Guide: How to Crop an Image in a Circle Shape in GIMP
In any photo editing app, the crop tool is the most useful to remove unnecessary parts of an image. All simple and powerful photo editors provide a basic cropping tool. However, when it comes to cropping according to shapes, few have anything to offer. GIMP is the free photo manipulation tool available for Windows, macOS and Linux. Although it has been around for a while, it lacks the shape cutout featureHowever, that does not mean that you cannot achieve the same with it. All you need to do is follow a workaround. You can then crop images to any shape you want. In this tutorial, we will tell you how to crop an image to a circle shape in GIMP. You can also use the same method for other shapes, such as oval, alphabets, etc. Let’s get started.
How to Do a circular crop in GIMP
Here are the steps: Step 1: Launch GIMP and open the image in it you want to crop.
Step 2: Since GIMP does not provide a built-in way to crop an image in a circle shape, we will use the help of the Ellipse selection tool. To do this, click on the ellipse tool in the toolbar, the one that is oval in shape. You can also press the E key on your keyboard to activate that tool.
Step 3: Draw a circle with your mouse on the desired area of the image. By default, the circle is not fixed in shape. To hold the size, check the Fixed option from the Tool options on the left sidebar. Then draw a circle.
Step 4: Click and drag the mouse over the selected area to change its position. Use the four corners of the selection to increase or decrease the selection size. Step 5: Now there are three methods to create a circular image. Let’s take a look at them separately.
Method 1: Paste on another image
If you want to paste the circular image directly onto another image without saving it, follow here how to go for it. Step 1: Right-click on the selected area from step 4 above and go to Edit> Copy.
Step 2: Open the second image in GIMP with File> Open. Step 3: Right-click on the new image and go to Edit> Paste. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V (Windows) and Command + V (Mac). Use the Scale and Move tools to adjust your pasted image.
Step 4: Under Layer in the sidebar, right-click on this floating selection layer and choose To a new layer.
Step 5: Save the image with File> Export As.
Method 2: remove background
Another way to create a circular image is to remove the background. With this method, you will also get the image with a transparent background. To do this, follow these steps: Step 1: After selecting the desired circular area using the Ellipse tool, right-click the selection and choose Select> Invert. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + I. You will see that the outer area is now selected.
Step 2: To get a transparent background, you need to add an alpha channel to your image. To do that, right-click on your image layer under the Layers tab in the sidebar and click Add Alpha Channel. Tip Layers without an alpha channel are bold. Step 3: Right-click the main image again and select Edit> Delete. You can also press the Delete key. Doing so will remove the background, leaving only the round image.
Step 4: If you save the image at this point, it will have an additional background around it. Use the auto crop feature to make the size of your image the same as that of the circle featureThat is, go to Image> Crop to Content. You can also right-click and click Image> Crop to Content.
Step 5: This step is very crucial. You must save your image in the PNG format to maintain transparency. Saving it in JPG or other formats will add a background color to your image. If you have an image with a transparent background, you can use it on any image. It looks like it is part of the image. Go to File> Export As to save in PNG format. Keep the extension .png.
Method 3: Paste as a new image
If the above method sounds tedious, there is also an uncomplicated way to keep the background transparent on a circular image. Here are the steps: Step 1: Once you’ve selected your area with the Ellipse Tool, right-click on it and go to Edit> Copy. Step 2: Right-click the same image again and choose Edit> Paste As> New Image. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + V (Windows) and Shift + Command + V (Mac).
Doing so will open your circular image with a transparent background. Now you just need to save it in the PNG format with Export> Save As.
Go around
Rounded images have several advantages. They can be used on social media as profile pictures. With a transparent background, you can place them on any image, giving it a distinctive look. In GIMP, you can delete the circular cropped portion and also replace it with a new image. The next up: Layers are an important part of image manipulation in GIMP. Here is how to use them in GIMP.
How to Crop an Image in a Circle Shape in GIMP: benefits
Faq
Final note
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