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The Gimp

GIMP Book 52

Posted by CmdrTaco from the stuff-to-read dept.
Anthony Ball writes "Michael Hammel's new book "The Artist's Guide to the GIMP" is now available at SSC. " How long before we can see that on the shelves right next to the Photoshop books?
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GIMP Book More

GIMP Book

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  • Layers: Gimp has layers. Gimp has had layers for a long, long time now. Have you even used Gimp?!?

    Separations: This important feature is missing from Gimp 1.0. I understand that it is on the todo list for 1.1. In the mean time, it is fairly easy to use Gimp's color features to produce separations manually.

    Good Color: Gimp has excellent color. The only thing it is lacking in this regard is a Pantone(TM) Licensed color tool. This is because Pantone will not license their name to such a tool without money. Gimp has Pantone-equivilant color control, just without the name. If you really need the name, just pay WilberWorks to come up with a Pantone(TM) system for Gimp, I'm sure they would be glad to. There is no way to get the name in any platform without shelling out money.

  • 1.1? (Score:1)

    by Alan ( 347 )
    The only reason I'm not getting this book (yet) is that the 1.1 features (and I guess 1.2 when everything is 'stable') aren't in the book (or I assume not, as 1.1 was only non-cvs 10 days ago). I know there are not huge amount of new stuff in 1.1, but enough that a bigger book could be made.

    I'd be interested in a review of this when people read it, because there is a LOT of the non 1.1 stuff in gimp I just have no clue about :)
  • Posted by Charles Bronson:

    As much as I'd love to have that book to play with, $40 is a steep. But that's about how much any computer book is going to cost, which is, I guess, why I don't buy them.
  • Posted by Phantom of the Operating System:

    I'm sure you would be dissapointed if it wasn't
  • Posted by Sandlily:

    The best place to start is a how to draw book, that doesn't focus on computer work. This will teach you how to translate what you want into shapes. Once you can do this with your eye and transfer it to paper, then it won't be hard to start foing the same sort of thing in a computer. Next to a drawing book, a good graphic design tutorial book would help. you would find these in any art section of a book store. Then, after you understand the basic principles of drawing and design, learn to use the programs out there, with their tutorial books if you choose.

    all though many skills can be taught in a book, in the end it could always come down to a question of having an artistic eye for creating graphics. if all else fails, find a graphic artist willing to do the work for you.

  • Posted by Sandlily:

    I agree. As a graphic artist who has joined the field of web design, or simply just as a graphic artist, I found GIMP amazingly easy to use, efficient, and worth it! Within minutes I was creating some effects that take quite a few steps in Photoshop at times. Other then a few odd quirks here and there, which was propbably due to using the program for the first time and not knowing how it works exactly, I found Gimp to be worthy of standing next to Adobe Photoshop in many ways.

    I hope Gimp continues to improve, until some day it ranks above and beyond Adobe Photoshop.
  • WilberWorks [wilberworks.com] will do it for you. And for what? Oh, money. The same thing you're shelling out for proprietary, commercial software. But you don't get the code that way, either.
  • He hits all the hot buttons in one swoop:
    * it's overrated
    * it's just ms paintbrush (like the Halloween doc)
    * it's not for serious artists
    * it's a hack
    * it lacks many key features

    Plus, instead of leaving quickly after doing his damage, he stuck around to respond to the responses. Even tho he's an AC, his style is very distinctive. By inflaming the already inflamed, he's really taken this to a new level.

    NOW, please ban AC's, or at least fix moderation so it moderates something.
  • EFNet kills BRAIN CELLS!

  • Well one thing gimp is good for is scripting. With Gimp you can Batch produce graphics. Yes anything you can do in script-fu you can do *MANUALY* In photoshop, but I can automate it with gimp. (And have done so for a number of key things)
    --Zachary Kessin
  • Are there any other GIMP books being worked on?


    --Zachary Kessin
  • I think $40 to $45 would be fair prices for GUM, and I would definitely shell out the money for it, and so would others I suspect. There's no problem buying GUM because you're able to look at the electronic version first to see if it meets your needs. I also recently purchased the Blender manual, which after shipping ended up costing about $60, but it has to be the most beautiful manual (or coffee table book) I've ever seen. If you haven't checked it out get it, or find somebody who has a copy.
  • Scheme is braindead? Well, that's the Outrageous Claim of the Day...

    ... Scheme is a fine language for a scheming canid like me. =) Yes, it's bit confusing but it's basically a very simple, yet powerful language. Does its job.
  • HERE is another short LIST!!!
    • ALL CAPS --- vital to get the point across!!!
    • BOLD TEXT --- for when caps just aren't enough!!!
    • EXCESSIVE PUNCTUATION!!! --- how can anyone expect to be taken seriously using just one question mark???

    Sorry GUYS, I'm just not all there!

    --
  • If you don't like Scheme scripting (and not everyone does), use the Perl extension instead.

    (I don't know why I'm joining this thread, I'm pretty sure you're just a horrible troll who needs to get back under his bridge)
  • On Tuesday January 05, @04:29 nick <nbarry@isolation.net> wrote:
    Actually, a lot of people care. My roommate for one - he's assistant art director for a small ad agency in Cambridge, MA and he has told me a number of times that they've looked at the GIMP and the only reason they don't use it is b/c it has no CMYK support. [snip]

    Are you trying to tell me that one can get good CMYK (aka subracttive color) on any PC monitor driven by any PC video card using any software? I would think one would need the likes of a carefully calibrated SGI box for that. Now there's a thought, GIMP on SGI!

    nbarry@isolation.net - too lazy to log in.

    So, use a cookie for login. Every time I go to SlashDot, I am automatically logged in.
    --
    Buz Cory [mailto] of the New York Amateur Club [nyacc.org] AnyNix SIG [dynip.com]
    write to the BuzCo Systems helpdesk <helpdesk@buzco.dynip.com> [mailto] for FREE help with:

    • Installing/Configuring Linux
    • Getting started with the Ada Programming Language.
    Bloated, glacial, crash-prone system got you down? Linux to the Rescue!
    Programmer? Drowned in bugs? Ada is the answer.
  • That's all very well for those that can afford it, but if you just want to make a dang picture, rather than a work of art, gimp kicks the ass off of anything else i've seen on any platform, period. As for features, well, we'll assume you've not used it too often :) There is absolutely nothing missing there, i've never been disappointed by it...
  • If RGB is good enough for human eyes (neurologically) it ought to be good enough for good enough for GIMP and the professional world, but alas, CMYK support still matters in the professional realm.

    I like to print directly to RGB style printers, like the Fuji's printers.
  • I've been a programmer for years and years, but have never been much of an artist. Scratch that. I've never had even the tiniest exposure to the basic principles of art, like ... well, like how to create images, period.

    Every book I've seen on graphics programs concentrates on how to apply your existing drawing knowledge to the new and alien world of the computer.

    What about a "Graphics software for computer professionals" book that starts with the assumption that you know what the mouse is, you know how to start and run programs just fine, but you don't know beans about how art works or how the contents of the various tool boxes in graphics programs are used in real life.

    It seems to me that a lot of us are being pushed towards doing art just so we can design our own web pages and those of clients, and that we're at a tremendous disadvantage without artistic training of any sort.

    I know I could go to art school and sit in classrooms for ages, but that would take way too much time -- and, more importantly, that's not really the way I learn anyway. I learn from books.

    Thoughts?

    D
  • That book, while a very good book, tells you about design - not about the nitty gritty of generating graphics.

    For instance, I'd like to learn how to make good looking buttons, and how to draw icons like the Linux penguin here on Slashdot.

    There are a few books that are strictly cookbook (do this, do that and uou get something like this), but I haven't found anything that shows you the basic principles of drawing/creating images.

    Any other thoughts?

    D

  • Chill (Score:1)

    by pivo ( 11957 )
    You've got to chill brother, I haven't seen anybody get so upset about someone giving them something for free since my mother got handed a condom in a shopping mall.
  • GIMP is somewhat oeverrated ( specially as compared to tools available on Win and Mac platforms) but, well, there is really nothing else available on Linux that could even approach power of Photoshop and having GIMP around is probably a saving grace for people who completely abadoned Windows.

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