How to make a photo grungy in GIMP

This is a very simple method to making photographs grungy, but its also a good technique to have handy in your mind for any post-processing you might do in the future!

The finished JPEG

1. Hard Light Blend

Open your photo up in GIMP
Duplicate Layer
Set ‘Mode’/ ‘Blend’ to Hard Light (OPTIONAL: make them both Hard Light and move up the Original layer, might be slightly better quality later on!)

https://www.images.scottphotographics.com/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp001.jpg

Blend: Hard Light (Click to view larger)

2. Noise

On the duplicated layer, go Filters –> Noise –> HSV Noise
Use similar settings as shown, you can decide how much noise is appropriate for your photo
Might take awhile to process…

https://www.images.scottphotographics.com/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp002.jpg

Noise (Click to view larger)

3. Levels

To darken and saturate, go Colours –> Levels
Move the middle pointer towards the darker pointer, and then move the darker pointer back towards the middle:

https://www.images.scottphotographics.com/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp/how-to-make-photos-grungy-in-gimp003.jpg

Levels (Click to view larger)

4. Colour

Now add a New Layer, set Mode/Blend to Colour, and ~35% Opacity
Fill with this colour: bf8d07 (Yellow/Orange)

Colour (Click to view larger)

5. Vignetting

Add a New Layer, set Mode/Blend to Soft Light
Grab the Gradient Tool: Black FG only, Radial
Stroke from a corner and then inwards into the centre of the layer

Vignetting (Click to view larger)

6. De-Saturation

De-saturating the Original Layers could be interesting as well, but I thought the colour was needed here, there isn’t much anyway!

That’s it! This technique works best with already contrasty photographs, however it can still be applied to any photograph with some experimentation of the settings.

The Original Image:

The Original, pre-processed!

If you’d like to use these photographs please Contact Me!

Please comment below if you have any questions and I’ll answer them ASAP!

Written by Mike

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Michael Scott is the publisher and photographer behind Scott Photographics! He is very passionate about his photography and enjoys sharing the best of his experiences for others to enjoy too! Contact Mike via email!

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11 Comments Post a comment

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Mike

Feb 27 2011

Thanks Marian,

It is always wonderful to hear that my tutorials are being used and liked :)

Cheers,

Mike

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Marian Adoranti

Feb 27 2011

Thanks so much for your very useful tutorials on the GIMP. I am a new GIMP user and an aspiring equine photographer. This is the first post-processing program I have used and find that with the help of your tutorials I am experiencing success. I now have a watermark which I created using your tutorial and also just tried my hand at my first grunge photograph.

It is through your generosity that we are able to empower others to express their art in a meaningful manner. It’s actually fun too :-)

Marian

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Michael

Jul 22 2010

Thanks Mark!

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Mark

Jul 22 2010

Hi, Just a quick note to say thanks for posting these tutorials. It would have taken me MANY months to work out how to get some of these effects. Your site is a real time saver. Nice one