Getting Started

Although GIMP can be a bit overwhelming for new users, most quickly find it easy to use once they work out a few basics. Crucial basic functions are creating, opening, and saving images.

Creating a New Image

To create a new image, select File+New or press Ctrl+N. This opens a dialog in which to make settings for the new image. If desired, select a predefined setting called a Template. To create a custom template, select Windows+Dockable Dialogs+Templates and use the controls offered by the window that opens.

In the Image Size section, set the size of the image to create in pixels or another unit. Click the unit to select another unit from the list of available units. The ratio between pixels and a unit is set in Resolution, which appears when the Advanced Options section is opened. A resolution of 72 pixels per inch corresponds to common screen display. It is sufficient for Web page graphics. A higher resolution should be used for print images. For most printers, a resolution of 300 pixels per inch results in an acceptable quality.

In Color space, select whether the image should be in color (RGB) or Grayscale. For detailed information about image types, see Section 16.5.7, “Image Modes”. In Fill With select the color the image is filled with. You can choose between Foreground Color and Background Color set in the toolbox, White or Transparency for a transparent image. Transparency is represented by a gray checkerboard pattern. You can enter a comment for the new image in Comment.

When the settings meet your needs, press OK. To restore the default settings, press Reset. Pressing Cancel aborts creation of a new image.

Opening an Existing Image

To open an existing image, select File+Open or press Ctrl+O. In the dialog that opens, select the desired file. You can also press Ctrl+L and type directly the path to the desired image. Then click Open to open the selected image or press Cancel to skip opening an image.

Scanning an Image

Instead of opening an existing image or creating a new one, you can scan one. To scan directly from GIMP, make sure that the package xsane is installed. To open the scanning dialog, select File+Create+XSane: Device dialog.

Create a preview when the object to scan is smaller than the total scanning area. Press Acquire preview in the Preview dialog to create a preview. If you want to scan only part of the area, select the desired rectangular part with the mouse.

In the xsane dialog, select whether to scan a binary (black and white without shades of gray), grayscale, or color image and the required scan resolution. The higher the resolution you choose, the better is the quality of the scanned image. However, this also results in a correspondingly larger file and the scanning process can take a very long time at higher resolutions. The size of the final image (both in pixels and bytes) is shown in the lower part of the dialog.

In the xsane dialog, use the sliders to set desired gamma, brightness, and contrast values. These sliders are not available in binary mode. Changes are visible in the preview immediately. Once all settings have been made, click Scan to scan the image.