Software & Apps Design How to Add Fake Snow to a Photo With GIMP Create a wintry scene by Ian Pullen Writer Ian Pullen is a former Lifewire writer and an experienced graphic designer and web developer with a strong interest in free and open-source graphics software. our editorial process LinkedIn Ian Pullen Updated on April 29, 2020 Design Graphic Design Photoshop Animation & Video 3D Design Tweet Share Email This tutorial shows how easy it is to add the effect of fake snow to a photo using the free pixel-based image editor GIMP. You can also learn how to add fake rain to a photo using GIMP, but you can use this technique to give a wintry feel to all sorts of images and this could be ideal for many of your festive projects. Ideally, you'll have a photo of a scene with snow on the ground, but it isn't essential to successfully complete this project. Open a Photo If you have an image with snow on the ground, that might be a good choice, but you can produce fun and surreal effects adding fake snow to all sorts of photos.Go to File > Open and navigate to your selected image and click on it to select it before clicking the Open button. Add a New Layer The first step is to add a new layer that will become the first part of our fake snow effect.If the foreground color in the Toolbox isn't set to black, press the 'D' key on your keyboard. This sets the foreground color to black and the background to white. Now go to Layer > New Layer and in the dialog click on the Foreground color radio button, followed by OK. Add Noise The basis of the fake snow effect is the RGB Noise filter and this is applied to the new layer. Go to Filters > Noise > RGB Noise and ensure the Independent RGB checkbox isn't ticked. Now drag the Value slider until it's set to about 0.70. Drag the Alpha slider all the way to the left. Click OK. The new layer will now be covered with specks of white. Change Layer Mode Changing the layer mode is as simple as you could hope for but the results are quite dramatic. In the top of the Layers palette, select the drop-down arrow to the right of the Mode setting and select the Screen setting. The result is quite effective as it is for the fake snow effect, but we can tweak it further. Blur the Snow Applying a little Gaussian Blur can make the effect slightly more naturalistic.Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur and in the dialog set the Horizontal and Vertical inputs to two. You can use a different setting if you prefer the appearance and you may indeed have to if you're using an image of a significantly different resolution. Randomize the Effect The fake snow layer is quite uniform in its density across the whole image, so the Eraser Tool can be used to fade out parts of the snow to make it appear more irregular. Select the Eraser Tool and in the Tool Options that appear below the Toolbox, choose a reasonably large soft brush. You can now paint randomly over the layer with the Eraser Tool to make some areas more transparent than other areas. Duplicate the Layer The effect currently suggests quite light snow, but it can be made to look heavier by duplicating the layer. Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer and a copy of the fake snow layer will be placed above the original and you'll see that the snow seems heavier now.You can play with the effect further by erasing parts of this new layer or adjusting the Opacity slider in the layers palette. If you want a fake blizzard, simply duplicate the layer again. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit