GIMP: Making a Balanced Texture v2.

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(Removing highlights)
© 2016 – 2020 PYS-DAFO, INT’L – SOME RIGHTS RESERVED

Email: pysdafo@gmail.com

What’s Needed:
Photo Editor
GIMP (v2.10.10 & Later):
 None [An internal version of DDS Plug-in and the High Pass filter is already
installed in the software].

Any previous version of GIMP (before v2.10.xx) will need to obtain the High
Pass Filter from here. The directions to install this plugin are within the
“.zip” file – under the name of “readme_hpfilter”. Keep in mind that this
tutorial is now for GIMP v2.10.10 & later.

Introduction
What do we mean by a balanced texture? A balanced texture is a texture
that doesn’t have highlights or glare caused by the sun or any other light
source much like an albedo map. The best way to create textures is by
taking the pictures yourself, but it also takes the perfect weather conditions.
The perfect weather condition is actually on a cloudy day, with no glare,
what-so-ever, sometimes though; even cloudy days can cause problems.
Some developers would just copy and paste or clone stamp over the areas
in which are “affected” by the highlights. Others, might go to
www.textures.com, or any other texture website, and find a texture that
would replace the offending texture. Though, the texture that you are
replacing with might also have highlights.
We have a few textures that we will use to demonstrate how this can be
done. One of the textures, we have used before in a different tutorial, it’s
TexturesCom_MetalBare0239_1_S [Picture 1a (cropped – 0239_1), which was cropped -
bottom and left-hand side]. The Other 2 are: TexturesCom_MetalBare0198_S [Picture
1b (0198)] and TexturesCom_PaperCrumpled0029_S [Picture 1c (0029)]. As you

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might have guessed, all 3 of these textures were found on
www.textures.com.

TexturesCom_MetalBare0239_1_S [Picture 1a (cropped – 0239_1)],

TexturesCom_MetalBare0198_S [Picture 1b (0198)] &
TexturesCom_PaperCrumpled0029_S [Picture 1c (0029)]

The one thing we did to all of the textures before starting this tutorial is to
convert them to “.png” files. The reason is that in keeping those at the
default (“.jpg”) would degrade them when you save over them, over and
over. We suggest that you do the same to all of your textures by
converting them to something other than “.jpg”. We also had to convert the
texture, TexturesCom_PaperCrumpled0029_S, from Greyscale to RGB Color.
Note: When saving, you’re using GIMP’s (application) specific
filename extension (“.xcf”), if you wish to save, using another file
format, such as “.tga” or “.png”, you will need to use export as.
(To make things easier, I will refer to these 3 textures by just the numbers that are
within their filenames.)

We are going to show you how the highlights can be subdued; if not fully
removed, no matter where or how you obtain your textures. We will show 3
methods in how this can be done. The 1st method follows on the next page
while the other 2 are starting, in Section 2 with Section 3, immediately
following.

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Section 1 – Gaussian Method
S1: Step 1 – Duplicate the layer
So, the 1st thing that needs to be done, load1 up 1 of the 3 textures
into GIMP (we will give the values that we used for each as we go through this
Section).

Once loaded, duplicate the layer, so that

you would have 2 layers, and then rename
the top one as Gaussian (Picture S1-1).
Picture S1-1
S1: Step 2 – Gaussian Blur
So, with the Gaussian layer selected, we will apply the Gaussian
Blur filter. Under the Filters menu, you will find the Blur ->
Gaussian Blur.
Leave the “Size X” and “Size Y”
settings chained together (for the same
reasons as below; only 1 of them will need
to be entered). A “Preview” is
available along with a “Presets”
section at the top, can be used to
save and reuse at other times. Make
sure to click on the “Clip to the input
extent” Boolean box, otherwise, the
radius will not take it to the edge of
the texture. The value to enter, either
within the “Size X” or “Size Y”, are Picture S1-2
(0239_1: 10.00), (0198: 15.00) and for
(0029: 12.50) (Picture S1-2).
If you believe you have made a mistake on entering the value at any
time, just click on the ‘Reset’ button. If a mistake was found after
clicking on ‘OK’, your best option then is to delete the layer and go
back to Step S1-1.
Once you have everything set correctly, click on ‘OK’.

