Getting Started with the GIMP
The GIMP is a free program for manipulating graphics. It's open source, it's kinda buggy, it's not written for Windows. It's also very powerful, and very free. It does layers. It does dodge and burn. It likes transparency. Trust me, if all you've got to work with so far is MSPaint (and maybe IrfanView), you want this program!
If you are used to the way Windows programs work, it's going to take you a little bit to learn your way around the GIMP. It's worth it, in the long run. In the short run, it can be more trouble than it's worth, so I hope that this tutorial will help you to at least jump those first few hurdles. ;)
1: Installing the GIMP.
If you're running Linux, I assume you don't need my help with this. ;)
If you're running Windows (most versions seem to work...I know it'll work on Win95/98 and I've got it now on XP), you'll be happy to know that there is Windows version. The main page will direct you to a different site to get installer packages. This is probably what you want.
Note: Since I released this tutorial, version 2.0 has been released. Some of the details may have changed slightly, (i.e. the version numbers), but the process is the same.
- First, you have to install the GTK+ 1.3 runtime environment. Think of this as like a separate program that has to be installed first in order for the regular GIMP install to work. There are several download sites available.
- Second, you download and install the actual GIMP program.
- The third install, "LZW libraries for The Gimp", will allow you to save GIF files. There are legal reasons for this to be separate. If you live in an area where it is illegal for you to install this...then don't. (I'm not going to help you to figure this one out as you can always just use IrfanView to save your GIFs.)
If you've got a Mac, then I'm sorry, but I really can't help you. :\
2: Resources.
- There's an old user FAQ and the user manual available online.
- The gimp user group has a large list of tutorials, most of which won't help much with dolls, but there's some good stuff there.
- There are some really fabulous tutorials on the new version of the GIMP tutorial page.
3: Give it a Try...
 |
So you open the GIMP for the first time and it looks something like this. You've got a bunch of little boxes and no menu bar at the top. Where the heck is the menu? |
 The most useful of the windows looks like this (only bigger). Click on "File" and go to "Open". |
The Load Image dialog requires a bit more help to find your files than a Windows program would. You have to navigate through the folders yourself and tell it where to look. (..\ means "go back a directory".) |
 |
Once you have an image open, right-click on the image window to get to the menus. At last! Note that any of those windows can be closed. Once you close them, you may want to get back: look under Dialogs on the right-click menu. I usually keep open Layers, Channels, & Paths, Tool Options, and Brushes. |
 Here's your main toolbar. I have highlighted in red the tools that are generally the most useful in working on dolls. If you hover over them with your mouse, you should see the name of the tool. Note: This window is resizable, so the tools may show up in slightly different places, but the images should look the same. The select tools are on the top row. The rectangular select is just like MSPAint but the "magic wand" is your new best friend. You can adjust how sensitive it is and use it to select, say, just the skirt or the shoes or the hair or...you get the point. Hold down shift to select multiple regions at once! |
The first tool on the third row from the top is crop/resize and I think it's supposed to look like a knife. The rest of the key tools are pretty obvious, except for the pointing finger, which is Smudge, and the ?thumbtack-looking tool on the bottom row which is Dodge/Burn (your other new best friend). |
At this point, you're going to do the best if you play around and see what you can figure out for yourself. (Remember: you learn best when you learn the hard way...darn....) Armed with the GIMP and a little bit of patience as you learn how it works, you can follow pretty much any doll tutorial that's written for PSP or Photoshop. Your technological arsenal is as good as anyone's - it's only a matter of patience and practice!
Next: Preparing Your Workspace in the GIMP
Want to learn how to use the GIMP to do something specific? Send me a note and I'll see what I can do.