GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, ... More info »
Once you invest yourself into Gimp, its just too useful to leave. My son requires Photoshop for his degree program, and as soon as I saw the price for CS3, I really liked Gimp even more. I will admit, tho, that for simple conversion and formatting operations, I use IrfanView and other, more consumer-oriented programs.
I use Gimp all the time on Ubuntu, but it is not yet at the level of Photoshop. Gimp can use Photoshop plugin, but the thing I really wish that Gimp would have is Photoshop actions. Gimp has scripts, but for me the actions in Photoshop were the best things. So maybe in a few years Gimp will be at a equal level with Photoshop.
GIMP can be hard to use, but so is Photoshop CS3. For simple image (especially photo) operations, it is overkill. Many of the offered alternatives, such as Irfanview, can do a lot and are much simpler to use. These are Windows versions, by the way.
I use GIMP quite a lot, both on Windows and Linux, but it takes some effort to learn. Lots of free help is available on the web, so if you have the time, dive in.
simply fantastic!!
simplemente fantástico!!
and free!!!!!!
I use the Gimp all the time and it's my go-to image tool. I can't speak to the learning curve since I used Photoshop all the time in college and it's very similar. However, I'm not a graphic artist and I kept finding the cost of Photoshop was too high for what I was doing, yet I had a hard time using other tools that were purposefully limited (Photoshop-lite kind of stuff).
The Gimp allows me to get into what I want and is very similar to Photoshop. I mostly do image scaling, work with transparent backgrounds, editing with multiple layers, etc. There has also been a marked improvement with the GUI (and Windows version) in recent versions. Also, if you're used to Photoshop, you might want to look at gimpshop (a hacked gimp made to have similar menus as photoshop).
I use both PS and GIMP and the only really annoying thing about GIMP is the lack of native CMYK-support. This makes it more or less useless if you want to make work for print.When GIMP comes with native CMYK support, it will be an obvious alternative to PS.
The appearance of the Freeware GIMP releases under Windows often astonishment: All Windows conventions are ignored, a higher program window is absent.GIMPshop (*) adapts the original program surface to that of Adobe photo shop, what simplifies the service of the Freeware picture editing considerably.Tip: To be able to begin GIMPshop, you must extinguish before an already installed GIMP.* http://alternativeto.net/desktop/gimpshop/
Terribly-named program with confusing, disorganized menus and non-standard window management, which can do anything I need to raster images. So I use it, but begrudgingly.
I've actually resorted to deleting the splash image so my coworkers won't see the word "GIMP" in huge letters with a nude furry being painted. Sigh.
Wanted to give the GIMP a second chance after 2 years, but the program froze several times starting up. (tried v2.6.8 and v2.7 on Windows7 64bit) Maybe next year.
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