
GIMP (The GNU™ Image Manipulation Program) is a free raster graphics editor licensed under the GPL. It is primarily used as an image retouching and editing tool. GIMP is built upon the GTK+™ framework and can run on a variety of platforms. It is used for graphics editing tasks such as photo editing, image composition, and image creation.
GIMP can be enhanced by the use of plugins and scripts that perform complex operations. It can also be used to convert different image formats.
Some of the features and capabilities offered by GIMP include:
A full suite of painting tools, including brushes, a pencil, an airbrush, cloning, healing, dodge and burn, and more.
Full Alpha channel support for working with transparency.
Layers and channels.
Advanced scripting capabilities.
Multiple undo/redo (limited only by disk space).
Transformation tools, including rotate, scale, shear, and flip.
Support for a wide range of file formats, including GIF, JPEG, PNG, XPM, TIFF, TGA, MPEG, PS, PDF, PCX, BMP, and many others.
Selection tools, including rectangle, ellipse, free, fuzzy, bezier, and intelligent scissors.
Plug-ins to add new file formats and new effect filters.
For editing images, you can use GIMP, a powerful and feature-packed application similar to Adobe™'s Photoshop™. Here's how to edit graphics in GIMP:
Install GIMP from the Muon package manager, which can be started by going to → → .
To run GIMP, go to → → → .
In GIMP, go to → , navigate to the folder where the image is stored, and open it.
There are several tools available in GIMP for editing images, such as the 'Brush' and the 'Eraser' tools.
When the editing is complete, go to → to save your file, or use to avoid overwriting the original image.
Creating graphics can easily be accomplished in GIMP. There are many filters and tools available that can be used to create stunning graphics. Here's how to create graphics:
To create images/graphics, start with an empty image in GIMP. To do this, go to → and enter the dimensions of the new image. Press .
With an empty image, any of the numerous tools available in GIMP can be used to create a masterpiece! For example, use the text tool, marked with an 'A' in the toolbox window, to add some text to the image. The text can then be manipulated by using filters and adding more color to it.
When the image has been created, it can be saved. To save a file in GIMP, go to → and choose a location where the file will be saved. GIMP requires that that a file type be selected for the image being saved (png, jpg, etc.), so the file extension must be specified. The .xcf choice is considered to be the default extension for GIMP. It is the preferred file type that maintains the edit history of the image, which is helpful if the file is expected to be edited further in GIMP.
For a complete guide to editing and creating images and graphics in GIMP, please see the tutorials and the official documentation from the GIMP web site. More resources for learning GIMP include: