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My original image, loaded into The GIMP.
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You will need to make a layer mask for the part(s) of the image
that you want to replace with a new background.
Here is the mask that I created for this image in my
simulating shallow depth of field
tutorial. You might want to go off and read that now if you
need help creating one.
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Open the Layers dialog and make sure that the original image is
listed in the drop-down box. Right-click on the Background
layer and select New Layer (there is also a button for this in
the bottom button bar of the Layers dialog ( ).
Here I named the new layer "New Bg". It doesn't
matter what you choose for the fill.
Now right-click on the New Bg layer and select "Add Layer
Mask".
In the Add Mask Options dialog, select white (Full Opacity) and
click OK.
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Go to the image window containing your prepared layer mask.
Select All and Copy (Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C). Now back to the
working image window and Paste (Ctrl+V). In the Layers dialog,
anchor the pasted image into the layer mask.
If your mask is like mine, you'll need to invert it
(Image/Colors/Invert) so that the part corresponding to the
subject is black. Also, if you haven't blurred the mask
slightly yet, apply a gaussian blur (Filters/Blur/IIR Gaussian
Blur) with a radius of a few pixels.
In your image window you should now see only the isolated
subject, surrounded by the fill of the New Bg layer.
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Now it is simply a matter of pasting your new background into
the New Bg layer, or creating a new one. Here I'll show you how
to mimic a background you see in a lot of portraits.
In the GIMP toolbox, set the foreground and background color
swatches to the light and dark end colors for a gradient
background. You set the color by clicking on a swatch icon and
using the color editor to select a color. Alternatively, you
can open the Palette dialog, choose a color palette and pick two
colors from that.
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In the GIMP toolbox, double-click the Blend (gradient) tool
( ) to bring
up the Tool Options dialog. Choose Gradient type "Radial".
In the Layers dialog, click on the image thumbnail for the
New Bg layer to select it instead of its layer mask.
Go back to the image window, click down in the center of the
subject and drag out towards an edge. A gradient should fill
the background. If you don't like the effect, Undo (Ctrl+Z) and
try again or change your colors.
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Consider adding some fog.
Here I duplicated the New Bg layer so I have the same layer mask
and the fog only shows up in the background. For fog I simply
ran a Filter/Render/Plasma, desaturated it, put the layer in
Overlay mode and reduced the layer transparency to about half.
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).
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