Hey. This is a tutorial on how to select a sim (or another object) from a plain background and placing it onto another background.

I want to cut the sim out of this picture:


and put it onto this picture:


First of all you need to select the wand tool from the Gimp menu.


Next, you hold down the left mouse button on an area of the background (the area I clicked is idicated by the red dot) and you will notice a zig-zag line appears around your picture (still hold the left button down)


Now drag the mouse down a little until that zig-zag line changes to fit the shape of the thing you want to select, in this case my sim, Aiyana.


Once the line has changed you can let go of the mouse and a black and white line should appear around your selection.


Then, right click on the selection (not the background) and click Select > Selection Editor


A box should appear. Click on the Invert selection button and make sure your selection is shown in white in the preview panel, and the background is black. Once you've done this you can close that little box.


Now you can right click on the selection again and this time choose Edit > Cut.


Next, open up the picture of whatever you want to post it onto (in this case a beach scene) and right click and select Edit > Paste.


You should have something like this. As you can see the selection is floating.


If you want to move the selection click off the wand tool (I usually choose the lasso icon or the box selection icon - the one circled in the picture) and then it will allow you to move your selection. When you're happy click and you should have something like this:


Welldone you've done it! If you'd like to brighten up your picture why not try my other tutorials so you end up with something like this:

Hey... I've got hooked on tutorials! This is something kinda cool that I thought might come in handy when doing contests. It allows you to use both colour and black and white in the same image.

Hope you like it!

1) Okay, so heres the image I want to use.


2) We then want to duplicate it. To do this you go to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Note: It will look as if nothing has happened.


3) Then, we need to pull up the Layers dialog. To do this you go to File > Dialogs > Layers


4) A box should then appear. You will need to select the Background copy and make sure it is visible by clicking on the eye symbol.


5) Now that the Background copy is selected, we want to turn it to black and white. To do this you go to Layer > Colors > Desaturate.


6) The image should now be in black and white. Now, in the Layer dialog you need to right click on the Background copy and select Add Layer Mask...


7) A box should then appear. Make sure the White (full capacity) is selected and then click OK.


8 ) Now make sure that the Background copy is selected and both of the layers are visible by clicking on the eye symbols.


9) Next, select the brush tool. Remember you can change the size and shape of your brush by double clicking on the button.


10) Now, when you use the brush tool on the black and white layer, the colours from the colour layer will show through. This can give quite a nice effect if you use it on a few small parts parts e.g. eyes or lips, or if you use it only on the background or main subject of the image like a sim or an object.

Hey again... This is how I personally edit my pictures using GIMP. I think they turn out pretty well so for those who are having trouble with it, here is a little tutorial. Once again, I'll say I am not an expert, I'm just trying to help.

1) Okay, I had this picture that I had used the warming effect on. I now want to edit it to make it look even better.
First, I pulled up the Layers dialog (File > Dialogs > Layers). I then selected the 'Background' and not the 'Background copy'.


2) Then I wanted to adjust the Brightness and the Contrast. To do this you go to Layer > Colors > Brightness-Contrast... .


3) A box should then appear. Make sure the preview box is selected so that you can see what changes you are making to your work. Then use the up and down arrows to adjust the Brightness and Contrast. When you are happy, click OK. Note: The settings I used will most probably be different to the settings you will use for your image. Just play around until you are happy.


4) Next, I wanted to Sharpen my image. To do this you go to Filters > Enhance > Sharpen...


5) A box should then appear. Once again, make sure the preview box is selected so that you can see what changes you are making to your work. Then use the up and down arrows to adjust the Sharpness. When you are happy, click OK. Note: The settings I used will most probably be different to the settings you will use for your image. Just play around until you are happy.


6) This is what the picture looks like now. I think the Sharpening tool makes the Sims eyes look so much better.


7) Next, I added a Softglow effect. To do this you go to Filters > Artistic > Softglow... .


8 ) A box should then appear. Again, make sure the preview box is selected so that you can see what changes you are making to your work. Then use the up and down arrows to adjust the Glow radius, Brightness and Sharpness . When you are happy, click OK. Note: The settings I used will most probably be different to the settings you will use for your image. Just play around until you are happy.


9) That is basically all I do. But one last thing you must do is Flatten the image. To do this go to Image > Flatten Image.


10) Here is a picture of my finished product:

Remember: Save it!