How to Tile an Image in GIMP (by Moyens I/O)

source: https://uk.moyens.net/how-to/how-to-tile-an-image-in-gimp/

Not everyone likes Photoshop because of its pricing and somewhat complicated nature for beginners. Thanks to its free alternatives like GIMP, you can perform almost any image manipulation task without Photoshop. If you want to tile your image, GIMP would be a good choice to achieve this. GIMP uses less resources compared to Photoshop.

For those who are unaware, tiling a picture means making a repeating pattern from a picture. The image to be tiled is smaller than the larger image.

There are two ways to create a flawless pattern in GIMP. One uses the native Tile feature and the second takes the help of Offset and Tile for a more realistic approach. To tile an image, let’s check both.

Method 1: Create a Pattern in GIMP by Tiling

In this method, you first need to create a small blank image and then add your image as a layer over the image you want to create a pattern. Then use the Tile option.

Here are the detailed steps:

Stage 1: Launch GIMP on your computer.

Step 2: Click File > New.

Stage 3: The ‘Create New Image’ dialog will open. In image size, width and height should be kept the same. 50×50, 100×100, 150×150 etc. you can hold.

The image size will depend on how large your background will be. For example, if you want to create a 1920×1080 image, go with 250×250 pixels. Otherwise, the pattern in the final image will look cramped and small. Similarly, if you want a 1280×720 pixel image, go with 200px or less. I’ll go with 200px width and height.

Now, in the same dialog, click on Advanced Options and under Fill option select Transparency.

The result will look like this:

Step 4: Go to the file option again. Select Open As Layers. Go to the image you want to tile and open it.

Step 5: If the image is larger than the canvas, you will find that only part of the image will be visible. You will have to shrink it to fit inside the original canvas.

Fly: If your image size is the same or smaller than the canvas size, you can skip this step. In this case, you will see the full image inside the blank canvas.

Click the Scale tool or use the keyboard shortcut Shift + S to scale the picture. You can do this in two ways. You can manually resize it to fit inside the blank canvas by dragging the corners.

Alternatively, manually enter pixels in the Scale box. Keep the pixels slightly less than that of the blank canvas. This is done to leave some space between repeating patterns. Click Scale. For example, if it is 200×200px resolution, go with 150px width. Make sure the chain icon is selected in the Scale box for the height to be adjusted automatically.

When you do this, the image will appear outside the blank canvas. You will only see the borders. Using the move tool, drag to the center of the blank canvas.

Your image should now look similar to the screenshot below.

Step 6: Now, you need to merge the two layers. To do this, right-click any layer in the Layers panel and select Merge visible layers. Click Merge from the box that appears.

Alternatively, you can save the image as PNG from 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 opens with Width and Height options. Enter the size you want for your final background, i.e. the background on which to tile your image. Let’s go with 1280×720 pixels. Check the box next to Create new image and hit the OK button.

Step 9: Here’s a look at the final image.

Now go to File > Export as to save. You can save the image as PNG to preserve its transparency.

Note: If the final image looks packed, shrink the image in step 5.

In the above method, the image is tiled horizontally and vertically. If you want a different pattern as shown below, you need to Offset the image first.

Let’s check the steps in detail.

Stage 1: Repeat steps 1-6 mentioned above. That is, create a blank canvas, add your image, scale down, and then combine the canvas and the image to get the image below.

Step 2: You need to duplicate your layer. To do this, right-click on the layer from the Layers panel and select Duplicate layer.

Stage 3: Select the newly created duplicate layer and click Layer from the top menu. Select Convert and go to Offset.

Step 4: In the Offset Layer dialog that appears, click the ‘Width/2, height/2’ button. Click OK.

You will see a pattern appear.

Step 5: You will need to merge the two layers again. For this, click on any layer and select 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 from the Pattern fill. Follow the same instructions in our bonus section below.

Step 6: Go to Filters > Map > Tile.

Step 7: Just as in the previous method, enter the size of the background image or your actual image size to tile the image. Make sure the box next to Create new image is selected. Press the OK button.

Here is the final image. Save in PNG format from File > Export.

Note: If the pattern looks cramped, reduce the size of the image as you scale it.

Bonus: Create a Custom Model in GIMP

GIMP offers many patterns that can be used to fill your images. You can also create your custom patterns for GIMP.

Here’s how to do it.

Stage 1: Repeat steps 1-5 of the second method mentioned above. You will have the image below.

Step 2: Go to File > Export As. In this case, enter a name to identify the model, such as a bus. Make sure to change the extension to ‘.pat’. Save to any folder. Click Export.

A description box will open. Enter a description for your pattern. Click Export.

Stage 3: In GIMP go to Edit > Preferences.

Step 4: Click on Folders from the left panel and select Patterns. Click on the Templates folder link from the right panel. Then press the Open folder button. Click 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 the refresh button at the bottom of the Models panel. The newly added pattern will appear.

Step 7: Open any image and select Fill Bucket. Select Pattern fill as the fill type. Choose your custom pattern.

the sky is the limit

We hope the tutorial was easy to understand and implement. The tiled image can be used to create beautiful backgrounds and wallpapers. You can add another image on top of the tiled image to create stunning graphics.

Next: You can tile an image without GIMP with simple tools in your Windows 10. Learn 4 easy ways to tile the picture from the next link.