GIMP is a versatile tool. You can use it to edit a photo, manipulate an image, or create a design. When using GIMP as a design tool, you can draw a wide range of shapes to your work canvas. From a rectangle, square, ellipse to a circle. In this post, we will show you how to draw those shapes in GIMP.

Depending on what you want to do. If you want to create a design from a blank canvas, create a new project by going to File -> New (Ctrl+N). Or, if you want to draw a shape on an image, open the image by going to File -> Open (Ctrl+O) and select the image file you want to draw the shape on.

Drawing a rectangle and square shape

Once your canvas is ready, activate the Rectangle Select Tool by clicking it on the toolbox. Or you can simply press the R key on the keyboard. Click and hold on a spot on the canvas. This will be your start point. Next, drag your mouse in any direction to draw a rectangle shape. To draw a square shape, press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard right after you click the start point.

Once you get the shape you want, set the color of the stroke line. You can do so by setting the foreground color.

Once done setting the foreground color, go to Edit -> Stroke Selection.

Set the stroke line to solid color and set its width. Click the Stroke button.

If you want to fill the shape with a certain color or pattern, you can simply use the Bucket Fill Tool.

Drawing an ellipse and circle shape

To draw an ellipse shape in GIMP, simply activate the Ellipse Select Tool (E) by clicking it on the Toolbox. Once the Ellipse Select Tool is active, click and hold anywhere on the canvas area to make it start point. Drag your mouse in any direction until you get the shape you want. To get a circle shape, press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard right after clicking a start point.

Same as rectangle and square above, you can go to File -> Stroke Selection to set the stroke line of your ellipse/circle.

If you use GIMP on a regular basis, you can use keyboard shortcuts to streamline your workflow. We have compiled 77 essential GIMP shortcuts which you can download in a PDF file.