GIMP 2.6

I've been promoting GIMP for years now and have told countless people about it. Usually, this is accompanied by an explanation in laymen's terms what "open source" software is, so that the person on the receiving end might just understand why the program is free to use. It's funny that during this time, I've spoken with lots of people and they all seem to have roughly the same attitude towards GIMP. They're interested to find out that as a photographer I don't use Photoshop. They are still interested to find out that I use GIMP. Their interest is still hanging on when I explain that GIMP is just an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. But, then their interest falls off the second I say that it's free.

When someone says "free" while I'm within earshot, they have my attention. They may also receive a single raised eyebrow from me, but regardless of the position of my eye-hair, they do have my attention. However, some people do just the opposite when it comes to computer software. Has consumerism completely saturated our brains with the marinade of materialistic prestige? Some things just aren't better because they're more expensive, but many are fooled into thinking this way. People go out and buy the biggest, most expensive laptop on the market so that they can play solitaire away from home. People own PDA's and only use them for the phone function. People buy Photoshop and never figure out how to use it.

I once was talking with a forklift driver who once worked for Ocean-Spray. He said that after every production run of Ocean-Spray juice they would switch to filling up the off-brand bottles. There was a quota to hit and then the rest would be packaged as Always-Save or Best Choice. The company, like most companies, knew that they could sell to both markets: the name-brand buyers and the off-brand buyers. But, it was the same stuff!
Don't think that electronic manufacturers don't do it as well, because they do. The best DVD player that I've ever owned was one of the least expensive that have ever hit the market. $30 and it would play anything! CD, VCD, DVD, Picture CD, AVI, MPG, MP3, etc. It played everything. The name-brand models got more and more expensive with each extra format that they could play and people would buy them. I even would up with a couple of them. They're terrible. One very expensive brand wouldn't even play a burned DVD in DVD format. Most of these electronics use the same hardware built in India or Japan or China and then they package them up in a different looking box and slap their insignia on the front. Then, they add software that tells the DVD player what NOT to play. The ones that have the fewest restrictions are made into their most expensive models. Yet, under the hood, it's the same engine.


GIMP is an amazing program that can do just as much as Photoshop can and it's free. It's constantly being updated with fixes and new and better tools. And when a better version is produced, you don't have to pay for the upgrade. You simply download it and go. And, as always, if you want to check it out, click on the link on the right of this page. I updated the link to download it directly from my hotlinkfile account rather than send you to GIMP.org. It can be somewhat confusing on what exactly to download to get GIMP using their site if you've never done it before. However, note that the version I have linked up is for Windows. If you are running another operating system, you'll have to just figure it out at GIMP.org. Sorry.

Posted in: software