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GIMP
GIMP: Free Image Editor provides Linux users with impressive image-editing power
Product: GIMP (v1.24 is the latest "stable" release.)
From: gimp.org
For: Linux, Mac OS X, etc.
Price: Free, under terms of the GNU license.
Pros: Powerful, "open source" graphics editor.
Cons: Occasionally confusing GUI.
The ignomiously named GIMP is a free Photoshop-workalike paint program for Linux. GIMP, ostensibly an acronym for "GNU image manipulation program," bears more than a passing resemblance to Photoshop, but with a less refined interface (In case you can't figure out how to save a file due to the fact the program confusingly has two different "File" menus, try right-clicking on your image) and a substantially more limited feature set. It lacks, for example, support for the CMYK standard that is required by virtually all print publishing programs for generating colour-separated output.
Indeed, there are those who think that GIMP, like Netscape 6, is an excellent example of the weakness of the Open Source software movement that is at the heart of the Linux community.
Let's see: GIMP is how many years old now? People have been touting it as the "killer app" for Linux since the late nineties. And what do end-users have now, five years later? a 1.x release with an inconsistent interface (tip: In case you can't figure out how to save a file due to the fact the program confusingly has two different "File" menus, try right-clicking on your image), various buggy beta versions and ports, with version 2 still off in the distance, looming as "a total rewrite" -- a euphemistic way of saying the current code base is unworthy of further effort.
And, as the primary developers admit, version 1.0x (still a commonly used version) "used to block the user interface while rendering a new composition of the image." Gimp 1.2 allows you to interrupt that process....
Woo hoo!
Worse, version(s) 1.1xx, the developers confess, "managed to introduce new bugs into the latest releases while fixing other severe bugs."
And, it is worth noting, the overall architecture hasn't changed significantly, despite all the "open source" help. The developers say that v1.2 brings a "more consistent user interface" to Gimp.
These quotes are all from an interview at www.gimp.org.
For a detailed description of GIMP's progress, point your favorite browser to http://sven.gimp.org/1.1/ or have a look at the slides prepared for GUADEC (http://sven.gimp.org/guadec/).
Overall, however, it's one of the best Linux apps available and the price is certainly right. It is included with virtually all recent Linux distributions.
For Further Reading:
- www.thegimp.com
- Gimp.org
- Gimp Registry
- Gimp News
- Graphics Resources
- LinuxGazette/
- Graphics Muse
- SSC, Inc.
- Adobe_Photoshop_2.5
- Adobe Photoshop 3.0
- Real World Photoshop 3
- Photoshop 4.0
- Adobe InDesign - an exclusive hands-on review of Adobe's latest DTP and graphics powerhouse.
- Graphics Tools - The Sequel
- Why I dumped Photoshop for Corel Photo-Paint..and Then Switched Back
- GIMP, version 1.2.4 - Google Spanish-to-English Translation [May 13, 2002]
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