Make Your Photos Better Using GIMP Curves

Improve Your Photos Using GIMP Curves

Screenshot of GIMP in Windows 7
by Ian Pullen
Experienced graphic designer and web developer with a strong interest in free and open-source graphics software.
Updated July 27, 2019

If you enjoy taking photos with your digital camera, but sometimes don't achieve the results you hoped for, knowing how to use the Curves feature in GIMP can help you to produce better-looking images.

The Curves feature in GIMP can look quite intimidating, but it is very intuitive to use. In fact, you can still get good results from simply playing around with Curves without a tutorial on what you are doing.

 

Open the Curves Dialog in GIMP

  1. Open a photo that you think has poor contrast.

    Screenshot of Gimp.

  2. In Gimp, select Colors > Curves.

    Selecting Curves in Gimp.

  3. You'll see that there are a number of options available, but for this exercise, ignore the Presets, ensure that the Channel drop-down is set to Value and the Curve type is Smooth. Also, check that the Preview box is ticked or you won't see the effect of your adjustments.

    You should also see that a histogram is displayed behind the Curves line, but it isn't important to understand this as we're just going to apply a simple 'S' curve.

    Before making adjustments to your photos, it may be advisable to make a copy of the original or even duplicate the background layer and edit this before saving a JPEG of the adjusted photo.

    Screenshot of the Color Curves dialog in Gimp.

  4. Once you're satisfied with the adjustments, select OK.

Adjust Curves in GIMP

An 'S' curve is a very simple way to make an adjustment with the Curves feature of GIMP and this is probably the most commonly made Curves adjustment in any image editor. It is a very quick way to boost the contrast of a photo and also tends to make colors appear more saturated.

If you select Split view, you can see your results on the left pane while viewing the original on the right pane.

  1. In the Curves window, select and hold the diagonal line somewhere towards the right-hand side and drag it upwards. This lightens the lighter pixels in your photo.

    Moving the color curve on the right side in Gimp.

  2. Now select and hold on the line towards the left and drag it downwards. You should see that the darker pixels in your photo have darkened. 

    Moving the color curve on the left side in Gimp.

  3. You should take some care not to make the effect look too unnatural, though this depends on taste. When you're happy with the effect, just select OK to apply the effect.

What Is the Histogram?

Ideally, the histogram will only cover an area in the middle of the window. That means that there are no pixels with very dark or very light values contained in the image. It also means that the curve will only have any effect when it is within the area that is covered by the histogram.