A Professional Art Package at Zero Cost (Gimp)

Member Name: wulf

Product:	Gimp
Date:	30/08/01 (1532 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Professional level graphics tool, Free, with no strings attached, Countless artistic possibilities

Disadvantages: Steep learning curve, Limited professional print based capabilities

The GNU Image Manipulation Program is an Open Source graphics package of the first order. It is available on a wide range of operating systems (not just Linux but also Windows & Mac) and is FREE to install and use.

In the case of the GIMP, free does not mean shoddy or limited. While I've not made enough use of Adobe Photoshop to do a feature by feature comparison, I've not found any compelling reason to look for an alternative to the GIMP in the past three or so years that I've been using it. In fact, I'm still learning new tricks to enhance the graphical work I've been doing.

Most of that work has been web-based, both personal and professional. I've put several links at the end of this opinion, including one to my personal website where you can see numerous examples of my GIMPing.

For instance, the background image was based on a scan of several leaves from my garden. I used various tools to adjust the colour, brightness and tonal range. To finish it off I used the 'make seamless' filter to ensure it would repeat across the page without a visible join. Other pictures on the site illustrate further effects, such as creating composite images by building up multiple layers (an essential feature of any professional graphics package).

My praise for the GIMP is not completely unequivocal. For example, there is a very steep learning curve. Part of this is unavoidable for a package of such complexity. However, an unusual user interface (each picture, dialog and toolbox has its own independent window) and rather piecemeal help documentation (albeit improving all the time) exacerbate the problem. There are also gaps in its print-based support, such as not having a CYMK colour space in its current version (although this is not an issue if you just want to knock up a few personal birthday cards or similar).

If I had to part with any money to use this tool, I might have dropped a star off my rating. Ho
wever, since for my mainly web-based work I have found it just as effective as the vastly more expensive Photoshop, I don't hesitate to give it top marks. If you're willing to take a bit of time to learn it (assisted by the many tutorials to be found on the web) I don't think you can go far wrong with at least giving it a try; the GIMP will cost you nothing even if, like me, you decide to keep it on your hard disk.

References:
The official GIMP website - http://www.gimp.org/
The GIMP User Group (with galleries and tutorials) - http://gug.sunsite.dk/
My own website (all images processed with the GIMP) - http://www.web-den.org.uk/

Summary: