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18
Manipulating Graphics with
The GIMP
The GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a program for creating and
editing pixel 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, make 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 18.7, “For More Information”
(page 242) for ideas of where to find more information about the program.
18.1 Graphics Formats
There are two main formats for graphics—pixel and vector. The GIMP works only with
pixel graphics, which is the normal format for photographs and scanned images. Pixel
graphics consist of 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.
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