I found a very interesting pattern, which I would like to recreate:

pattern image Source

I tried to start with the RGB-Noise filter of Gimp, but didn't get a comparable pattern so far. I understood, that there are 2 challenges: Generating the pattern itself and generating the palette.

Preferably, I would like to use FOS-software like Inkscape, Gimp, maybe even Python, since it's available.


This is for GIMP

  1. Start with something like an A5 canvas size

  2. Create a new brush like this

enter image description here

  1. Create a new Paint Dynamic preset, and set the matrix as follows

enter image description here

  1. Increase the size of the brush as you like, and paint random coloured lines, choosing different colours, on a new transparent layer above a black background layer.

  2. Continue until you've built up enough coloured lines on the new layer. You only need a small section, it doesn't have to cover the entire canvas.

enter image description here

  1. Click Edit > Preferences > Tool Options, and for the Scaling option set the Default interpolation to "None"

  2. Back in your document hit Shift+T to bring up the transform handles and stretch the image something like this. When you have finished, hit the New Layer icon in the layers panel to add the new stretched layer to a layer of its own.

enter image description here

  1. Now duplicate the resulting Transformation layer, and reposition with the move tool. Repeat until you have covered the entire canvas.

enter image description here

Just a little note to add. You could do this on a much smaller scale and use the Pencil instead of the brush tool, so that you get perfect pixel wide stripes. Then scale the whole thing up with interpolation set to none. Then add a texture layer, desaturate it, and set the blending mode to hard light.

Here's the result of doing that.

enter image description here


Photoshop is not in the list, but just in case. Image from unsplash.com:


Menu Filter > Noise > Add noise


Menu Filter > Blur > Motion Blur

blur II

Menu Filter > Sharpen > Smart sharpen


Select the part of the image you like most and crop it.

Adding an Adjustment layer of Hue/Saturation choose the color style:


Rotate 90º


To increase the image size if it's necessary, resample with Nearest Neighbor:


Change the Adjustment Layer to Vivid Light:


  • 1
    That gif is mesmerizing! – AndrewH May 14 '18 at 22:08
  • 4
    Nice answer. It looks like that approach might also work in GIMP. It has a motion blur effect, rgb noise, sharpening filter, and hue-saturation adjustment. – Billy Kerr May 14 '18 at 22:27
  • Photoshop is not FOSS – aloisdg May 16 '18 at 8:32

Here' my approach for Gimp:

  1. Used an interesting photo with colours I liked

    enter image description here
    Source: Wikimedia - New York Times Square

  2. Chose a region of interest from this photo

    enter image description here

  3. Increased saturation, contrast, and (optionally) made an indexed Image

    enter image description here

  4. Used the inbuilt filter paper tile with broad width and low height

    enter image description here

  5. Scaled image to desired width

    enter image description here

The fun part is when only you know the source photo hidden in the Image.

enter image description here

  • 14
    I’m pretty sure that’s Trump – Lars Beck May 14 '18 at 13:56

Your Answer

