Crop Images easily in Linux using GIMP

Its great to have a quick but powerful tool to be able to crop images. On Linux GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful tool but potentially not immediately obvious way to crop images. This post outlines how you can quickly crop your images on Linux Mint or Ubuntu.

• GIMP should already be installed but you can quickly check from the terminal :

$ sudo apt-get install gimp

• Browse to the image, right click and select 'Open With -> GIMP Image Editor'

• The picture will open in the main window and a second 'Toolbox' window to the left will also appear (as highlighted below)

• If the Toolbox does not appear from the main GIMP window select 'Windows -> New Toolbox'

• On the Toolbox select the 'Crop Tool' icon as shown  below or press 'Shift + C'

• Select the area you want to keep then choose a corner of this box e.g. as shown below with the arrow

• By selecting the corner box this crops the picture 

• The default save format is GIMP XCF. To save as another format e.g. jpeg select 'File -> Export' and select the relevant format you want.

Draw arrows in GIMP on Linux

Unlike most photo editing software GIMP does not come with draw arrow support by default. This post shows how to get this feature within GIMP and how to use it on Linux Mint & Ubuntu.

• Close GIMP if its open
• Go to the GIMP Plugin Registry 
• Search for 'Draw arrow' + download 'arrow.scm'
• Copy file from "Downloads" directory to the gimp hidden folder in your home directory

$ cp arrow.scm ~/.gimp-2.8/scripts/

Note : Your GIMP version may vary but will be ~/.gimp-<version>/scripts

• Open an image in GIMP and under menu 'Tools -> Arrow' will now appear

• Select 'Colour Tool' and on the bottom of the 'Toolbox' select the colour you would like the arrow to be :

• Select Paths Tool

• Next is a bit tricky (until you do it a few times). Select where the arrow head will be, press mouse once and a small square will appear

• Select where arrow tail will be, press mouse once and a line appears

• Right click on the line and go to 'Tools-> Arrow'

• Modify how the arrow is defined in the options (you can play with this until its what your want)

•  Press OK and the arrow will appear :)

Highlight area of image with rectangle in GIMP on Linux

 

GIMP is a great photo editing tool on Linux Mint + Ubuntu. This post shows how you can quickly highlight an area of any image with rectangle.

• Open GIMP and select the 'Colour Tool' then scroll down to the bottom of the Toolbox and change to the desired colour.
  

• Choose the 'Rectangle Select Tool'

• Select the area you want to highlight

• Go to the 'Edit -> Stroke Selection'

•  Select the type of stroke (Solid color or pattern) and change the width then press OK

• You now will have the image highlighted