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14
Manipulating Graphics with
The GIMP
The GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a program for creating and
editing raster graphics. In most aspects, its features are comparable to those of Adobe
Photoshop and other commercial programs. Use it to resize and retouch photographs,
design graphics for Web pages, create covers for your custom CDs, or almost any other
graphics project. It meets the needs of both amateurs and professionals.
Like many other Linux programs, The GIMP is developed as a cooperative effort of
developers worldwide who volunteer their time and code to the project. The program
is under constant development, so the version included in your system may vary
slightly from the version discussed here. The layout of the individual windows and
window sections is especially likely to vary.
The GIMP is an extremely complex program. Only a small range of features, tools, and
menu items are discussed in this chapter. See
Section 14.7, "For More Information"
(page 254) for ideas of where to find more information about the program.
14.1 Graphics Formats
There are two main types of graphics—raster and vector. The GIMP is intended for
working with raster graphics, which is the normal format for photographs and scanned
images. Raster graphics consist of pixels—small blocks of color that together create
the entire image. The files can easily become quite large because of this. It is also not
possible to increase the size of a pixel image without losing quality. The GIMP supports
most common formats of raster graphics.
Manipulating Graphics with The GIMP
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