| Links | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct link |  |
Free |
| Additional Resources | Preview on the Mac | Free on Mac |
| Helpful links | Gimp Tutorials | Free |
| Reviewed on | June 17th, 2012 | |
| Evaluation Duration | 2 months | |
| Conclusion | not entirely intuitive, but free and useful once you know what you're doing |
|
INTRO
Animation has always had a close place next to my heart. I always liked drawing as a child and had a fondness for storytelling through art, whether it be comics, cartoons, manga, or just one good image. And yet, I have never really gotten into creating digital images. That is really a function of time and need. After starting MaLaJaS, there was definitely a rudimentary need for some type of image manipulation and creation. With that, I embarked on a search for a decent image manipulation program that I could use. Review after review, list after list, suggested Gimp. It was an easy decision to try because it was free and soon I was on my way.
REVIEW
GIMP is not an entirely intuitive tool. I will say that right off the bat. I played around with it in the beginning stages of creating the website, but it never really took. I was used to drawing in Microsoft Excel and image manipulation in Paint. Not very sophisticated products, but easy enough to use and more importantly, it worked. GIMP was another story. I tried many things and could not get it to do what I wanted. On to the world wide web I went. First it was to look for another product. I did not find anything that seemed to be any better, so I decided to stick with GIMP. Then I searched for tutorials so I could learn the product better. There were none better than the GIMP tutorials on its own website shown above.
I began manipulating a few pictures and creating images based on the tutorials. I learned how to resize images in order to create the portal pictures that I wanted on my homepage. After only a day, I was able to totally reinvent the homepage. In the first iteration of the website, I had no graphics and only listed the updates that I was making. The second phase brought images to my website and turned it into what it is today. Not entirely sophisticated images, but the software fulfilled my needs, and I am happy with what the website has become. Between GIMP and Preview on the Mac, I was able to create the images that I wanted, in the sizes that I wanted.
CONCLUSION
GIMP has touched about 75% of the images I have on my website. After running through a few tutorials, I am comfortable with using the program to create my images and banners. It makes sense once you understand it, and is actually a good tool. I am not completely sold on it yet, but I feel like I have barely scratched the surface. I will have to think of new projects that I can use with GIMP. It is a tool I will be keeping in my virtual toolbox.