Chapter 1. Introduction

Table of Contents

1. Welcome to The GIMP
1.1. Known platforms
1.2. The GIMP-Help system

1. Welcome to The GIMP

The GIMP is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU or General Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

One of The GIMP's strength is its free availability from many sources for many operating systems. Most GNU/Linux distributions include The GIMP as a standard application. The GIMP is also available for other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac OS X (Darwin). More importantly, The GIMP is not freeware. It is an OSS or Open Source Software application covered by the GPL license. The GPL provides users with the freedom to access and alter the source code that makes up computer programs.

1.1. Known platforms

The GIMP is possibly the most supported image manipulation available today. The platforms that The GIMP is known to work on GNU/Linux, Apple Mac OS X (Darwin), Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT4, and 2000, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, Solaris, SunOS, AIX, HP-UX, Tru64, Digital UNIX, OSF/1, IRIX, OS/2, and BeOS.

The GIMP can be easily ported to other operating systems because of its source code availability.

1.2. The GIMP-Help system

The GIMP-Help system provides you with all the required information to understand how to use The GIMP. Read on to begin your GIMP journey.