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For use in some of my presentation slides, I hope to edit some of my images with The GIMP so that one (or more) side(s) will fade into transparency. How do I do this in GIMP?

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Updated for GIMP 2.10: You can put all your layers into a layer group, then add a layer mask to the group, and paint a white-to-black gradient on the mask. Initialize the layer mask to "Black (full transparency)", so that the black part will be transparent. The benefit of using a layer group is it's non-destructive so you can continue to work with your separate layers.

If you only have one layer to start with then you can skip the layer group and just apply the mask directly.

If you wanted all sides to fade to transparency, you could start off with a black layer mask, then draw a white rectangle inside it, and apply a blur. In any case, I think starting off with a layer mask is what you want.

In earlier versions of GIMP you can still do this but you need to flatten your layers into a single layer first then apply the mask to that layer.

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    Yes, this would be another time to use the QuickMask Toggle in the lower left hand corner. The gradient is what I would use.
    – Ele Munjeli
    Commented Aug 30, 2011 at 13:09
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    Thanks for the hint to use the blur filter. I didn't think about it and I was using the gradient tool but the gradient effect is much more smooth using the blur filter, thanks !
    – Nicolas Dusart
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 15:57

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