Re: GIMP

[Sammy Sung]

ok here we go gimp and firefox are what is known as open source programs
what this means is that the programs are designed by the public at large
an orginization looks after the main program but its made up of educators programers etc
anyone who wants to download the code and develop plug ins for the program is perfectly free to do so.
It also means that plug ins are being created every day for all open source programs
nobody owns an open source program theres no money to be made from it nobodys cashing in.
.org is usually the ending instead of dot com or co. uk or whatever
anyhow blah blah blah what does it do for me you ask
well it gets you a free program that will allways be free including new developments new plugins as a matter of fact all plugins are as free as the program
must be rubbish then eh!
Not at all if you are in the loop with computer news you will know about firefox allready its
kicking explorers ass every day a little more

http://en-gb.www.mozilla.com/en-GB/firefox/about/

heres a link to the mozilla organization this gives you an idea what they are about and gives you links to download a copy
Personaly I havnt opened explorer in years the new explorer 7 is just an attempt to catch up with firefox My firfox browser by using plug ins opens any picture i hover my mouse over in full screen
I have no spyware and i built it from scratch using firefox plugins to completely customise it to my specifications and im no computer braniac

now hers the deal with gimp
Introduction to the GIMP

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.

GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX platforms. But basically the same code also runs on MS Windows and Mac OS X.
Features and Capabilities

This is only a very quickly thrown together list of GIMP features.

    * Painting
          o Full suite of painting tools including Brush, Pencil, Airbrush, Clone, etc.
          o Sub-pixel sampling for all paint tools for high quality anti-aliasing
          o Extremely powerful gradient editor and blend tool
          o Supports custom brushes and patterns
    * System
          o Tile based memory management so image size is limited only by available disk space
          o Virtually unlimited number of images open at one time
    * Advanced Manipulation
          o Full alpha channel support
          o Layers and channels
          o Multiple Undo/Redo (limited only by diskspace)
          o Editable text layers
          o Transformation tools including rotate, scale, shear and flip
          o Selection tools including rectangle, ellipse, free, fuzzy and intelligent
          o Advanced path tool doing bezier and polygonal selections.
          o Transformable paths, transformable selections.
          o Quickmask to paint a selection.
    * Extensible
          o A Procedural Database for calling internal GIMP functions from external programs as in Script-fu
          o Advanced scripting capabilities (Scheme, Python, Perl)
          o Plug-ins which allow for the easy addition of new file formats and new effect filters
          o Over 100 plug-ins already available
    * Animation
          o Load and save animations in a convenient frame-as-layer format
          o MNG support
          o Frame Navigator (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
          o Onion Skin (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
          o Bluebox (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
    * File Handling
          o File formats supported include bmp, gif, jpeg, mng, pcx, pdf, png, ps, psd, svg, tiff, tga, xpm, and many others
          o Load, display, convert, save to many file formats
          o SVG path import/export
    * Much, much more!

[Sammy Sung]

lets just say that for free you can have a program thats every bit as proffesional as some of those high priced so called industry standard programs you know the ones i mean
every time a new plugin comes out for the current standard programs you are charged to buy it
not on gimp though they are free so next time you go to buy that new plugin for your editor programs first check the gimp you can probably get it for nothing
All the programmers coming out of the schools are using these programs to show off their skills you can usually beta test these things long before they hit  the shops
in short who would you rather deal with
a big greedy software company or an educational orginisation thats trying to further computer education and knowledge

firefox browsers are recomended for use by a lot of us government offices because its a hundred times more secure than explorer
this stems from the fact that explorer is operating right deep into the roots of your computer therefore anyone who hacks into your explorer can take controll of your computer
firefox runs on its own it has no path into the roots of your computer for hackers to follow
therefore its safer

with firefox you download a basic full web browser every bit as stable and easy to use as your explorer

now its time for the fun bit you then go to the plug ins themes and extensions page
now you have hundreds nay thousands of choices about what you want to include in your browser colors themes etc

