Guide: Tile an Image in GIMP: Guide
Not everyone likes Photoshop for its pricing and somewhat complicated nature for newbies. Thanks to the free alternatives like GIMP, you can do almost any image manipulation task without Photoshop. If you want to tile your image, GIMP is a great choice to achieve that. GIMP requires less resources compared to Photoshop. For those who don’t know, juxtaposing an image means creating a repeating pattern of an image. The picture to be tiled is smaller as compared to the bigger picture. There are two ways to create a seamless pattern in GIMP. One of them is the use of the native tile feature and the latter uses the help of the offset and tile for a more realistic approach. Let’s check them both to tile an image.
Method 1: Create a pattern in GIMP by placing it side by side
In this method, you need to create a small blank image first and then add your image as a layer on top from which you want to create a pattern. Then use the Tile option. Here are the steps in detail: Step 1: Launch GIMP on your computer. Step 2: Click File> New.
Step 3: The Create a New Image dialog box opens. In the Image size, the width and height should be kept the same. You can keep it 50 × 50, 100 × 100, 150 × 150 and so on. The image size depends on how big your background would be. For example, if you want to create a 1920 × 1080 image, choose 250 × 250 pixels. Otherwise, the pattern in the final the image would appear congested and small. Likewise, if you want an image with 1280 × 720 pixels, choose 200 pixels or less. I’m going with width and height at 200 pixels.
Now click on Advanced Options in the same dialog box and select Transparency under the Fill with option.
This is what the result would look like:
Step 4: Go to the File option again. Select Open as layers. Navigate to and open the image you want to tile.
Step 5: If the image is larger than the canvas, you will see that only part of the image is visible. You need to resize it to fit the original canvas. Tip You can skip this step if your image size is equal to or smaller than that of the canvas. In that case, you will see the entire image in the blank canvas.
To scale the image, click the Scale tool or use the Shift + S keyboard shortcut. You can do it in two ways. You can manually resize to fit the blank canvas by dragging the corners.
You can also manually enter the pixels in the Scale box. Keep the pixels slightly less than those of the blank canvas. This is done to leave some space between the repeating patterns. Click Scale. For example, if it is a resolution of 200 × 200 pixels, choose a width of 150 pixels. Make sure the chain icon is selected in the Scale box so that the height adjusts automatically.
Doing so will display the image outside of the blank canvas. You only see the boundaries. Using the Move tool, drag it to the center of the blank canvas.
Your image should look something like the following screenshot at this stage.
Step 6: Now you have to merge the two layers. To do this, right-click on any layer in the Layers panel and select Merge Visible Layers. Click Merge in the box that appears.
Alternatively, you can also save the image as PNG via File> Export As. Then reopen the image in GIMP. Step 7: After merging the layers, go to Filters> Map> Tile.
Step 8: The Tile dialog box opens with the options Width and Height. Enter the desired size for your final background here, that is, the background on which you want to tile your image. Let’s go with 1280 × 720 pixels. Check the box next to Create new picture and press OK button
Step 9: Here’s a glimpse of the final statue.
Now go to File> Export As to save it. You can save the image as PNG to maintain transparency. Note: Lower the image in step 5 if the final image looks packaged.
Method 2: Create a pattern in GIMP with offset tool
In the above method, the image is tiled horizontally and vertically. If you want a different pattern as below, you need to shift the image first.
Let’s consider the steps in detail. Step 1: Repeat steps 1-6 mentioned above. That is, create a blank canvas, add your image, scale it down, then merge the canvas and image to get the next image.
Step 2: You must duplicate your layer. To do that, right-click the layer in the Layers panel and choose Duplicate Layer.
Step 3: Select the newly created duplicate layer and click on the layer in the top menu. Choose Transform and go to Offset.
Step 4: In the Offset Layer dialog that appears, click ‘By width / 2, height / 2’ buttonClick Ok.
You will see a pattern appear.
Step 5: You will have to merge the two layers again. To do this, click on one of the layers and choose Merge Visible Layers.
Note: At this point you can save this image as a pattern and add it to Patterns in GIMP. You can then use it to fill your images with Pattern Fill. Follow the instructions for this in our bonus section below. Step 6: Go to Filters> Map> Tile.
Step 7: As with the previous method, enter the size of the background image or your actual image size to place the image side by side. Make sure the box next to Create New Image is selected. Press OK button
Here is the final statue. Save it from File> Export As in the PNG format.
Note: If the pattern looks overloaded, reduce the image when scaling it.
Bonus: Create a Custom Pattern in GIMP
GIMP offers many patterns that can be used to fill your images. You can also create your custom patterns for GIMP. Here is how to to do. Step 1: Repeat steps 1-5 of the second method mentioned above. You have the following image.
Step 2: Go to File> Export As. Enter a name to identify the pattern, such as a bus in this case. Make sure to change the extension to ‘.pat’. Save it in any folder. Click on Export.
A description window will open. Enter a description for your pattern. Click on Export.
Step 3: In GIMP, go to Edit> Preferences.
Step 4: Click Folders in the left pane and choose Patterns. Click on the Patterns folder in the right panel. Then press the Open folder buttonClick Ok.
Step 5: Open the Patterns folder. Now copy or move the pattern file you saved in step 2 to this folder.
Step 6: Open GIMP again and click refresh button under the Patterns panel. The newly added pattern is displayed up
Step 7: Open an image and choose Fill Bucket. Select Pattern Fill as the Fill Type. Select your own pattern.
Sky Is the Limit
We hope that the tutorial was easy to understand and implement. The tiled image can be used to create beautiful wallpapers and backgrounds. You can add another image on top of the tiled image to create beautiful images. The next up: You can also tile an image without GIMP with simple tools on your Windows 10. Discover 4 easy ways to place an image from a tile at the following link.
Tile an Image in GIMP: Guide: benefits
Faq
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