How To Outline a Shape or Object in Gimp

Outlining objects within a graphic can be an important design feature in your graphics. Outlining, whether performed on shapes, text, or any other element, can make your graphic easier to view. Until you get accustomed to using The GIMP, outlining may be a couter-intuitive process to complete. This document will guide you through an easy routine to outline objects in your GIMP graphics.

To outline a shape or object in Gimp, perform the following actions.

1. Take a Layers view by Right Clicking the image, and Clicking "Layers" > "Layers, Channels, & Paths". Create a New Layer by Clicking the New Layer button at the bottom right of the Layers window. Name it appropriately.

2. Create a shape. Use the Square or Circle selection tools, and fill them. Or create some text, or any other type of shape that you would like.

3. Select the shape. Right Click on the Layer that you created (and created your shape in) and click "Alpha to Selection". This will draw a line around your shape.

4. Pick your color. Choose the color that you would like for the line to be from the color chooser tool.

5. Create the line around your shape. You've already drawn a line around your shape with the "Alpha to Selection" command, now all you really need to do is fill it in. Right Click your image, choose "Dialogs" > "Brushes" and choose a brush (probably a very small one for an outline). Once you have choosen your brush size, Right Click the image again, and click "Edit" > "Stroke". This will draw a line where your image was currently selected, with the color of your choice.