I have about 70 completely different skins downloaded to make my browser any color any style any layout I want Ive got rss newsreaders blogging tools tabbed bowsing umpteen toolbars etc
two particular plugins i love are called pict lens and cool iris
with cool iris this blue box appears when you hover your mouse over a link on a page put your pointer over this box and a preview of what the link leads to appears then dissapears when you  move the pointer
I use it on ebay instead of going back and forth opening and closing pagesyou just get a look at  the new page temporarily it saves ages of time on ebay
pict lens gives you a full screen preview when you hover over a picture then dissapears when you take the cursor away you can check every link on a page without leaving the page you are on
never do you  have to struggle to install these you just pick what you want download them and they work thats it
the enhansments are all tested to be sure they are seemlesly installed
there are so many people testing using and developing these programs that by the time you find a problem someone else has designed a fix for it

It works like this I design a computer program release it along with the code now the whole comunity is free to work on develop or fix my program maybe someone else will pick up my new plug in and find another use for it or develop it further theyre allowed to
unlike in the world of copywriten busines open source dosnt hide its secrets it provides anyone the oportunity to use and develop it further


heres links for firefox everyone I know whos tried it dumped explorer thats everyone im talking hundreds of people here
none of these open source programs advertise thats why you dont hear much about them

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
https://addons.mozilla.or...-US/firefox/browse/type:2

http://www.gimpguru.org/Tutorials/
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/#Beginner
http://www.gimp.org/windows/

grab these theyre free and wont harm your computer
but dont blame me if you get hooked on using them and chuck all of your payed software

I realise this is a long winded sort of thread but it could be the best thing you ever read if you use and embrace these programs
Im going to keep this thread open as a tribute to all that is free in the imaging world

so if you spot a free program drop it in here ill try it out and see if we cant develop a database of free programs and fixes to benefit all of us
Ive been using this stuff for a while now and will try to help or find help for anyone who is using this free stuff
feel free to contribte anything you know or want to know
dont be shy now if you need answers im pleased to help or try to find you some help
by the way my names Rob the six string kid is from my guitarslinging days when i used to be the fastest guitar in the west

[kombizz]

@ the six string kid
Thank you for your effort to explain about them.
My question is does it work with win XP? What I am trying to say is if I download it into my computer, does it make any confrontation with Win XP that I have it. Or I have to delete Win XP from my computer before I use the GIMP, Firefox?

[fiish]

Both GIMP and Firefox work just fine on Windows XP. Firefox has a very snappy interface for Windows, looks beautiful and functional. GIMP on the other hand looks like a direct Linux port (which it is).

On my older Thinkpad I actually prefer GIMP over Photoshop since when I slim it down it's a lot quicker.

[Sammy Sung]

thanks fish thats what im looking for to help the photographers who dont have unlimited cashflow or access to purchase the high end gear this threads all about freebies
If yould like to contribute a review or anything else helpful about gimp or firefox please do
Its amazing how many people dont know or havnt heard about these great products
fish is right this will do no harm whatsoever to your computer
firefox is used by more than 20%of internet users now
I repeat this is a safe stable much more customizable browser than explorer
it will not even take up much room on your hard drive
later today i will give you a rundown on installing firefox
Tanks
Rob

[Sammy Sung]

as far as gimp goes it might not be the userfreindliest setup
but its free and has all the power of ps plus he plugins are free
not only that but the gnu system has all the graphics gear built in as well
Its actually compareable to buying the other guys really expensive full graphic and photo suite
you might have a bit of a learning curve but then again photoshop has entire schools teaching it
so its no picnic to get to grips with for a beginner either
In short try it cause you dont have to buy it
this is another safe stable well thoughtout freebie

[Sammy Sung]

My appologies to all for the missing letters on some words but i dropped a packet of biscuits on my keyboard and theres some crumbs under the keys causing them not to register unless you hit them really hard

AS promised heres the rundown on installing the fox
first got to the mozilla site above and download the basic browser to your desktop
now open the file and it wll install automatically

Open your new browser and it will have some links on the toolbar to the add ons site
go there select "recomended add ons" for a start

these include
a download status bar
an ebay tool bar (absolute must have for ebayers )
online dictionarys in multiple languages (great for you multi lingual europeans )
cool iris ( this puts a blue box beside every link hover your mouse over the box and a preview of the next page that the link points to appears till you move your pointer away investigate every link without leaving the page you are on )
there are hundreds of add ons to chose from for endless customisation
all of them explain what they do and i guarantee there will be stuff there youl never get on explorer
they just install themselves at a click and most are self configuring
so try  something new and free
live a little dont be scared
next i will show you how to make firefox more beautiful than you ever imagined
so beautiful youl want to sleep with it
but for now ive got to go hoover the bisquit crumbs out of my keyboard its driving me crazy (Its not a long drive )

[fiish]

FF is beautiful, but I don't think I want to sleep with it, might get messy and spoil my keyboard...

