New To Gimp? 10 Tips For Getting The Most From This Free Image Editor

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

ZDNET cardinal takeaways

• The GIMP image editor is not astir arsenic challenging arsenic you mightiness think.
• There are respective things you tin do to amended your workflow.
• All of these tips are free to use.

I've been utilizing nan GIMP image editor longer than I tin remember. When I first started my GIMP journey, I knew adjacent to thing astir image editing; nan infinitesimal I opened GIMP, I felt lost. Over nan years, I've developed not only an affinity for nan application, but I besides see it 1 of nan amended image editors disposable today.

During years of use, I've learned a batch astir really GIMP useful and really to usage it efficiently. If you're conscionable now starting pinch GIMP (especially aft coming from Photoshop), you mightiness find it particularly daunting.

Also: 10 Linux apps I instal connected each caller instrumentality (and why you should, too)

Don't panic -- GIMP's easier to usage than you mightiness think. The pursuing tips will thief you get nan astir retired of nan open-source image editor.

1. Learn and customize nan UI

Before you propulsion your hands successful nan aerial and proclaim, "I can't activity pinch this personification interface," I propose you first go acquainted pinch each nan components of nan UI. Although it mightiness astatine first glimpse look for illustration thing of a mess, it's really laid retired pinch plentifulness of thought and logic. 

Even so, you mightiness for illustration customizing nan UI to champion suit your needs. If Photoshop has been your image editor for a agelong time, see utilizing PhotoGimp, a spot that makes it easier to toggle shape nan GIMP UI into a more Photoshop-like interface. 

However, I urge that you first effort to familiarize yourself pinch nan modular GIMP layout and spot if it doesn't commencement making much sense.

2. Master layers and channels

Layers and channels are very important features successful GIMP that tin really elevate your work. Essentially, layers are for illustration transparent sheets of paper, stacked connected apical of each other. Layers make it imaginable to activity connected different elements of your image independently and non-destructively. 

Channels are nan basal building blocks of a layer's colour data, consisting of individual colour components (Red, Green, Blue) and an Alpha transmission for transparency. With channels, each furniture corresponds to a peculiar level based connected nan colour exemplary of nan image. With some layers and channels, you tin determine what is displayed successful an image, making them a very elastic and powerful tool.

3. Ungroup nan tools

In GIMP, it's imaginable to disable nan characteristic that groups akin devices together successful a azygous icon. For example, if you click and clasp nan Bucket Fill icon, you'll announcement that it tin beryllium switched to nan Gradient icon. Although this does prevention abstraction successful nan UI, it tin beryllium challenging to retrieve what devices are grouped together. 

Also: How to create a gradient transparency successful GIMP

You tin disable that characteristic successful Settings > Interface > Toolbox and uncheck nan container for "Use instrumentality groups." Once you've abnormal nan feature, you must restart GIMP for nan alteration to return effect. Now, each instrumentality will person its ain button, truthful you won't person to walk clip remembering wherever to find nan instrumentality you need.

4. Add brushes and fonts

GIMP tin usage Photoshop brushes. I've installed a batch of brushes complete nan years and person recovered they thief make my occupation a spot easier. There's moreover a GIMP Brush Depot connected DeviantArt wherever you tin download plentifulness of free brushes. Once downloaded, here's wherever nan brushes should beryllium placed:

• Linux: ~/.config/GIMP/version/brushes, aliases ~/.gimp-version/brushes 
• MacOS: /Users/USERNAME/Applications/Library/Application Support/gimp/VERSION/brushes 
• Windows: C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\AppData\\Roaming\\GIMP\\2.10\\brushes 

USERNAME is your username, and VERSION is nan type of GIMP you are using. If you're utilizing Photoshop brushes, make judge to alteration nan hold sanction to .gbr.

5. Learn furniture masks

When I learned really to usage furniture masks, my activity improved exponentially. Think of furniture masks arsenic a grayscale image utilized to power nan transparency of a layer. In nan lawsuit of furniture masks, achromatic areas hide nan contented layer, achromatic reveals it, and grey creates a partial transparency for soft blending and selective editing. 

Also: How to make GIMP much for illustration Photoshop

You tin adhd a furniture disguise by right-clicking a furniture successful nan Layers sheet and past clicking Add Layer Mask. Once nan furniture disguise has been added, you tin do immoderate you need, specified arsenic fading nan transparency level of a peculiar conception of a layer. One point to retrieve is that, erstwhile you're vanished pinch nan furniture mask, you person to use it by right-clicking nan furniture and past selecting Apply Layer Mask.

6. Get to cognize filters

GIMP includes a bully postulation of filters. You'll find filters for blur, enhance, distort, ray and shadow, noise, separator detect, generic, combine, artistic, and more. These filters are an invaluable instrumentality for elevating your work. When I'm moving pinch effects and filters, I mostly use them to layers, truthful they aren't global. I usage Light & Shadow > Dropdown Legacy rather a spot arsenic good arsenic Blur > Gaussian Blur. 

Because location are truthful galore filters, you'll want to walk immoderate clip up-front learning nan ins and outs of utilizing each.

Also: How to usage Layers successful nan GIMP image editor (and why you should)

7. Install G'Mic

G'Mic is simply a free, open-source model for image processing. G'Mic adds hundreds of algorithmic filters utilized for manipulating and enhancing your images. A batch of G'Mic filters are really a operation of modular filters, which intends you don't person to spell done and use much filters than you tin manage. G'Mic will prevention you plentifulness of work. 

You do person to instal G'Mic separately, which is easy to do. For Linux, rumor nan bid sudo apt-get instal gimp-gmic -y. On Windows, you simply download nan .exe file, double-click it, and locomotion done nan installation wizard. (The G'Mic squad does not offert a MacOS larboard of nan software.) Once installed, you tin entree G'Mic successful nan Filters menu.

8. Minimize transformations

Minimizing transformations is nan believe of reducing nan number of irreversible transformations applied to an image to sphere its quality. For example, if you take to resize an image, you want to make judge to usage nan due interpolation method and debar unnecessary repeated scaling. This will forestall excessive pixelation and/or nonaccomplishment of detail. Essentially, minimizing transformations is different measurement of saying "avoiding image degradation."

9. Make usage of car colour adjustments

Color grading tin make aliases break your images. While grading is utilized mostly for video, nan automatic colour adjustments tin besides beryllium applied to still photos. Auto colour adjustments tin beryllium recovered successful nan Colors > Auto folder, wherever you'll find adjustments for equalize, achromatic balance, agelong contrast, agelong opposition (HSB), colour enhance, and colour heighten (legacy). Using these devices is simply a awesome measurement to amended nan colour of your images.

Also: How to export images arsenic PDFs successful GIMP

10. Use multi-window mode

The default GIMP layout slaps everything into a azygous window. However, multi-window mode places those devices successful individual windows, truthful you tin move them precisely wherever you want. Once you've changed to multi-window mode, those devices are nary longer constricted to remaining successful nan main GUI; you tin resistance them astir and spot them wherever you need. 

Think of multi-window mode for illustration this: Single-window consolidates everything into a azygous window, whereas multi-window breaks nan UI into aggregate windows, which you tin resistance astir and usage arsenic needed. To usage multi-window mode, spell to nan Windows paper successful GIMP and click Single-window mode to disable nan feature.