How Do I Change Hair Color in GIMP?

Changing hair color in GIMP involves using selection tools, layers, and color adjustments to create a realistic effect. Here's a general outline of the process:

1. Open Your Image: Start by opening the image in GIMP that you want to edit.

2. Create a New Layer: Create a new transparent layer specifically for the hair color. This will allow you to modify the hair color without directly altering the original image. Go to Layer -> New Layer and choose transparency.

3. Select the Hair: Use a selection tool like the Free Select Tool (Lasso), Paths Tool, or Foreground Select Tool to carefully select the hair you want to recolor. The Free Select Tool is good for quick selections, while the Paths Tool offers more precision. The Foreground Select tool is a good option if the hair has a clear separation from the background. Because of stray hairs, it is best to use a small brush size to ensure you are selecting all parts of the hair.

4. Feather the Selection (Optional): Feathering the selection slightly can help blend the new color with the existing hair for a more natural look. Go to Select -> Feather and enter a small value (e.g., 2-3 pixels).

5. Fill with a Base Color: Choose a desired hair color and use the Bucket Fill tool to fill the selected area on the new layer with that color. This will apply a solid color over the hair.

6. Change the Layer Blend Mode: Adjust the blend mode of the hair color layer. "Overlay," "Soft Light," "Multiply," or "Color" modes often work well. Experiment with different modes to find one that gives a good result with your specific image and chosen color. "Color" mode is often a good starting point as it changes the hue and saturation of the underlying pixels without greatly affecting brightness.

7. Adjust Colors and Levels (Optional): To further refine the color, use color adjustment tools like Curves (Colors -> Curves), Color Balance (Colors -> Color Balance), or Hue-Saturation (Colors -> Hue-Saturation). These tools can help you fine-tune the color, brightness, and contrast of the hair to match the original image's lighting and color palette.

8. Refine the Mask (Optional): If the color is bleeding onto other parts of the image, add a layer mask to the color layer (Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask). Use a black and white brush on the layer mask to hide or reveal parts of the color layer, cleaning up any unwanted color spills.

9. Merge and Export: Once you are satisfied with the result, you can flatten the image or save it as a GIMP project file (.xcf) to preserve layers for future editing. When you are finished, export the final image to a common format like JPEG or PNG (File -> Export).