Gimp Image Editor Introduction

Gimp 3 Opening Screen

When you first open Gimp 3 it also opens a Welcome Screen which allows you to make some ajustments to how the Gimp Interface looks

Experiment with the Interface Look

In the Welcome to Gimp 3.2.4 window

1. Click Personalize
2. Under Themes Click System Colors
3. There is usually a choice of Light Middle, Dark or System. More themes can be downloaded
4. Click each Color in turn and then click the one you prefer

The Gimp Interface

This is a minimal setup. There are over a dozen other types of dialogs used by GIMP for various purposes, but users typically create them when they are needed and close them when they are not. Knowledgeable users generally keep the Toolbox (with Tool Options) and Layers dialog around at all times. The Toolbox is essential to many GIMP operations; in fact, if you close it, GIMP will exit. (You are asked to confirm that you want to do this, though.) The Tool Options are actually a separate dialog, shown docked to the Main Toolbox in the screenshot. Knowledgeable users almost always have them set up this way: it is very difficult to use tools effectively without being able to see how their options are set. The Layers dialog comes into play whenever you work with an image that has multiple layers: once you advance beyond the very most basic stages of GIMP expertise, this means almost always. And finally, of course, the necessity of having images displayed in order to work with them is perhaps obvious.

1. Menu Bar

• Located at the top of the Screen, it provides access to various functions like file operations (open, save, export), editing options, image adjustments, and more
• It has 11 options: File, Edit, Select, Image, Layer, Colours, Tools, Filters, Window.

Toolbox

A vertical panel containing a variety of tools for selection, painting, transforming, and other image manipulation tasks.

. Docks: GIMP uses docks to organize and manage various panels, such as layers, channels, paths, brushes, patterns, fonts, and undo history. These can be docked (attached to the main window) or undocked (floating) for customization.

Tool Options

Displays settings and options specific to the currently selected tool from the toolbox.

Image Window

The central area where the image is displayed and edited. Multiple images can be opened in separate windows.

Dockable Dialogs

Dockable dialogs when opened are dislayed in the right columm

Opening a Dockable Dialog

• Alist of the Dockable Dialogs
• GIMP uses docks to organize and manage various panels, such as layers, channels, paths, brushes, patterns, fonts, and undo history. These can be docked (attached to the main window) or undocked (floating) for customization.

Top Menu

The Top Menu Bars, Help are for our following early Gimp Tutorials

File

Interface Themes

There are 4 Interface Themes: Dark, Gray, Light, are all in shade of Gr, and System is light grey & whitey white

How to Change the Interface Themes

• Click Edit in the TOP MENU.
• In the drop down click Preferences toward the bottom of the list.
• If the left column in the Pop up Dialogue is collapsed, click the -Box in front of Interface
• Click Theme
• I am using the Dark Theme, the default.Click the different themes to see which one you like and select that one with the OK button.

The Tool Box

The Main Toolbox is the heart of GIMP. It is the only part of the application that you cannot duplicate or close. Here is a quick tour of what you will find there.

	Tip
	In the Toolbox, as in most parts of GIMP, moving the mouse on top of something and letting it rest for a moment will usually bring up a "tooltip" message that may help you understand what the thing is or what you can do with it. Also, in many cases you can press the F1 key to get help about the thing that is underneath the mouse.

Contains the tools to work on changing your image(s)

The Look of the Toolbox can easily be Changed

• There are 5 themes to select from: Color, Legacy is also coloured but with older icon styles, Symbolic medium grey icons, High-Contrast not sure why but this is a lower contrast grey, Symbolic-Inverted Dark Grey Icons, Symbolic-Inverted-High-Contrast Black Icons. The last 2 are useless on the Dark Interface Theme.
• Select the Interface Theme you prefer & Click OK (Bottom Right corner)
• I am using the Dark Theme.

• There are also 2 Styles:
• Click Edit in the TOP MENU.
• In the drop down click Preferences.
• Click Toolbox
• Use Tool Groups, where some of the Icons are grouped together into 1 Icon, indicated by the small triangle bottom right corner.
   
    The Default Condensed Toolbox (Enlarged)
  • Hover over the icon for information & the other tools in the group.
  • Right Click to select.
• The Expanded Toolbox, All theTool Icons are displayed. This box is roughly over twice as Big.

How to Change The Icons Size & looks

Besides changing the Icons in the Toolbox it changes all the Icons on the Page

• Click Edit in the TOP MENU.
• In the drop down click Preferences toward the bottom of the list.
• If the left column in the Pop up Dialogue is collapsed, click the -Box in front of Interface
• Click Icon Icon Theme. A Popup widow appears, If your screen is large enough resize and or drag the pop up so you can see the pop up & at least some of the Gimp Interface.
• At the bottom right pane is a size slider with 4 options: Small (Default), Medium, Large & Huge. On a reasonable size screen select a larger size than Small. Try the different sizes.
• Click on an Icon Theme in the right pane and view the almost immediate change.
• Now click you favourite theme & click OK bottom Right in the pop up. I use the Color Theme

Modifications to improve the Look of the Interface

Add Color to Icons

Add Color to Icons, which icons in the Toolbox

1. To make modifications click Edit> Preferences
2. Click the Interface <
3. There is a choice of 2:
   1. Default -Black and White Icons
   2. Legacy - color icons
4. Toggle between the 2 to see which you prefer

What does Gimp do

Download Gimp it's free to Download & Use