but you can do them with [Tools > Text] then draw a text box. Set your font, size, and color there as well. I also recommend using Fit Image in Window to review how the caption reads.
8. Once you're happy with your edits, go to [File > Overwrite filename] to overwrite the original, or [File > Export As] to make a new file for your edit. Put .jpg at the end of the new filename for the file type.
Some tips for captions and others things:
Make them readable.
Use white on dark background or black on light background. If the background colors are too dynamic, make a new box behind your text or use white text with a black border.
Don't write so much that you end up rambling or compromising the text size. I'd say 1-3 sentences is enough, and more than 5-6 sentences total is too much. Instead of shrinking the text, split it to other boxes or cut down your word count.
[Tools > Transform Tools > Rotate] can rotate the rectangle select or text boxes if the perpendicular doesn't fit so well.
[Select > Invert] is great for censors focusing on body parts. Just use free select to connect the dots around the area, then invert so your'e selecting everything else.
To select multiple areas at once, hold Shift while making the first click of the second selection.
When using Free Select, backspace will let you undo the last point you placed.