Posted January 17th, 2009

What Is GIMP?

What is GIMP?
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program—was first released by two Berkeley
students in 1996. Since then, this free open-source program has matured into a powerful
image editor. It’s developed a fairly large user base, and it has been ported to multiple
platforms, including Windows. Since it’s first developement, The GIMP 2.0, has had a completely revamped
interface that makes it a more legitimate player in the world of mainstream image editors.

The lastest generation of GIMP supplies many of the features you get in an application like Adobe Photoshop:
It offers layers, channels, paths, and a spate of painting tools. When GIMP first came out Unfortunately,
the interface was awkward and sometimes confusing. The new user interface has taken giant strides forward, making
GIMP simpler and more flexible. For example, the old interface made you right-click on the image
window in order to choose almost any function in the program. Now a menu at the top of the image
window (as you get into the more mainstream programs) offers easy access to GIMP’s wide array of commands.

I especially like what GIMP has done in the way of palettes. First off, the new tabbed palettes
are nestable and dockable, making GIMP more streamlined while also making more efficient use of
screen’s area. A Histogram palette displays a constantly updated graph of the brightness levels
in the current image, and a handy Navigation palette helps you steer your way through an image when
you’ve zoomed in to work on details. Meanwhile, the new Fonts palette lets you choose a typeface for
use with GIMP’s editable text tool.

So if you are on a tight budget and need a graphics design program or just need to manipulate images
I advise you to get GIMP. Gimp works just as well as Adobe Photoshop but does not come with the
same price tag…. GIMP IS FREE!!

The GIMP website does have a couple of gimp tutorials to get you going.
Gimp Download

If you are looking for a set of good indepth video tutorials learning how to create Web 2.0 Graphics, then I recommend that you invest in these GIMP Video Tutorials