How to create a circular-shaped image.

The following quotes the article linked below (by Ofnuts): https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/CircleImage/



  • Making a circle-shaped image


    There are no circular images. There are only rectangular images. But there can be images where corners are transparent, so that only a circle shows.


    In light of this:

    ● First, make sure that your layer has an “alpha channel”.

    Layer → Transparency → Add alpha channel

    if it’s grayed out it means you already have one



    ● Create a circular selection with the “Ellipse select tool” (the 2nd one in the toolbox).


    Use the “Tool options” dialog

    Windows → Dockable dialogs → Tool options

    ○ If you want a true circle, use the Fixed option: select Aspect ratio and enter 1:1.

    ○ Depending on what kind of marks you have, you can use:

    □ The diagonal framing (default): click on one corner, drag across a full diagonal and release at the opposite corner,

    □ The radial framing (check Expand from center in the Tool options): click on the center, drag across a half diagonal release on a corner.

    ● If the selection isn’t perfect on the first try, you can move it (click around the middle) or extend it (click inside, near a border or a corner).


    ● Once you have the required selection, invert the selection (Select → Invert, or Ctrl-I) so that everything is selected, except your circle.


    ● Erase the selection (Edit → Clear or [Delete] key). You should have your central circle left, surrounded by a checkerboard pattern. (this checkerboard is not part of the image, it just indicates the transparent parts of the image).


    ● You can reduce the checkerboard to the minimum by auto-cropping the image (Image → Autocrop image)


    ● Last, save the image in a format that supports transparency, like PNG (JPEG doesn’t support transparent images…)


    ● If you are going to work further on the picture, save it as XCF (Gimp native format).