I'm using the 'Azerty II' skin which I think is really nice.

[Sammy Sung]

I was thinking of a skin for the winamp media player that had naked girls on it
firefox dosnt have one if those
I like nasa night launch
what ive done is pick a dozen of the best ones
 set random at startup and then i get a different skin everytime it opens
the good thing is i have a dozen skins and about 60 add ons it still dosnt take up much room or slow my computer down
the beauty is that if you like a lot of tool bars etc you can pick out many different ones
if you want a simple theme with more screen and less borders you just pick one of the light ones
thats also whats great theres a theme to suit everybody and new ones coming out every week
you are in charge completely about how your browser looks and acts
in explorer theres so many useless things you dont even know about half of them
firefox is ultra basic yet infinitely customizeable
next post ill run through setting it up and customising it to suit your browsing style
Rob

[fiish]

There is a new version of GIMP out today, version 2.4. Among the new features are scalable brushes, a more intuitive interface (so they say), and most importantly, additional filters to aid photographers like built-in red-eye reduction and lens distortion/vignetting correction. I'm downloading it now.

[Sammy Sung]

great fish Ill have a look at it myself thanks
Its a stretch to call it user freindly but ps has a pretty steep learning curve as well
at least gimps new plugins are free and available immediately

Im kind of dissapointed in the slow reactions to this thread
you try and tell people about a free comprehensive suite to rival anything out there
It seems nobody wants to know oh well
you and I will just have to  be the only guys here who dont have to crack open the wallet everytime something new comes out
thanks for the info fish
Rob

[dndavis]

Im kind of dissapointed in the slow reactions to this thread
you try and tell people about a free comprehensive suite to rival anything out there
It seems nobody wants to know oh well
you and I will just have to  be the only guys here who dont have to crack open the wallet everytime something new comes out

Actually, I've been following this thread with quite a bit of interest.

I'm trying to migrate to Linux. The process is frustrated primarily by difficulty in printing documents, something M$ figured out around Win 3.1. I'm learning GIMP now, and just downloaded the new version.

Don't get discouraged, Rob. We really do appreciate it!

Daryl

[fiish]

All the best in your attempted Linux migration now. The printing problems are a sad fact related to printer makers wanting to keep everything proprietary and Linux developers wanting to keep proprietary code out of distributions.

That being said, Linux and my HP laser printer get along quite well.

[Sammy Sung]

thank you for your kind words
Im not big into linux yet im using gimp on explorer
Ive a spare pc and will have a dabble at linux later on
Im completely self educated so this is all a steep learning curve for me with all the new technology

By delving into linux at this point it would fragment my focus too much

please everybody out there this is our thread
not mine

Id like to make this a free for all thread
about any free or open source product for our members

so everybody contribute tell us what you use
what problems did you have to solve etc
this way we can build a database and learn from each other

these freebies are often getting little or no publicity
then people are scared to try them
they are afraid to mess with the computer

if we all share and relate then we can show people these great free things
and they wont be scared because theyl see us doing it
reassurance that other guys are having success with these programs is enough to make most give it a try

 the reason IE 7 from microsoft has tabbed browsing ?
firefox so many people are using it

my browser was made by me
everything I use is set up my way
I have no ads no surplus
everything on my browser from color to the way it does things is custom made for me

with aol for instance
theres flashing adds crap about horoscopes and popstars
things you can click that take you to advertising pages etc
Its an ugly depressing pastel color
I have black borders with grey buttons like the background on ps or lightroom
this is my main browser clean dark and simple
If Im depressed Ive got a fiesta of colors and themes to brighten up my desktop

so long live the freebies  everybody chip in and help
help get ourselves out of the clutches of certain software giants

I will contribute a lot more in the winter
Right now though Im battening down the hatches and preparing for a long cold winter
trying to get in a few runs on the motorbike before the arthritis sets in
for now though thanks for contributing please keep it up
if not for you I wouldnt know about linux printing problems
thanks
Rob

[Sammy Sung]

as if i havnt said enough
Keep discussing this linux thing
Im very interested in how you get on as its a thing I plan to try
thanks
 Rob