How to Gimp

Gimp 101- for those of you that do not know what "Gimp" is! "Gimp is a photo editing and image making computer program. It has also been the nicest tool I have found for this task.

Let me start by saying that I am a long way from being any kind of artistic. I write, crochet, and occasionally I can be talked into doing some creative cooking but I am not an artist.

I have often said that I couldn't draw a straight line if my life depended on it and boy I never hope it comes to that. I am probably the only person in the world that failed 7th grade art twice! However, I have a few interests that do require some artistic ability. I do scrap booking and I have recently started the first draft of a children's book that I hope to have published. I also have a "Zazzle Store" that I just started. All of these interests have led me in search of any open source tool that would enhance my very limited abilities.

Often when I am trying to explain to someone where I get programs and software from I run into having to explain that there are so many programs in the Internet that you really have to be careful and make sure you read the license agreement before downloading any software. Computer veterans will know this but I am often dealing with people that know very little about the Internet so I thought it best to explain.

Open-Source software is usually beta programs that are being worked on and improved upon regularly. This type of software is free to use but is constantly being upgraded. Abandon ware is also free to use but like the name says they are programs that their developers have abandoned. There will be no upgrades, improvements, or support for these programs. Shareware is software that you can use free but the developers request donations to help support the continuing growth of the program. Free Trial is just that it is a limited version of a program that the developers would like you to purchase. Most free trials restrict certain functions and have a limited time before the program stops working. Having said all of this my point is this "Gimp" is open source software.

Years ago when the "Gimp" project first came out I tried it and was very underwhelmed. I jumped around a lot and found that all though most of the other open-source and shareware software had one or two features that I liked, no one had it all.

The one I liked the best was "Paintshop Pro" but they have since converted thier shareware to free trial with a limited time limit and for me that just wasn't going to work. When I started my "Zazzle" StoreI went in search of a photo editor that was open-source and had everything I was looking for.

To my surprise Everthing I read, every search I did, and everywhere I looked I kept coming up with "Gimp". I was hesitant at first because of my opinion formed in the early stages of development but I decided to give it a try. What can I say? They have come a very long way and I am hooked!

As I have said my artistic skills run from basically none to very basic, so anything I can produce that looks remotely close to what I was trying to achieve thrills me to no end. To the left are  5 images that I created with "Gimp". Each image was done in under 15 minutes. I know that to the talented artist they won't look like a lot but i suspect there are more people in the world like me in this area. I am thrilled to be able to crate images and actually use them. This software is absolutely fantastic. If I can do this I can only imagine what a talented artist can do with this program.

If you are looking to do some photo editing or imaging I highly recommend giving this a try.

"Gimp" comes with a multitude of filters and tools already built into the program, but it is very limited when it comes to brushes. There is however a very large resource of brushes to be had from a number of sources on the Internet.

Again for the newbies, brushes inside of a program like this are more or less like stencils. The trees, birds, butterflies, clouds, hearts, grasses, and silhouettes in my images are all brushes.

As I said there are several good places to get brushes out there. some of the best are: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/gimpbrushes/#

http://free-brushes.com/gimp/

http://www.noupe.com/gimp-brushes/1000-free-high-resolution-gimp-brushes.html

Brushes can be a little tricky to install correctly but the video below will give you step bu step instructions.