GIMP Review

Image editors don’t have to cost a lot of money. When you use GIMP, you’ll gain access to tools that are on par with most professional programs. The best part is that GIMP is entirely free! 

While you still need to find out how to apply the proper methods and understand how to edit your own photos, GIMP makes it easy to learn. Instead of outsourcing the editing process, bypass professionals and become an editing pro yourself with the help of GIMP! 

GIMP At a Glance

GIMP is not necessarily a mainstream product but its lack of popularity does not affect its credibility. GIMP offers a way for beginners to learn how to edit photos in a professional manner. The platform also makes it easy for professionals to quickly and efficiently edit their photos, too.

The Score

Get your free download of GIMP via the product’s website.

Ease of Use: 7/10

Features:  8/10

Pricing:  10/10

Overall:  8.3/10

Features

Filters are a surefire way to make your photos look cooler than ever. But they don’t always add details that really make photos stand out from the rest. With GIMP, you’ll be able to implement additional features that help your images pop.

Tutorials

Having access to a photo editing program and actually knowing how to use a photo editing program are 2 very different things. With GIMP, an entire section of the website is dedicated to tutorials and directions for new users to explore. 

If you are a visual learner who picks things up by watching other people do it, then you might not find the GIMP tutorials to be very helpful. However, the directions are very in-depth and easy to follow. 

Even if you are not a GIMP user, these tutorials can be very beneficial and insightful. They are full of information that can be applied to various other programs and software intended for editing photos as well. 

Not only is GIMP able to edit pre-existing images, but it can be used to create new drawings and digital. GIMP can be used with tablets, so you can connect your drawing tablet to the platform if that’s your preferred way to draw. 

There are plenty of creative ways to take advantage of the GIMP tool. From creating your own original art or converting already existing images into digital drawings, the options are vast 

When navigating GIMP, know that there are multiple layers along the top of the platform and they all have specific functions depending on how you choose to edit your images. The primary list of menus available on GIMP are layers, Colors, Tools, and Filters.

Each of the menus offers more in-depth choices in regards to the editing tool you want to use. For instance, Colors expands to offer options for Exposure, Color Balance, Saturation, Levels, and more. The other three menu options have a wide selection of dropdown choices just like that for you to access. 

One of the greatest features that GIMP has to offer is the fact that it is an open-source platform. As an open-source platform, the developers and creators of GIMP make it possible for everyday users to access the original source code of GIMP. 

Though the code is copyrighted and owned by the company that sells GIMP, the photo editing tool’s code is accessible to the public, making it possible for you to collaborate and change the code of GIMP. This makes it an even more customizable photo editing tool. 

You can improve the overall look of your images with the help of 2 tools. Photo enhancement lets you fix the perspective distortion of your images. All you have to do is go into the Transform Tools tab and select the corrective mode to improve any distortion your images might have. 

GIMP and Photoshop have some similarities, especially when it comes to digital retouching. When you use the digital retouching tool, you can clone features of an image and touch up minor details to yield the best picture possible. 

GIMP allows you to customize the layout of the interface. In addition to adjusting aspects like your icon and the overall theme of the interface, you can also customize tool groups, organization features, tab locations, and dock size, among other elements. 

The customization options will improve your organization’s abilities as well as increase your productivity and efficiency when editing photos. If you’re not sure how to customize your GIMP interface, play around with the layout and try various methods until you find a layout that you love. 

GIMP is compatible with the most popular file formats including JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF. The program also goes above and beyond with its ability to extend the available formatting options by installing a simple plugin. 

GIMP also offers special format options for multi-resolution and multi-color depth Windows files. This feature extends the formatting options for your edited images, making it more compatible overall. 

Don’t Pass GIMP By

When you need to apply simple edits to your photos, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on a program that you may only use once or twice again in the future. If you are a beginner, photo editing tools that let you familiarize yourself with the basics of photo editing without spending a lot of money are incredible. 

No matter how skilled or experienced you are when it comes to editing images and creating new designs, GIMP can help you achieve professional-grade edits with simple photo editing processes. As a free program, you have nothing to lose by giving GIMP a try!