Old Photo filter in GIMP applied with Defocus and Sepia options selected but without Mottle nor faded border effect.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong are two former Prime Ministers of Singapore who had tendered their resignations on Saturday, May 14 to quit the Cabinet – in order to make way for a clean slate for the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to reform the ruling PAP government.
Old Photo filter in GIMP applied with Defocus, Sepia and Mottle options selected together with faded border effect.
The first and second Prime Ministers of the island nation, both brought Singapore from a fledgling, newly-independent, former-colonial state barely able to survive – to the modern nation it is today. Despite handing over their Prime Ministership to their successors, both had been actively involved in the government.
So it was surprising to see, so soon and suddenly, both their portraits published in sepia – suggesting they have become part of a bygone era.
Sepia toning
Select the Filters > Decor > Old Photo command from the main menu
“Beginning in the 1880s, sepia was produced by adding a pigment, called sepia, made from the Sepia officinalis cuttlefish found in the English channel,to the positive print of a photograph,” according to Wikipedia. The specialized treatment gave the photograph a warmer tone and enhanced the archival qualities of the prints.
Simulating a sepia effect in GIMP
It is easy to simulate a sepia effect to a digital photo using photo-editing software.
In GIMP, open the digital photo to be modified and select the Filters > Decor > Old Photo command from the main menu. The “Old Photo” dialog box pops up with options to control how the photo is to be “aged”.
The Old Photo filter comes with options to age the look of a photo.
You can “Defocus” the photo to make it slightly blur, add a faded white border, apply a “Sepia” tone, or “Mottle” the photo to simulate the blobs of pigment you see in old photos. Checking the “Sepia” checkbox will tell GIMP to desaturate the image, reduce brightness and contrast, and modify the color balance to apply the sepia effect.
Once you click “OK”, GIMP gets to work on the photo.
If you just want to get a black-and-white version of the photo, or tint in a different colour from sepia, or want more control over how the final result looks like, check out the “Black-and-white and Sepia” tutorial that was part of the 14-part Basic GIMP Series of tutorials.
