How-to: Using GIMP, part 1
This series of tutorials, based on GIMP 2.4.2, will not cover every square inch of GIMP, since that would fill a book (and indeed has already filled several), but, by the end, you will be proficient enough in GIMP to create anything from simple web banners to large posters suitable for professional printing.
We'll assume you already have GIMP as part of your default Ubuntu install.
First, let's open GIMP, and have a quick look at its layout. Please note that a first load of GIMP may look slightly different from my layout (below). I will briefly discuss the GIMP layout first.
On the top left we see the tools, and on the bottom left we see the options for the chosen tool (Paintbrush in this case). Top right are tabs for Layers, Channels and so on, and at the bottom right are tabs for Brushes amongst other things. GIMP has a very flexible layout system in that you can drag and drop items from place to place. For example, if I want to have my Layers presented on a separate window I can click on the Layers tab (top right, shown below), and drag it out to my desktop.
Drag layers tab to desktop
If I want to have the Layers display back where it was, I click and drag on the word 'Layers' on the window, and drag it back to the top right.
Drag tabs back to application window
You can do this with anything you like - so feel free to configure your layout to whatever makes you most comfortable. If, by accident, you close any of your windows, and need to get it back, click on File > Dialogs and then the item you want shown - or hidden for that matter.
Let's create a new image. In the main menu, click File > New. Before we go any further, let me explain what some of these things do.
At the top of the window, where it says 'Template', we can choose from a variety of different pre-configured sizes. Click the drop down menu and choose 'A4'. Below that is 'Image Size'. This is now set to what we've just chosen, A4, so there's no need to alter these values just yet. To the right of the 'Height' value is a measurement type. At the moment, mine is set to millimeters but with a click of the drop down menu I can change it to pixels if I want. Below the width and height are two small boxes. Looking closely at the icons on the buttons should help you guess that the one on the left is for portrait (a vertical image) and the other for landscape (a horizontal image). For the moment, I'll keep it on portrait. A brief summary of your chosen options are to the right of these two buttons. Last on this window is 'Advanced Options'. Clicking on 'Advanced Options' reveals more options.
Why not give GIMP 2.4 a try? Available for Linux, Mac & Windows
Check your package manager for easy GIMP installation or download GIMP from :
Windows: www.gimp.org/windows
First, we have X and Y Resolution values. These specify how detailed your image will be. This is also known as Dots Per Inch (DPI), and is crucial in printing. Professional print houses will usually demand at least 200dpi, but mostly 300dpi. Near the values you can see a small icon which is links in a chain. In my image, they are linked - meaning that changing the X value will change the Y value automatically; clicking the icon will unlink them and allow different X and Y values. If your icon shows the chain links as open, then you will want to click it to have them as shown in the image above. For just a basic test image, change the X or Y value to 100. Next is 'Color Space'. I only have two options: 'RGB Color' or 'Grayscale', so I am keeping it at 'RGB color'. 'Fill With' lets you choose a starting color for your image. Finally, 'Comment' something that will be saved as part of your GIMP file. This could be anything from copyright information to your contact details.
With my options set, I click OK.
So now I have a fresh image to work on. But how do you work on an image? We'll get in to that in more detail later, but for now I will do a quick run through of some of the more important tools.
As you click on each tool, the 'Tool Options' (below the tools) will change. Each tool has its own set of options - which I won't go into now. But play around with these options, because that's how you'll learn more!
Next month in part two, we'll look into color correction and color editing.
Ronnie Tucker is Editor of Full Circle magazine, a proud Kubuntu user, and part-time artist who's gallery of work can be seen at www.RonnieTucker.co.uk..
