filters

There are a lot of different filters on GIMP, and sometimes they can be overwhelming. Here is a guide to help you understand how each of the filters work. We'll start off with a normal female Magma grunt from Pokemon.

Soft Glow

The "Soft Glow" filter does just what you'd think it does: adds a glow and softens the image. It can give a friendly, angelic appearance to any image. Here's the effect on the Magma grunt:
Location: Filters >> Artistic >> Soft Glow

Unsharp Mask

If you have a slightly blurred image, this is a calmer version of the sharpen filter. Noticing that "Soft Glow" softens the image, you can clear it back up and retain the glow by using this filter afterwords. Your results are similar to this:
Location: Filters >> Enhance >> Unsharp Mask

Colorify

This filter can be used to make an image all one colors, but with different shades. Not only can it be used to create grayscale (black and white) images, it can use other colors and create yellow or blue images as well.
Location: Filters >> Colors >> Colorify

Canvas

To apply a canvas-like texture to the image, you can use this filter. It creates a cool bump texture and is neat in banners.
Location: Filters >> Artistic >> Apply Canvas

Bump Map

This filter gives the image a 3-D feel by applying different levels of elevation. It's one of my favorite filters.
Location: Filters >> Map >> Bump Map

Spread

One of the "Noise" filters, this filter literally spreads the image apart and slightly pixelates it.
Location: Filters >> Noise >> Spread

Van Gogh

This filter smooths out, and calms the image, making it less harsh and more like an oil painting. Thus, the title "Van Gogh."
Location: Filters >> Map>> Van Gogh