Admittedly I sometimes end up just using the crop tool on my phone. Whatever gets the job done!
Ha, Ha
OMG. 
I had to Google that.
For those who want to know or have a friend who wants to know:
Ask Google about: gimp mask
and then ask about: riding crop
Damn, you beat me ( no pun intended) to it lol
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I am more familiar with a riding crop, being from Kentucky, than i am with GIMP mask.
And i will just leave it at that.
Oh dear, you boys seem to have just introduced me to a topic I knew very little (nothing) about.
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Great scene in Pulp Fiction (a classic film)
As far as I know the title GIMP comes from:
Graphical Image Manipulation Program
(with no ties involving any sort of S&M.)
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Crop, of course means to “cut down” or “shorten.”
Hence at harvest time a farmer brings in his “crop.” -
A “Riding Crop” (originally) was a buggy whip that had been cut short for use while riding a saddle horse.
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“Cropping” is a term that refers to sizing and “cutting down” a larger photograph. This term has been used in the Graphic Arts field for well over 200 years.
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The now-a-days archaic symbol for photo cropping, still in use today, as seen here:
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Actually represents the age old act of an artist holding up the thumb and forefingers of each hand to form a frame, in order to consider the artistic composition of a scene, painting, photograph or film shot.
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The symbol was further confirmed in the 50s & 60s by the invention of the “Scale-O-Graph.”
An item I have spent many hours using in my younger days.
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Below is an image of a somewhat similar device used for years in the darkroom for cropping of photographs as they are printed on the enlarger:
Another item I have spent far too much of my life using.
p.s. You can create a “GIMP Mask” using the GIMP photo editing software but again it has no application to the world of S&M.
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GIMP is indeed a good tool. Is there a thread somewhere on this site detailing various free alternatives to the more popular paid software?
…but don’t do it on your work computer!
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Seriously, GIMP is very powerful editing software. It suffers a bit from the less than intuitive “front end” we’d expect of freeware, but there’s lots of tutorial info out there to show how the tools work. Certainly removes the need for Photoshop!
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Restoring / Improving Old Photographs with GIMP:
Original TM reference image for Athey Tracked Trailer:
Image found on line.
Trailer used in the Normandy Beach Landings
Adjustments using just the “Curves” tool in GIMP:
Finished Image: Also applied spot “Lighten/Darken” Tool Brushes, Contrast Adjustment and the Cropping Tool:
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More knocked out backgrounds and halo affects using GIMP ®
This time at Auto Shows
You don’t always have to eliminate a busy background. Sometimes it is more than enough just to reduce how it might draw the viewer’s eye away from the primary subject.
More background knockouts using the “Paint Bucket” tool:
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