Tutorials for Lips on IMVU on GIMP

If your IMVU avatar needs a makeover, you can use GIMP to make changes to the lips -- provided you have a screen shot of your avatar or have downloaded the image to your computer. GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a graphic design software similar to Photoshop that you can download for free. Use it to change the size or shape of the lips, experiment with different colors and even add a slight sheen to make them appear less flat.

Instructions

1. Changing the Size or Shape

   • 1
     Launch GIMP, click the “File” menu and select “Open.” Navigate to your IMVU avatar image and click the “Open” button.
   • 2
     Click the “Zoom” menu at the bottom of the main window and zoom in so the lips fill the window.
   • 3
     Click the “Free Select Tool” in the Toolbox. Carefully drag the tool around the mouth to outline it.
   • 4
     Click the "Scale Tool" in the Toolbox. Click the tool on the lips to activate it. The lips are now framed in a square. Drag the corners of the lips to change their size.
   • 5
     Select the "Shear Tool" or "Perspective Tool" from the Toolbox and click on the lips to use the tool. Drag the corners of the box surrounding the lips to change their size.
   • 6
     Touch up the image if you have any white space around the lips after you have changed them. Click the "Eyedropper Tool" in the Toolbox and click on the skin around the lips to change the Foreground Color swatch. Select the "Paintbrush Tool" and drag it over the white space around the lips.

   Changing Lip Color

   • 1
     Follow Steps 1 to 3 in the first section to select your avatar's lips. Click the “Colors” menu and select “Colorize.” The Colorize window opens. Click the “Preview” check box so you can see the changes you make to the image.
   • 2
     Drag the “Hue” slider to change the lips color. Once you have the right color, drag the “Saturation” slider to the right to increase the saturation or to the left to decrease it. Make the lips darker by dragging the “Lightness” slider to the right, or make them lighter by dragging it to the left. Click “OK.”
   • 3
     Click the “Foreground Color” swatch and type “FFFFFF” in the “HTML Notation” field to change it to white. Click “OK.” Alternatively, if the Background Color swatch is already white, click the double-sided arrow above it to switch it with the Foreground Color swatch.

   Adding Sheen

   • 1
     Follow Steps 1 to 3 in the first section to select your avatar's lips. Click the “Pencil Tool” in the Toolbox. The Pencil Panel appears. Click the “Brush” icon in the Pencil Panel and select the “Circle (03)” brush. Use the default Opacity of “100” percent and Scale of “1.00.”
   • 2
     Place the Pencil on the middle of the top lip, about a quarter of the way in from the left. Drag the pencil over the lip with a line that is roughly parallel to the curve of the mouth line, stopping about a quarter of the way from the right corner of the lip. Repeat this on the bottom lip, also following the curve of the mouth.
   • 3
     Click the “Filters” menu, select “Blur,” then click “Gaussian Blur.” Click the “Preview” check box so you can see the blur effect as you change the values. Type “22” in the Horizontal text field. Click the “Link” icon beside it so you can change the vertical value, then type “11” in the Vertical text field. This creates a slight sheen on the surface of the lips. Adjust the values, if desired, for your avatar, then click “OK.”