Software Details
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.
The official GIMP web site contains information about downloading, installing, using, and enhancing it. The GIMP site also serves as a distribution point for the latest releases.
Requirements
Operating systems: Windows, Linux, MacOSX, BSD
Screen libraries: GTK
requires GTK+ 2.6 or above.
Reviews
Gimp is a very powerful tool, but with a somewhat steep learning curve. For basic photo editing, Gimp is easy to learn and provides basic tools such as copy, paste, pencil tool, paint brush, paint can, etc. Gimp also provides advanced editing tools which can be very difficult to learn on your own. Luckily there are tons of tutorials you can find on the internet that support Gimp users. The user base of gimp is very wide, therefore, guides and tips are plentiful and assists with the learning curve.
The tools found in Gimp are very comparable to competitor’s proprietary products that can cost hundreds of dollars. To be able to do things at no cost is meaningful, especially for students and teachers who do not have the budget to spend hundreds of dollars on software.
I use Gimp primarily to edit photos, graphics, and backgrounds on my classroom website. I have also tried some of its advanced features (with some help from a tutorial), to create some fun graphic art such as making a light sabres.
There were some hiccups using Gimp. My Ubuntu environment was running on 1GB of RAM and I think there were some issues with Gimp's performance because of it. There were times when I had to wait an extra second or two for the software to catch up to what I was doing. It wasn't too noticeable and I think the issue was more related to my hardware rather than the software itself. I do not recall, however, finding the minimum requirements to install/run Gimp. It would be useful if the minimum requirements were posted somewhere for me to reference.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is free/open source software that is very similar to Adobe Photoshop. I think this program is very useful in a school setting for a few reasons. This software is free to download and can be installed on multiple computers. Students could have the same program at home as they do at school to complete assignments. The students will have the opportunity to learn image manipulation skills regardless of the program they use. Becoming proficient in skills is more beneficial in today's world, then proficiency in one program. Also, by using only one program like Adobe Photoshop, the schools and the students can become suffer from vendor lock-in where moving out of the program into something else with your work is difficult. I personally think GIMP has a funny sounding name and a funny looking mascot, but I actually think it would appeal to elementary and middle schoolers. Plus, it's really important for today's youth to be introduced to image manipulation tools because images are extremely important in the way people communicate today and this will only continue in future. I enjoyed using GIMP to crop photos and edit photos. It also has a layering tool and that's a lot of fun.