Create a Non-Destructive Vignette Effect with The GIMP

By Sue Chastain, About.com Guide

A vignette is a photograph whose edges fade out gradually. This tutorial shows you a non-destructive way to create this effect for your photos in the free GIMP photo editor using a layer mask. This is a good introduction to working with masks and layers in the GIMP.

This tutorial uses GIMP 2.6. It should work in later versions, but there may be differences with older versions.

Open the image you want to work with in the GIMP.

Activate the Ellipse Selection Tool, by pressing E. It's the second tool in the toolbox.

Click and drag inside the main image window to make a selection. After releasing the mouse button, you can further adjust the selection by clicking and dragging on the inside edges of the bounding box that surrounds the elliptical selection.