Step by step: How to convert your image by adding fire effects to it

In detail, here's how to add flame effects (and sparks, ...) to your images and animate them. You will need Image-To-Fire-Effect (ImgFire FX).

1. Download Image-To-Fire-Effect

2. Transform your image (add effects and options)

In a Windows command prompt, type:
ImgFire "D:\My Folder\MyPicture.jpg"
This will create an animated GIF "MyPicture_out.gif" from your initial "MyPicture.jpg" file, with default options. It's finished! Your resulting GIF file is ready!

Adjust colors

By default a standard fire color palette is used (red, orange, yellow), but you can also use other colors from another palette to simulate flames issued by chemical products. For example, -green for a green palette and -red for a red palette.
There are other palette presets.
Image of cat with yellow flame effectCat image with green fire effect
-p1 -fire : Default fire palette (red, orange and yellow)-p2 -blue1 -ice : Icy blue palette-p3 -blue2 -water : Sea blue palette-p4 -blue3 -cucl : Blue chemical fire palette (Copper Chloride)-p5 -green -cuso : Green chemical fire palette (Copper Sulfate)-p6 -lime -bore : Yellow/green chemical fire palette (Borax)-p7 -yellow -na : Yellow chemical fire palette (Sodium)-p8 -orange -ca : Orange chemical fire palette (Calcium)-p9 -red -sr : Red chemical fire palette (Strontium)-p10 -carmine -li : Red/carmine chemical fire palette (Lithium)-p11 -violet -kso : Violet chemical fire (Potassium Sulfate)-p12 -purple -kcl : Purple chemical fire (Potassium Chloride)-p13 -white -mg : White/blue chemical fire palette (Magnesium)

How does the fire progress? Choose the spread model to use

There are 2 propagation models:
  • -mode0: Mode 0, based on general color intensity (fire is more likely to occur in bright areas)
  • -mode1: Mode 1, based on contour detection (fire is more likely to occur in areas next to color changes)
Mode 0 (color-based) generally works best with high contrast images, or with sharply embedded text, because this way the fire spreads less quickly and so you can still read what's written.
On the left, Mode 0 (color intensity), and on the right, Mode 1 (edge detection)
young woman and man near a campfire looking at the seaburning image young woman and man near a campfire looking at the sea animated GIF result mode0burning image young woman and man near a campfire looking at the sea animated GIF result mode1
Example textBurning image result text mode0Burning image result text mode1

Is the fire progressing faster in some places? Choose the flow type to use

You can decide if the fire is homogeneous, or if it contains activity peaks which will go faster.
To define this, there are 4 types of flow:
1) Noisy fire flow type pattern “Noisy” -flnoisy fairly random signal
2) Peak-shaped fire flow type pattern “Peaks” -flpeak peak signal (default)
3) Triangle(Abs) fire flow type pattern “Triangles” -fltri regular triangle signal, like a sawtooth
4) Basic (linear) flow type pattern “Basic” -fllinear homogeneous, linear signal
Each of these types influences the progress of each spark according to its x,y position. Results in animated GIF images:
Pay close attention to the top of the letter outline: we can distinguish there for example the peaks, and the sawtooth of the triangle signal... or on the contrary we note that everything is homogeneous with the linear “basic” type .
From left to right: Types 1 “Noise” -flnoisy, 2 “Peaks” -flpeak, 3 “Triangles” -fltri, 4 “Basic”/linear -fllinear.
noisy flow type pattern fire resultpeak flow type pattern fire resulttriangle(abs) flow type pattern fire resultbasic/linear flow type pattern fire result

Sparks and particles

By default, there are 5% particles or sparks that are generated during the image sequence. They are emitted in places of the image, so that they could “stand out”.
To increase the density of the particles, you can use the option -ap10 or -ap20, for example. To reduce it to 0, use -ap0.
Example: result images with default particles -ap5 (left), without particles -ap0 (center), or with even more particles -ap20 (right):
faceless mannequin imageflaming mannequin with sparks ap5flaming mannequin with sparks ap0flaming mannequin with sparks ap20
Image reconstruction
The image is reconstructed a little bit with each image so that the fire is maintained and the colors do not disappear.
This corresponds to adding a little brightness to each pixel (depending on Mode 0 or 1), and by default this regeneration speed is 33% (option -an33).
However you can adjust this reconstruction speed, or even set it to 0 if you want the image to fade or disappear, vanish: -an0
Cat image with fading effect

Dispel the “smoke”, or how to decrease the progression of the fire

By default the system considers that there is a smoke density of 60% (option -smoke60) which prevents the fire to develops too quickly If the smoke is at 0 (option -smoke0) the fire progresses very rapidly, and quickly reaches very bright colors (white)! If the smoke is at 100 (option -smoke100) the fire will take a long time to increase the intensity and therefore to reach the colors at the top of the palette.
Example of results with the default smoke density of 60% (left), 100% smoke -smoke100 and therefore little propagation (in the center), 30% smoke -smoke30 to spread faster (right).
Iguana photo
Photo of iguana in flames with ImgFire smoke60Photo of iguana in flames with ImgFire little spread smoke100Photo of iguana in flames with ImgFire smoke30
We let you imagine what would happen with -smoke0 and maximum progression...

“Glitch” effects

There are effects which were generated due to accidental errors but which are still graphically interesting.
Cycle / overflow : Imagine that whenever the intensity decreases and reaches 0, it immediately returns to 100%! That's what happens with the option -cycle :
Code: -mode1 -an0 -cycle -ap5
Cat image with cycle overflow effect
“Over” / overrun : When the intensity increases and exceeds 100%, the value is usually capped at 100% to limit the intensity. Now imagine that exceeding 100% makes it return to 0%. The effect produced is very disconcerting and it becomes really difficult to distinguish the original image. That's what happens with the option -over :
Code: -mode0 -over
Cat image with over effect

Generate a still image

Even if one of the main features of ImgFire FX is to create animated GIF sequences, you can also create a still image as output (in PNG format) with the chosen color palette.
Woman playing guitar near campfire
Credits:
- Shadow of a person from behind, with background on fire : Adam Wilson unsplash.com/@fourcolourblack
- Cat (yellow palette), Cat (green palette), and vanishing cat (standard red fire palette) : "This Cat Does Not Exist" www.thiscatdoesnotexist.com
- Young woman and young man near a bonfire at the beach looking at the sea : Manuel-Meurisse unsplash.com/@manuelmeurisse
- Iguana : Manuel Amir unsplash.com/@maanuelvazquez
- Faceless mannequin : David Underland unsplash.com/@david_underland
- Flames of all the colors of the palettes : Tyler Lastovich unsplash.com/@lastly
- Woman playing guitar near campfire : Elisey Vavulin unsplash.com/@elsloude
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