Re: [Gimp-user] Crop to oval?

[Stefan Maerz <stefanmaerz gmail com>]

On 03/30/2012 03:19 PM, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> Anyway, a relative just sent me an old old family photo that some nitwit,
> perhaps a generation or two ago, did some seriously violence to with a pair
> of scissors.  To salvage this one and to make it look presentable I really
> need to be able to take the scan I have of it and crop it into a oval shape.
> (Yes, it is a portrait.)
>
> P.P.S.  For bonus points, somebody please also explain to me how to fade
> the edges of the oval slowly to white.  that would be really cool, and
> would, I'm sure, impress the bejesus out of some of my relatives
Hi Ronald,

Gimp's user interface is a bit hard to learn at first. Just do some 
tutorials, and you'll pick it up in no time.

For your question, I don't know of a way to do this without the use of 
layers.

With the oval selected, press CTRL+X to cut it out.
Then do a CTRL+V To paste the oval. This puts the oval into a "Floating 
Selection". It is almost like a layer, but not quite.

Now a little about Gimp's interface: You have three windows. In "Layers, 
Channels, Paths, Undo - Brushes, Patterns, Gradients" there is an area 
for Layers (you probably know this). At the bottom of the layers area 
(above brushes) and to the left is a create new layer. Press it this 
turns the "Floating Selection" into a layer.

Next you can select on the other layer (Titled "Background" by default), 
and delete it by right clicking and pressing "Delete Layer". At this 
point you should have your image as you desire.



Instructions for feathering (the bonus points):

If your oval's layer isn't selected for any reason select it now. Then 
pick the "Select by Color Tool" from the Toolbox. Set the threshold to 
255(in the bottom half of the toolbox) and click on your oval. This 
selects your oval...IIRC, there is a easier way to do this, but I don't 
remember how.

Right Click on the image somewhere and press Select>Shrink. Select a 
value, perhaps 4 or 5 and hit okay.

Now right click on the image again and press Select>Invert. Right click 
on the image and Select > Feather Put 4 or 5 and press okay. Press the 
delete button on your keyboard, and you should be good to go.

Hth and ask away if you have questions,
-Stefan Maerz