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Ctrl+O

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 S1: Step 3 – Duplicating Again
(a)
Duplicate the original layer again
and rename it to High Pass. Place
this layer above the Gaussian layer
and make sure the “Mode” is set to
Default. The (b) “Blending Mode”
needs to change from Normal to
Luminance (Picture S1-3).
S1: Step 4 – High Pass Filter
We are now ready to use the High
Pass filter. If this setting is too high,
it will not remove any of the
highlights. Though if the setting is
set to low, it will remove a lot of your
texture’s details. Keep that in mind
Picture S1-3
when you are setting the “Std. Dev.”
value.
With the High Pass layer selected (highlighted), it’s time to apply the
High Pass filter, which is located under the Filter -> Enhance ->
High Pass2.
Click on the Boolean box for
the “Preview”. The “Split view”
clicked-on could also help here.
The value to enter in the “Std.
Dev.” are (0239_1: 120.0), (0198:
150.0) and for (0029: 160.0).
After you have entered the
“Std. Dev.”, enter the ‘Tab’ key.
The “Contrast” is a nice Picture S1-4
addition. The “Contrast” setting
for each of the textures is 1.750. You may not need to make any
more adjustments, because the “Contrast” helps in bringing back the
details and the colors (Picture S1-4).
If you believe you have made a mistake on entering the value, before
clicking on ‘OK’, you can click on the ‘Reset’ button. If a mistake was
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Ctrl+Alt+H (Custom Keyboard Shortcut)

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 found after clicking on ‘OK’, your best option then is to delete the
layer and go back to Step S1-3.
Once you have everything set correctly, click on ‘OK’.
Of course, after doing all this, you will need to save accordingly.

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Section 2 – Invert Method
This next method is most likely the quickest of any of the methods ( and
probably the easiest). With this method, it doesn’t matter which texture is
used. There aren’t any texture specific values or settings.
S2: Step 1 – Duplicate the layer
The first thing to do, of course, load3 up the texture within GIMP and
duplicate it (you will have 2 layers now). Rename the top layer to
Desaturate.
S2: Step 2 – Desaturate
With the Desaturate layer
selected, we will now desaturate it.

We will desaturate through the

Colors menu, and sliding down
until you come to Desaturate ->
Desaturate. In the next window
(Picture S2-1), you only need to Picture S2-1
make sure that the “Mode” is set to
Luminance.
If you have noticed, there is also a “Preview”, along with a “Split view”
that can be turned on by clicking within their corresponding Boolean
boxes. Once you have set the “Mode”, click on ‘OK’.
S2: Step 3 – Invert
With the Desaturate layer still selected, we need to invert it now.

The Invert command is also located under the Colors menu (above
where the Desaturate is).

S2: Step 3a – Adjustment Level

After you have inverted, you may want to make adjustments
now, by using the Adjustment Level on the Desaturate layer.
In most cases, you may not need to, but just to cover all the
possibilities.

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 In adjusting, I was referring to the use of the Levels command,
which is through the Colors menu.
Within the Input Levels section, to darken, you would move the
(black) triangle over towards the right. To lighten, you would
move the (white) triangle over towards the left. The Input
Levels also adjust the “Contrast” of the texture as well, so you
don’t want to go too far on either of them. If you go too far in
either case, the details within your texture will become less
obvious or even, lost.
Note: The Output Levels section could be used instead of the
Input Levels. But the far left (black) triangle and far-right (white)
triangle work in reverse as above.
S2: Step 4 – Blending mode
Then, with the Desaturate layer selected, change the “Blending
Mode” from Normal to Soft Light. Make sure to set the “Mode” to
Default before changing the “Blending Mode”. Now you can adjust
the “Opacity” of this layer if need be.
You can make additional adjustments using the Levels (under the
Colors menu) at this time also; just make sure you have the
Desaturate layer selected during that time.
Make sure to save accordingly!

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Section 3 – Linear Light Method
This method can only be used with v2.10.xx or later. Again, we will give
the values for all 3 of the textures used in this tutorial ( other textures, could
have different values).

S3: Step 1 – Duplicate the layer

Load4 the texture into GIMP, and duplicate the original layer and
rename it to Pixelize.
S3: Step 2 – Pixelize Filter
With the layer named Pixelize
selected (highlighted), we will apply
the Pixelize filter. This will help us
find the average color that is used
within the texture.
It is located under the Filter menu:
Blur -> Pixelize. Once the window
appears (Picture S3-1), make sure
that the “Preview” is on. The Split
view isn’t necessary for this step, but
you can have it on if you wish. The
“Shape” field can be any of the
choices available since what we want
Picture S3-1
to happen is for a single color to
appear (non-pixelated). Leave the
“Block width” and the “Block height” “chained” together so that only 1
value is needed for you to enter: (0239_1: 657), (0198: 1020) and for
(0029: 1020). After you have entered the value (into either the Block width
or the Block height), press the ‘Tab’ key. Make sure the “Use the entire
layer as input” field is made visible. You can leave everything else as
is. After you have entered or set things correctly, click on the ‘OK’.
S3: Step 3 – Duplicate Again
Now, we need to (a) duplicate the original layer again, though this
time, rename it to Linear Light 50%. Just a reminder, to duplicate a
layer is by right-clicking within the Layer stack (on the layer that needs to
be duplicated) and click on: Duplicate layer.
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Ctrl+O

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 Place this layer above or on top of
the Pixelize layer. Now, with this
layer selected (Linear Light 50%)
make sure the (b) “Mode” is set to
Default and (c) change the
“Blending Mode” from Normal to
Linear light. If the “Mode” is not
changed to Default, the “Linear
light” option will not be available.
After you have changed the
“Blending Mode”, (d) the “Opacity”
needs to be dropped to 50.0% Picture S3-2
(hence, the name of the layer – Picture S3-2).
S3: Step 4 – High Pass Filter
With the Linear Light 50% layer
selected, we will now apply the
High Pass filter. Keep in mind
that any texture that isn’t a part of
this tutorial the values could be
different. The High Pass filter is
located under the Filter ->
Enhance -> High Pass5 (Picture Picture S3-3
S3-3).

The value to enter in the “Std. Dev.” are (0239_1: 50.0), (0198: 70.0) and
for (0029: 80.0). After you have entered the “Std. Dev.”, press the
‘Tab’ key. The “Contrast” setting for each of the textures is 1.750.
With this version, you most likely, will not need to make any more
adjustments, because the “Contrast” helps in bringing back the
details and the color.
Just like in the other methods, the texture named 0198; the severe
glare in the upper left-hand corner has washed out the details. Again,
the only way to correct this is by using the Clone Tool.
Once all is done, save it accordingly!

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Ctrl+Alt+H (Custom Keyboard Shortcut)

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Conclusion
In Section 1 and 3, other textures could have different values (where the
Radius or “Std. Dev.” fields were used). Also, you might have noticed that the
texture, TexturesCom_MetalBare0198_S, has a very bad glare, which washed-out
the details (upper left-hand corner) from it. The only way to correct this is to
use the Clone Tool (cloning from an area, which comes close to the original, would
have). As you can see above, the 3 textures, after removing the highlights
(including, the fixing the washed-out area caused by the severe glare ).

TexturesCom_MetalBare0239_1_S [Picture 1a (cropped – 0239_1)],

TexturesCom_MetalBare0198_S [Picture 1b (0198)] &
TexturesCom_PaperCrumpled0029_S [Picture 1c (0029)]

We hope this has helped you. Please, don’t hesitate in asking any
questions or making any suggestions by using the email ( at the top) or
contacting us through our Facebook page.

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Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
*Search word
Action Shortcut Name
used
High Pass Ctrl+Alt+H filters-high-pass pass

Instead of entering the shortcuts individually yourself, you can download

the file here (rev. 1.0). This file includes the default and custom keyboard
shortcuts. A readme file is included (instructions on “how” and “where” to place
it).

 Remember, you will not be able to change any shortcuts within the
Editor until you have activated the Boolean box “Use dynamic
keyboard shortcut” under the Edit tab -> Preferences -> Interface.
 Enter into the Search bar (within the Keyboard Shortcut Editor) the
“Search word used”. Then use the Name to verify the correct
command to place what is in the Shortcut column for it, by pressing
the sequence of keys simultaneously.

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