Gimp at SimpleBusiness.org

Undeniably Photoshop is a class of its own when comes to photo editing. Of course some people might disagree and suggest Fireworks or Paintshop Pro. For me it is GIMP.

GIMP is an Open Source photo editing software like Photoshop. Over the years GIMP had evolved and matured into an application that can rival Photoshop in functionalities.

GIMP is acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. As the name suggests it can be used for such tasks
as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

GIMP is a big program with many powerful functions. That means it will take time to learn. However as you spend time you will learn that it does not take any more timeÂ than to learn a commercial software like Photoshop.

Of course for someone already familiar with Photoshop, many things had to be learn, unlearn and relearn. For me it is the keyboard shortcut keys and the multi-windows interface.

The advantage is the next time Adobe comes out with a new version, there is no need to fork out more money to upgrade. For a small time graphic user like myself, I do not use much of the newer functions.

It is simple to learn the basic to start using the GIMP. I had started to create many graphics and will continue to learn to use new function. For someone familiar with Photoshop, it should be relatively easy to pickup although some ways of doing things may be different and need getting used to.

The best place to find information learn is the GIMP tutorials. The GIMP project is constantly adding more tutorials and documentations. Books on GIMP are also starting to appear.

GIMP is seriously challenging Photoship and other commercial photo editing software. I certainly recommend infrequent, graphic user to try it and be free from commercial or pirated softwares.

For professionals that livelihood depend on creating graphics efficiently, it is certainly worthwhile to try GIMP out in free time. GIMP could prove to be a disruptive or competitive advantage in your field.