2

Is there a way in GIMP to automatically associate a colour with a given brush size? The use case is that large objects are typically in the foreground, and should in general have a lighter tone than background (smaller) objects.

I'd like Gimp to associate color with a brush size. That is all.

A larger size should result in a lighter color (that's one algorithm; there are infinitely more).

I am not asking for an AI to decide what's in the foreground and what's in the background; I'm just saying that the way I paint is that large things go into the foreground and are lighter in tone.

The decision, therefore, is made by the human, but the automation is done by the software.

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    How on earth would a standard image editor know what is or is not in the foreground/background? All it sees are pixels. And how would it know what area you may be focusing on or even if the photo is of a nature to have a foreground/background? It's often the case that a small brush is used to touchup content in any foreground or a large brush is used to alter a background. There's no correlation between pixels, spacial placement, and brush size.
    – Scott
    Apr 20, 2018 at 23:59
  • Hmmm... let me try and clarify :-) I'd like GIMP to associate COLOUR with a brush SIZE. That is all. A larger SIZE should result in a lighter COLOUR (that's one algorithm; there are infinitely more). I am NOT asking for an AI to decide what's in the foreground and what's in the background; I'm just saying that the way I paint is that large things go into the foreground and are lighter in tone. The decision, therefore, is made by the human, but the automation is done by the software. Does that make more sense? :-)
    – Rob Krten
    Apr 21, 2018 at 0:16
  • 1
    Clarifications should be added to the question. There is an edit button, just for that.
    – Jongware
    Apr 21, 2018 at 11:22

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

In drawing and painting generally, distant objects in the background are usually fainter/lighter, but more vivid/darker in the foreground. The technique is called colour perspective

You can create custom colour brushes in GIMP where the colour is fixed to the brush (but not specifically to its size). Basically, you export an rgb coloured image (with a transparent background) as a .gbr brush in your GIMP Brushes folder, rather than the usual greyscale image. There are tutorials online for creating custom brushes in GIMP. So, you could potentially create different sized brushes for each colour you want. However, it's not a very practical solution. To use them at their intended size, you'd need to reset the size in the brush tool options each time you choose a different brush. It's probably more trouble than it's worth.

It would probably be much easier to just use regular brushes, set up a custom colour palette with the range of colours you want, and select the colours you want as you paint.

Another way to proceed might be to have your content on different layers, for example a layer for foreground objects, for objects in the middle distance, and for objects in the background. Then afterwards you could apply colour adjustments to those layers, using Curves, or perhaps Brightness-Contrast adjustments.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.