Boredom

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485111.post-1155888922089605722006-08-18T01:15:00.000-07:002006-08-18T01:22:01.593-07:00Boredom<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4255/351/1600/gimp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4255/351/320/gimp.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I have to admit to being bored lately with this blog. Rather than disappear entirely, I thought I would fill in some space and pass the time with a short series of posts about some of the software featured in my sidebar.<br /><br />The first one I'd like to talk about is the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), available free from the <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">GIMP.org web site</a>. Installation of this program on Windows is, unfortunately, not as straightforward as most other programs. It is a three-step process. Each step involves clicking a setup.exe file that extracts and installs files on the computer. The first step is to install the <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gtk+-2.8.18-setup-1.zip?download">GTK+ 2 Runtime Environment</a>. This is the software that provides the GIMP's graphical interface. The second step is to install the <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-2.2.12-i586-setup.zip?download">GIMP</a> itself. The third step is to install the <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-help-2-0.9-setup.zip?download">help files</a> for the gimp. All of these files are zip archives. After unzipping them you will have a setup.exe file you can run to install the component.<br /><br />After all components are installed you should have a Start menu entry for the GIMP and maybe a desktop icon. When you start the GIMP you should see something like this, except that it will look more like a Windows program than the screenshot above does.<br /><br />There is a <a href="http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/TarDist/Grokking-the-GIMP-v1.0.tar.gz">free book</a> about photo editing you can download and read as a set of web pages on your computer called Grokking the GIMP. <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z442.exe?download">7-Zip</a> can handle unpacking this file. A more recent book available from Amazon is "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590595874/sr=1-1/qid=1155886509/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-8018128-5632666?ie=UTF8&s=books">Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional</a>" for $32.99 with free shipping.<br /><br />The GIMP features a wide array of plugins that automate many image adjustments and even help with image construction. There is a full set of painting tools, and standard graphics tools such as layers, masks, paths, selections, gradients, patterns, and palletes. There is a powerful add-on package for animation called the <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-gap-2.2.0-setup.zip?download">GAP</a>.<br /><br />There are several Web sites devoted to the GIMP besides the main GIMP Web site.<a href="http://www.wingimp.org/"><br /></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.wingimp.org/">Win GIMP</a></li><li><a href="http://www.linuxartist.org/gimp.html">GIMP Tutorials, mailing lists, plugins, and other links</a></li><li><a href="http://gimps.de/en/tutorials/gimp/picture-photo-image/">Photo retouching</a></li><li><a href="http://jimmac.musichall.cz/gimp2demos.php">Videos demonstrating GIMP's features</a></li><li><a href="http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/forum/Gimp-Tips-And-Tutorials-8-1.html">GIMP Talk Web Forum</a></li><li><a href="http://gug.sunsite.dk/">Gimp User Group</a><br /></li></ul>If you want a powerful application for graphics without paying Photoshop prices (or "stealing" software from your friends), the GIMP is perfect. It will never cost you a cent and offers most of Photoshop's or Paint Shop Pro's feature sets.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></div>Penguiniatornoreply@blogger.com