How to create outlined text using Gimp

By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: March 19, 2020

Here’s a quick look at how to create outlined text using Gimp. I don’t know if that’s the right term, but I’m thinking of the large white text you see with a black border that you usually see on meme images.

Here are the steps I just used:

Select the text you entered, such as, “I USED A var”. Make sure the Text Tool is active.
Click the “Path From Text” button in the Text Tool panel.
Click the Select menu, then “From Path”. You should see some action on screen here.
Create a transparent layer, move it below your text, and make it active.
Click Select, then Grow...
On the popup dialog, enter 3 pixels, 5 pixels, whatever you need for your font. When you click OK you should see the selection area on screen change size.
Click Edit menu, choose “Fill with BG Color”, or “Fill with FG Color”.

If you use a white font with a black background color, your image should look like this: