Download GIMP
Before illustrating yourself how to use GIMP, you need to guide you in installing the program. I guarantee you that the software installation procedure is very simple: just connect to the GIMP download page, download the installation file and follow the wizard that appears on the screen.
Then connect to the GIMP website, press the red button Download x.xx.x (instead of the "x" you will find the numbers corresponding to the current version of the program) and then click on the orange button Download GIMP x.xx.x directly, which is located on the right side of the page, under the heading GIMP for Windows o GIMP for macOS, depending on the operating system you use.
Once the download of the GIMP installation file has been completed, open it by double clicking on it and follow the wizard that is proposed to you: on Windows, for example, you have to press the button Yes and then OK, Install e end.
If you use a Macinstead, you have to drag the GIMP icon into the folder Applications macOS, right-click on the software icon and select the item apri from the menu that appears (you have to carry out this procedure only at the first start of GIMP, to "override" the restrictions applied by Apple to software from non-certified developers).
Please note: if you are using a Mac and cannot download the GIMP installation package because you see the message "There is no macOS package yet, sorry. Please check back later"Under the heading GIMP for macOS, unfortunately means that the latest version of GIMP has not yet been made available for macOS. It is very likely that you will be able to install the program in the next few weeks: check the GIMP download page from time to time, or consult the page with previous releases.
Using GIMP
As soon as you have installed GIMP, you will notice that the program seems to be quite slow in starting: this is due to the initial configuration process, which is carried out when the software is first started and which is necessary to optimize all its components. I guarantee you that subsequent starts will be much faster!
Once GIMP has finally started, you will notice that its interface is divided into three main "blocks": the toolbar, located on the left, which contains all the tools you need to edit images (the brush pencil eraser, the color fill tool, etc.); L'working area main located in the center, in which you will see the images to be modified, and the toolbar located on the right, which instead contains the advanced commands for the level management, the display of the change history and anything else.
To open a photo for editing in GIMP, all you have to do is select the item Apri ... from the menu Fillet (top) and choose the image to work on. To use one of the tools in the toolbar, however, you must first click on the icon of the tool you want to use and then on the portion of the image on which you want to act.
Let's say you want to use GIMP to improve the colors, brightness and other properties of a photo: open the file you want to work on using the procedure I described earlier, click on the menu Colors and select one of the tools in it (Color balance ... to adjust the colors, Brightness-contrast ... to adjust the brightness and contrast, and so on).
In the window that opens, adjust the image properties as you see fit by helping you with the real-time preview of the changes made and press the button OK to apply the changes made.
To resize or rotate a photo, however, all you have to do is select one of the tools in the menu Image: Transform, to rotate the image horizontally or vertically, or Image scale ..., to specify the new dimensions for the photo to take.
To crop a photo, select the tool Rectangular selection from the toolbar located on the left (the gray rectangle with dashed perimeter located at the top left), draw with the mouse a rectangle around the portion of the image to be cropped and select the item Crop to selection from the menu Image. In the guide where I explain how to resize photos with GIMP, you can find more information that will certainly be useful for you to make full use of the GIMP photo resizing feature.
To remove a writing or an imperfection (e.g. a mole, a scratch, etc.) from a photo, select the tool patch (l'icona del double patch located in the toolbar on the left), hold down the key Ctrl (your Windows) or cmd (on macOS) and click on the spot in the photo surrounding the blemish to select the portion of the image to cover it with.
Finally, release the button Ctrl (your Windows) or cmd (on macOS) and "tap" repeatedly in the point of the photo where there is the element to be removed by clicking so many until you reach the desired result. If you want to learn more about how the Patch tool works, read the guide where I explain how to remove an element from a photo with GIMP.
To add lettering to photos with GIMP, select the tool Text from the left toolbar (the letter A uppercase), click in the image where you want to write by drawing a rectangle and type the text inside it. To change the font or color of the writing, use the control panel that appears in the lower left part of the GIMP toolbar and that's it. For more information on how to write on photos with GIMP and how to sign photos with GIMP, take a look at the insights I just linked to.
As soon as you have finished editing a photo with GIMP, save the result: go to the menu Fillet, select the voice Save as ... and, in the window that opens, indicate the format in which to save the output image and the destination folder. Did you see how simple it was to use GIMP? I'm sure, with a little practice, retouching photos with this versatile program will get easier and easier.
Other useful information for using the GIMP
If you wish to have other useful information for using the GIMP, I suggest you to consult the many tutorials that I have dedicated to this software (and which are all grouped in the section of my site dedicated to GIMP). Here are some of the guides that might be right for you (in addition to the ones I linked to in the previous chapter).
- How to Blend Photos with GIMP, in which I told you how to apply the blending effect to an image using GIMP.
- How to Overlay Photos with GIMP, in which I showed you how to overlay two photos with GIMP.
- How to Vectorize Photos with GIMP, in which I told you how to use GIMP to turn a photo into a vector image.
- How to Clone with GIMP, in which I told you how to clone parts of an image with GIMP to cover any unwanted elements.
- How to Opacify with GIMP, in which I told you how to make images opaque with GIMP.
- How to Animate Images with GIMP, in which I told you how to create animated GIFs with GIMP.
- How to make photo puzzles with GIMP, in which I told you how to apply the puzzle effect to photos.
- How to Zoom Photos with GIMP, in which I told you how to apply the zoom effect in GIMP.
I also suggest you visit the Tutorials section on the GIMP website, where you can find other useful information (in English) on using this program: make good use of it!
How to use GIMP
