A colored swirl of light
Some effects are just very simple to do and look still pretty cool. This one here is such an effect, usable vor all kind of graphics things such as flyers, splash-screens, wallpapers etc. I'll show you how to create such an colored light swirl below!
This article has been written using GIMP 2.4 rc2.
It's divided into 8 steps and takes about
12 min to complete for an average user. 46801 times read so far.
Category: Simple effects, required skill:
30 comments have been posted so far.
Available in other languages:
-
1
Create a new Image. 640x480. You can take any size. Apply Filter / Render / Clouds / Plasma.
Click to enlarge -
2
Now do Filters / Distorts / Whirl and Pinch...
Whirl angle: 130
Pinch amount: 1
Radius: 1
It should look like that now.
Click to enlarge -
3
Create a new transparent layer.
Use the gradient tool, use white as foreground color and black as background color. The fastest way to do this pressing D to reset colors and then X to swap the colors.
Form: Radial
Move the gradient from the center of the image to one of the four corners.
Click to enlarge -
4
Duplicate the layer. The original one name "fade black". For this set the layer mode to "Multiply".
The duplicate, which should be at the top, name "light".
Click to enlarge -
5
Click the light layer.
- Colors / Brightness & Contrast, use values -65 / +45
Now apply Whirl and Pinch again. The values should be still saved from step 2, if not enter the same values. Only one value has to be changed: Pich from 1 to 0.8.
Apply the filter.
Click to enlarge -
6
Set the layer mode for the layer to Dodge. Duplicate the light layer to enhance the effect.
Activate the background-layer. Filter / Blur / Selective Gaussian Blur.
Radius: 50
Max. Delta: 70
Click to enlarge -
7
If you want a single color use Colors / Desaturate, then Colors / Colorize or Colors / Color balance like me if you want an icy version:
Shadows -30 / -30 / +30
Mids: -30 / +10 / 0
Highlights: 0 / 0 / 30
Have fun.
Click to enlarge -
8
Here is just an example i played with: a splash screen for gimp 2.4 ;)
Click to enlarge
This article is licensed under the following license: Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Austria
Links (pingbacks)
Comments
Post your own comments, questions or hints here. The author and other users will see your posting and can reply to it. Of course, you can also ask in the chat.
Comments are chronologically arranged.