GIMP is an Open Source photo editing software like Photoshop. Over the years GIMP had evolved and matured into an application that can rival Photoshop in functionalities.

GIMP is acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. As the name suggests it can be used for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

GIMP is a big program with many powerful functions. That means it will take time to learn . However as you spend time, you will discover that it does not take any more time compared to learning a commercial software like Photoshop.

Of course for someone already familiar with Photoshop, many things had to be learn, unlearn and relearn. For me it is the keyboard shortcut keys and the multi-windows interface.

Once you learnt it, the advantage is that next time Adobe comes out with a new version, there is no need to fork out more money to upgrade. For a small time graphic user like myself, I do not need much of the newer functions.

It is simple to learn the basic to start using the GIMP. I had started to create many graphics and will continue to learn to use new functions. For someone familiar with Photoshop, it should be relatively easy to pickup although some ways of doing things will be different and need getting used to.

The best place to find information learn is the GIMP tutorials. The GIMP project is constantly adding more tutorials and documentations. Books on GIMP are also starting to appear.

GIMP is seriously challenging Photoship and other commercial photo editing software. I certainly recommend infrequent graphic user to try it and be free from commercial or pirated softwares.

For professionals that livelihood depend on creating graphics efficiently, it is still be worthwhile to try GIMP out in free time. GIMP could prove to be a disruptive or competitive advantage in your field.

What I like about GIMP?

• Do all my graphical manipulation with less bloat.
• Active community working on plugins

Room for improvement

• Support for font seems lacking
• Usability

Chinese support

There is a documentation in chinese, so it is a good start. GIMP is a complex program, without documentation, it would be difficult to learn, especially if one’s first language is not English.

In the documentation, there is a section on how to use GIMP in chinese .

Unfortunately it is still not as easy as a configuration switch to change language. (Gaim using the same GTK interface handles languages much better.)

But it is not too difficult, just follow these steps:

1. For WinXP, go to
   Start > Control Panel > (Performance and Maintenance) > System
2. Select Advanced tab, click on Environment Variables
   
3. Click on New. (You may have existing Environment Variable, it does not matter.)
   
4. In this new dialog box, enter
   Variable name: LANG
   Variable value: zh_CN
   
   
5. Click OK and start GIMP (or restart if GIMP is already started.).

And you get GIMP in Chinese. Quite simple.

Where to get it?

• GIMP is at http://www.gimp.org/
• Current version: 2.2.13 (stable)
• Function: Photo editing software

Related Post:

• ifranview – graphic viewer par excellence

Irfanview started as a graphic image viewer but has now become more than that. It can do simple image manipulations like resizing, changing format, applying effects and screen capture (screenshots on this site are captured with Irfanview). With plugins it can even play media files like mp3 and avi.

Irfanview isn’t open source. It is freeware for non-commercial use and for commercial user the registration/donation fee is US$12 or Euro 10.

So far in my search, I have yet to find any open source or free alternative with capabilities anywhere near irfanview. So I am recommending it in their absence. Please leave a comment if you know of any alternatives.

Ifranview is an excellent graphical tool to have on every desktop.

What I like about Irfanview?

• support large number of formats
• quick preview
• easy screen capture
• one stop image functions
• batch image manipulation

Chinese support

Chinese user interface can be found on the official language page.

Download the language pack and unzip into the irfanview Languages folder.

To change language, go to the Option menu.

Option > Change language … >

Select required language

Where to get it?

• irfanview is at http://www.irfanview.com/
• Current version: 3.98
• Function: Image viewer and more

Related Post:

• The GIMP