Member Avatar for Kob0724

I was talking with someone and the subject of Image editing/creating came up. Photoshop came up within this conversation ofcourse, but this person also mentioned a program named GIMP. They said it was a good and free solution. Where can I get GIMP? Is it really a good program? I googled it and found the GIMP website, but the downloads mentioned something about compiling the file once I downloaded it. What is that? Will it work on my computer? I'm running Windows XP on an Athlon system. Thank you for you help in advanced.
-Kurtis

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wait...whats going on?

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Short, practical primer that corrects a few points in the thread and points to reliable resources.

GIMP is a full-featured, free raster editor — not limited to 256 colors — and supports layers, layer masks, alpha/transparency, many filters, scripting, and high bit‑depth processing through the GEGL engine. This makes it perfectly capable for cropping, photo retouching, compositing and a lot of design work; it just approaches some workflows (for example certain print/CMYK pipelines) differently than commercial tools. (gimp.linux.it)

The “compile” wording you saw means building GIMP from source code (something most end users do not need to do). For Windows there are official prebuilt installers on the GIMP site; developers and packagers only compile when they need custom builds. Modern GIMP releases (3.x) are built for Windows 10 or newer; if the machine is still running Windows XP there are archived older installers (GIMP 2.6/2.8 era) on the project’s old downloads, but those are unsupported and may be missing security/feature updates — upgrading the OS is the safer option. See the official downloads and the developer build notes for details. GIMP downloads — Building GIMP for Windows — [Old/legacy installers]. ()

Good, up-to-date learning paths: the project’s own community tutorials and the long-running Davies Media Design video tutorials are excellent starting points. Practical starter checklist:

  • Install the official GIMP build from gimp.org and follow the Beginner/Photo Editing tutorials.
  • Learn layers, layer masks and how to “Add Alpha Channel” (transparency) early.
  • For print work, verify CMYK import/export and soft‑proofing for the GIMP version in use (GIMP 3 improved CMYK handling but full CMYK‑native workflows remain different from dedicated DTP tools).

Links: GIMP Community Tutorials — Davies Media Design GIMP tutorials. (gimp.org)

Notes tied to the thread: was right that Windows installers exist; ’s 256‑color statement is incorrect (GIMP handles full RGB/alpha and higher bit depths); (running XP on an Athlon) should expect modern builds to require a newer OS or to use an archived older build with the caveats above.

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Member Avatar for Narue

>Is it really a good program?
It's okay, but I wouldn't even consider replacing Photoshop with the GIMP. All of my professional graphic artist and digital photographer friends agree. In my opinion, the GIMP is for systems that don't support Photoshop, free software fanatics who don't care about usability and power, or for hobbyists with no money.

>the downloads mentioned something about compiling the file once I downloaded it.
You can download an for Windows.

Member Avatar for Kob0724

Thanks, thats what I was really looking for. Yea, i'm just looking to play around and don't wanna drop the cash required for photoshop. Any cool GIMP tutorials you might be able to point me to. I mean, other than the ones I bet I could find on the GIMP site.

Member Avatar for Narue

>Any cool GIMP tutorials you might be able to point me to.
No, not really. You could probably find some with google, but I can't comment on how good they are as I learned the GIMP through experimentation.

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

GIMP has a limitation of 256 colors, the last time I checked. Photoshop works with 32 (millions + an alpha channel). Photoshop also allows you to batch operations for unattended operation, among other things.

GIMP is a nice foot in the door, or for simple picture cropping, but it is not geared for the serious photo folk.

Christian

Member Avatar for Killswitch

hey if you want photoshop, have a look on ebay i got mine for just £15 and its £999 elsewhere

Member Avatar for Rashakil Fol

GIMP doesn't have a limitation of 256 colors....

I've found the Linux version better than the Win32 port.

It's great for me, since I'm a hobbyist (sub-hobbyist, really) with no money.

Member Avatar for John P

GIMP is an excellent photo and image manipulation program for those who can't afford Photoshop.

The interface is harder to understand and it is missing a couple of features that Photoshop has, but it's definitely not limited to 256 colors.

Install this first: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download.asp?fid=23351&fileidx=1

Then this:

John

Member Avatar for talkfreelance

Yeah, as mentioned GIMP was developed for those without windows. It's a sub par version of photoshop.

Member Avatar for dojo

I am using photoshop. Tried Gimp, but couldn't find the time to install it :D I think it's a nice program for people who are not as pretentious with graphics. Many people have good words about it, so it has to be good ;)

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