If you like the look of Instagram filters on your mobile snaps, and want to apply similar vintage effects to other photos, here’s a quick time saver: use GIMP.
Yup, instead of copying each image you want to process to your smartphone or tablet, and then it running it through Instagram, just use GIMP and the following Instagram filters pack.
The download, available the GIMP Plugin Registry, is billed as a ‘collection of plug-ins who (sic) can recreate (as closely as possible) Instagram’s effects”.
It compromises of 22 vintage photo effects, all faithful recreations of Instagram’s infamous filters — from Mayfair and 1977 through to X Pro II.
As the set hasn’t been updated since 2013 you won’t find newer Instagram filters on offer, a shame as Clarendon, Gingham, Moon, et al are less harsh and less “vintage effect look” than the older set are.
But they’re still convenient and still awesome. For a quick way to apply Instagram effects to your photos on the desktop GIMP with these plugins is hard to beat.
How to Install GIMP Plugins on Linux
To install this (or any) GIMP plugin on Linux you will need to enable the ‘View Hidden Files’ option in your File Manager.
If you’re on Ubuntu this is easy: press Ctrl + H.
Locate the ~/.gimp2.8 folder and double-click on it to open. Inside find the folder named ‘plug-ins‘. This is where you put your downloaded *.py plugins (extract them from a .zip archive first).