How to Give Your Poser Fantasy Characters an Otherworldly Look Using GIMP

This tutorial will teach you how to give your Poser fantasy characters that otherworldly look that you've seen on those great fantasy art posters. To a lesser degree this technique can also be used to enhance your digital photos.

Anyone that has worked with 3d art programs knows their limitations. While they can create some pretty incredible looking art on their own knowing post working techniques that you can use to make them look even better is the key to becoming a true digital artist.

So, without further ado, here is how to give your fantasy characters an otherworldly look using GIMP.

Step 1: Open GIMP.

Step 2: Go to the File drop down menu and open the Poser picture you want to work on.

Step 3: Go to the Layer drop down menu and click on Duplicate Layer.

Step 4: In order to see the window that contains the layers you are going to be working on, you need to go to the Dialogs drop down menu and select Layers.

Step 5: When you have the Layers window opened, double click on the duplicate layer and change the name to something else, I used the word otherworldly for mine.

Step 6: Making sure you have the new layer selected, then go to the Filters drop down menu and select Blur and then select Gaussian Blur. Now depending on the size of the picture and the effect you are going for, you need to decide what the pixel radius for the blur is going to be. After playing around a bit I chose a pixel radius of 20. I also made sure that IIR was selected for the Blur Method, and that Preview was checked so I could see how much of a blur it was before I okayed it.

Step 7: Now your picture is going to look quite blurred, but don't be alarmed as that is what you want. That is what is going to help you create that otherworldly effect. Now, go back to the Layers window and make sure you still have the new layer selected, you'll notice that the mode is Normal. Select the little drop down arrow next to it and change that mode to Screen.

Step 8: Selecting Screen mode gives your picture a very bright look, maybe too bright. If it is brighter than the effect you think you are looking for lower the Opacity by selecting the little button with your mouse and moving it to a lower number until the brightness level is where you want it.

Step 9: Finally to adjust the brightness even more and to give the picture that otherworldly look, go to the Tools drop down menu and select Color Tools and then Brightness/Contrast. Play with the brightness/contrast until you have just the dreamy otherworldly look you want. Once this has been done you are ready to complete the next step.

Step 10: Go to the Image drop down menu and select Flatten Image. This will bring all your layers together into one picture. Once you have done this, then save your picture in whatever format you like and where you can find it later.

That's it that is all it takes to create a picture with a beautiful otherworldly look using GIMP. Incidentally GIMP is a free photo editing and Paint program that is quite sophisticated and is a good replacement for Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro for those who might be strapped for cash. Also, GIMP will open Photoshop files, which is an extra plus! You can download GIMP here.