GIMP, an acronym for GNU image manipulation program, is a free, open-source graphics application originally developed by Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis at Berkeley, and now maintained by a team of volunteers. GIMP has been in development since 1995, and has evolved from being a little-known Unix/Linux utility to a mature multiplatform application that some see as a future rival to industry-standard software, such as the costly Adobe Photoshop. Being released under the GNU general public license, GIMP is entirely free to download, use (without restrictions), and even modify, should you be so inclined.
The latest version of GIMP incorporates many of the features one might expect from commercial packages, including excellent support for a wide range of file formats, layers, a diverse library of filters/effects, drawing/annotation tools, and extensibility via plug-ins. Unlike the plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, which must be authorized by Adobe prior to release, GIMP plug-ins can be created and distributed without restriction, and, like the GIMP application itself, may be freely download from the Internet.
With the steadily increasing power and flexibility of GIMP, a certain degree of complication has inevitably evolved, warranting elucidation in the form of the separately downloadable help system, various online tutorials (such as Gimpology), and textbooks like this one.
Peck’s textbook provides a thorough treatment of topics ranging from installation (on various platforms) and background on common graphic file formats, to drawing, photograph manipulation, filters/effects, and even scripting (which GIMP permits with C, Perl, Python, and a proprietary language, Script-Fu). Despite this breadth of coverage, all sections are written in an easy-to-read vernacular style, are easy to navigate, and are adorned with numerous and colorful illustrations that help the reader to appreciate the purpose of the various tools and techniques described.
The title of the book contains the phrase “from novice to professional” and this is an apt description of this substantial text, containing over 500 pages. Common tasks for novice home users who simply wish to acquire the knowledge to load and manipulate photographs and design simple graphics are covered (including drawing, cropping, rescaling, red-eye removal, touching up, and contrast/brightness adjustment). In addition, a thorough treatment of the tools useful to experienced designers is provided: paths, gradients, masks, custom filters, and colorspaces, to name but a few. More advanced topics include GIF animation, compositing, CMYK coloration for printing, creating panoramic images (by stitching together adjacent photographs), and the more sophisticated use of layers. A project-based approach, whereby a tool or procedure is demonstrated, and the reader is invited to perform the procedure, works well. The sheer number of high-quality glossy images accompanying every section shows what publishers can deliver for a relatively modest price tag, and makes the book very visually appealing.
Despite being useful to those at all skill levels, the book starts very early in its description of layers, one of the thornier concepts for beginners. Given the ubiquity of layers in modern commercial graphic design software, and the enormous benefits they provide to the designer, covering this material early is most prudent, and is accomplished in a very clear, digestible way.
As an indication of how current Peck’s text is, it refers to version 2.4 of GIMP, which I could not download at the time of writing this review, but, as Peck describes, derives from the 2.3 development build. Despite this postmodernity, reference is made to the current stable version (v2.2), which apparently is not enormously different, save for the absence of a few feature enhancements and some cosmetic updates.
Some do not consider the effort of learning GIMP to be justified since, although it is just as sophisticated and versatile as many commercial graphics packages, in its present form it cannot compete with the ubiquitous Adobe Photoshop. To an extent, this evaluation is justified; the absence of certain features makes the assembly of print-quality designs difficult, although the separation between GIMP and Photoshop is diminishing with each new release. To encourage people to consider migrating to GIMP, a Photoshop interface can even be downloaded (GIMPShop) to replace GIMP’s own, somewhat quirky, multiwindow interface.
Peck’s book is effective in showing just how far GIMP has progressed in 12 years. Beginners may be surprised at just how much can be accomplished with this free application, especially with the assistance of this clear, concise, and attractive textbook.
