How to create a gradient transparency in GIMP

November 17, 2023

`How to create a gradient transparency in GIMP`

Home & Office

Why you can trust ZDNET : ZDNET independently tests and researches products to bring you our best recommendations and advice. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Our process

‘ZDNET Recommends’: What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET’s editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.

Home Home & Office Work Life Productivity

How to create a gradient transparency in GIMP

If you’re looking to add flair to your images by giving a layer a bit of transparency that fades from completely transparent to fully opaque, GIMP can do that.

Written by Jack Wallen, Contributing Writer

Person editing an image — Thana Prasongsin/Getty Images

I’ve been using GIMP for a very long time. With this image editor, I’ve created nearly one hundred book covers, countless article images, and more. GIMP has everything I need to work with and it doesn’t cost me a penny to use. On top of that, it’s a locally installed application, so you don’t have to worry that your work will be saved to the cloud and then used without your permission to train an AI neural network.

What’s more, unlike the competition, GIMP is cross-platform, so it can be installed on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Also: How to choose the right Linux desktop distribution for you

One feature I use quite a lot is gradient transparency. Say, for example, you have a background image and you want to superimpose an image on top of that which fades to transparency halfway across the background. GIMP can do that task and I’m going to show you how it’s done.

I’ll demonstrate with two images I downloaded from Pixabay (Image 1 and Image 2). You can download both images for free and follow along.

How to create a gradient transparency

What you’ll need: The only things you’ll need are a running instance of GIMP and the two images above. That’s it. Ready to get creative?

1. Open the first image

The first thing to do is open GIMP and then open Image 1.

2. Add a new layer

Next, click Layer > New Layer. In the resulting popup, give the new layer a name and click OK.

The GIMP New Layer window. — There are a number of options to tweak here. But for this tutorial, accept the defaults.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

3. Open the second image

Next, open Image 2 and then copy the image with either the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut or Edit > Copy.

4. Paste the copied image

Go back to Image 1, make sure the new layer is selected, and paste the copied image into the layer. Once the paste is done, make sure to anchor the layer by clicking the Anchor button near the bottom-right corner of GIMP.

The GIMP Anchor button. — The Anchor button is the first green icon near the right edge.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

5. Add a layer mask

A layer mask makes it possible to hide or change a portion of an image without erasing it. To create the layer mask, right click the newly created layer (the one to which you copied the second image to) and select Add Layer Mask.

Also: I tested out an AI art generator and here’s what I learned

When prompted, keep the defaults and click Add.

The GIMP layer right-click menu. — Make sure to have selected the top layer before you add the layer mask.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

6. Create the gradient

In the toolbox, select the gradient tool, and make sure the colors selected are white and black (in that order). With the gradient tool selected, place your cursor at some point in the image, and then click and drag it to another location.

Also: Want to save your aging computer? Try these 5 Linux distributions

If you don’t like the way it looks, hit Ctrl+Z to undo it and try again. Keep going until you get the exact look you want.

7. Apply the layer mask

When you have the gradient the way you want it, right click the top layer and select Apply Layer Mask. Keep in mind that, once you apply the layer mask, you can’t undo it. So, if you’re not certain about the look of the image, don’t apply the layer mask until you’re certain.