Gimp Mascot Wilbur

Posters and publications should make an impact on audiences that we intend to capture.  In a previous blog post I discussed how to gain access to photos from Flickr under the Creative Commons attribution.  

However at times images need to be altered or additional creative work needs to be created i.e. logos. letterheads, fancy flyers, etc.  Sure most people expect that a start-up group his hard up on cash therefore they will use the basic tools available and print up either on the home printer or pay at a local printers to do some cheap copies.  

But that need not be the case and in this blog we will be looking at the alternatives to providing a professional perspective not just because of a shoestring budget but because it is the SMART way to go.  

later I will be creating a series on outsourcing.  Something I believe can radically change the way the 3rd sector thinks and operates and embraces globalisation.   {Bold statement}

Back to the creation on publication inhouse.  We want to look at the following tool:

GIMP  is a free imaging program (GNU Image Manipulation Program) available for Windows.  GIMP is absolutely free and the premier Image editing and painting software available under a GPL open source licence.  It is a Free version of the most powerful immage editing tool Photoshop.  

Amongst the features on offer there the full suite of painting tools which include the brushes, a pencil, airbrushes, colour fills and sampling and cloning.  Anti-aliasing, full alpha channel support, transparencies and layering. 
Transforming tools include rotation, which allows rotation of the image to any angle, scale and shear. The usual cross platform file formats are supported, Bezier curves, smudging and measuring distances and angles. 

GIMP however is not targeted at someone who is beginner, it is very much  a professional quality package which is targeting  those who are  more experienced users. 

If you have any experince of a professional quality image software you will be familar with what most of the features do and how to be able to use them, therefore otherwise understanding it is a free program this means you will be very much on your own to figure out how to use it.   There is ample documentations provided and volunteer support is great.  

Video creating expert Lon Naylor has created a video tutorial service for GIMP the cost of $17 {£12}, a series of 28 videos explaining exactly how to use all aspects of GIMP, the purchase also comes with an 8 week money back guarantee.  

So if you want to give it a try but seriously do not want to spend hours in learning this tools from a document then this would be a way to go.

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