Poor Man’s Adobe Photoshop…

By poor I mean FREE!

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a tool similar to your high end tools like Photoshop, etc.  While I’m not an expert, in fact I’m a little “gimpy”, when it comes to photo editing or manipulation I was able to download the program and start using it right away.  The help tools and access to the user manual are excellent.  By simply hovering over a tool and pressing F1 you’ll be taken directly to their web based user manual and placed directly on a page regarding the operation of the desired tool.  I’m a fan already and I’m starting to experiment with editing old images and creating new ones too.  I originally embarked on finding a tool I could use to create my own logo for RyanTheHawaiian.com and eventually came across a blog post at BloggingWithSuccess.net called How To Create 125 x 125 Ad For Your Blog where they mentioned this tool.

Bottom line is this…  If you’re looking for a an image manipulation tool and you’re not ready to throw down big bucks on professional software GIMP is an excellent place to start your graphics endeavor.