Member Avatar for Soral 3.0

Hi all!,
Due to the high costs of other image manipulation programs such as adobe photoshop, I began to look at alternative programs for image manipulation.
I recently found the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). which is a

"... freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages."
~
http://gimp.org/

I don't know ANYONE who uses it, and I don't know whether it's due to anonymity or infamousness.

I was wondering if anyone know about it, and whether or not it is a good program for web design graphics...

Thanks,
Soral 3.0

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Short answer: yes — GIMP is perfectly capable for most web-graphics work (resizing, retouching, slicing assets and exporting optimized PNG/JPG/GIF). As asked and as already noted, it’s a full-featured raster editor and a solid free alternative for producing page graphics. (documentation.suse.com)

For slicing: use guides and GIMP’s built-in slice tools. Place guides (drag from the rulers or use Image -> Guides -> New Guide), then either run Image -> Slice Using Guides (the old “Guillotine”) or Filters -> Web -> Slice… to export the pieces; the Slice filter can even produce simple HTML (table-based) code as a starting point. That gives you the image assets you need, but it won’t auto-generate modern CSS layouts — you export assets and assemble the CSS/HTML yourself. (docs.gimp.org)

Practical workflow tips: mark your cut lines with guides, test export with Filters -> Web -> Slice…, then optimize the resulting images (pngquant/optipng/jpg quality settings). If you work with many layered assets, install an “Export Layers” plugin to batch-export each layer as a file instead of doing File -> Export As repeatedly — that saves a lot of time when building sprite-like UI pieces. (kamilburda.github.io)

About Photoshop vs GIMP (answering ): for web-only graphics GIMP will usually suffice. Photoshop’s advantages are tighter, industry-level print/color workflows (native CMYK and color management) and more integrated non‑destructive adjustment layers and selection tools — features that matter for print or heavy photo retouching. GIMP can be extended with plugins or external tools, but those workflows are less integrated than Photoshop’s. If you need print-ready CMYK or heavy non‑destructive editing, Photoshop (or a print-focused tool) is the safer pick; for web UI work on a budget, GIMP plus the slice/export workflow above is practical. ()

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Member Avatar for Killer_Typo

i use it, and it by far the best one out there, some put it as the freeware version of photoshop. I used to use it alot, but then i got fireworks and now thats what i use for my web design/development.

heres some gimp related websites:


-->this is to a download site, the gimp.org site tries to point you to a pay to use version, this is the free version, and totally legit, since gimp is open source their are couple diff versions, this is by far the best of them, and most worked on version. with the nicest UI, and most support for.

Member Avatar for Soral 3.0

KillerTypo,
I d/led my copy of the GIMP from that very website -- it looks very powerful.
- Thanks for showing me the tutorial websites I will be sure to check them out.

But, is it good for web graphics? I know that fireworks is a great program designed just for web graphics, but it's got a hefty price tag on it...
I was wondering if the GIMP will suffice as a web graphics program?
Like, can it slice images for CSS?
thanks,
Soral 3.0

Member Avatar for posvar

what exactly does Photoshop do that GIMP doesn't? And vice versa, what does GIMP have that Photoshop doesn't?

I use photoshop a lot - but it would be cool if I could start using GIMP - anything to avoid the high adobe prices in the future.

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