C H A P T E R   1

Finding and Installing GIMP

In This Chapter

• Where to find GIMP
• How to install GIMP on your computer

Is This Chapter for You?

• If you have installed a program on your computer before, try this chapter.
• If you have not installed a program on your computer before, ask the person who usually adds extras to your computer for help. Do not forget to hand them your usual bribe and this chapter. They will be pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to install GIMP.
• If you want to install GIMP from the source code, this chapter is not for you. Try the online resources at www.gimp.org.

You may still be hesitating and asking yourself if you should try GIMP. GIMP is one of the very few free programs that provides an alternative to expensive advanced photo editing software such as Photoshop. If you use Photoshop and are trying GIMP for the first time, Chapter 10 covers the similarities and differences between GIMP and Photoshop. When you download GIMP, you will not be alone; there have been over 112 million downloads of GIMP for Windows.

You probably have some photos you would like to improve or play around with but you aren't sure if this will be easily accomplished. We try to make editing in GIMP as easy as possible for a beginner so you can focus on your creativity.

Will GIMP work on your computer? GIMP is available for computers with Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems, and it needs 1GB or more of RAM. Do not put GIMP on an old computer from your garage and then blame GIMP if it runs slowly.

This chapter shows you where to find and download GIMP and how to install it for Windows, Mac, and Linux. GIMP 2.8 was used for this book, but older versions are available. However, since GIMP is free, we see no need to use an older version. And GIMP 2.8 has some very useful new features!

As mentioned, you will not be the first person to download and try GIMP.

• There are over 400,000 weekly downloads of GIMP for Windows from SourceForge.
• There are around 40,000 weekly downloads of GIMP for Mac from SourceForge.
• For Linux, it is guestimated that there are more weekly downloads than GIMP for Mac.

GIMP Works on Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux

GIMP is available for the following Microsoft Windows systems:

• Win7
• Vista
• XP
• Windows Portable is a GIMP application for a USB drive, CD, DVD, etc.

GIMP is available for the following Apple Macintosh systems:

• Snow Leopard 10.6x
• Leopard 10.5x
• Tiger 10.4x

GIMP works on both PC- and Intel-based Macs. The GIMP for Mac download comes bundled with a number of extra photo editing and retouching tools.

GIMP is easy to install on the following Linux systems:

• Debian
• Fedora
• Gentoo Portage
• Slackware
• OpenSUSE
• Ubuntu

Most other versions of Linux also support GIMP but the installation may be more complicated.

System Requirements

GIMP 2.8+ runs well on computers that are one to three years old. GIMP needs 1GB of RAM to run. More RAM is definitely an advantage, especially when working on large images.

GIMP will run on Windows or Mac computer without conflicting with other graphic software such as Photoshop.

GIMP Is Free Open Source Software

GIMP is free of charge. It is not only free of charge but you are free to use and share this program with as many people as you wish. Beginners can use GIMP; in fact, this book aims to help beginners become proficient at using GIMP. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a programmer, you're free to change the source code to suit your needs, provided you agree to keep the GIMP source code open. This means it is possible to use, share, and enhance GIMP. There is a copy of the full GIMP GNU General Public License v 3 in Appendix B.

GIMP has a large online community of users. You are welcome to be a part of this online community no matter where you live—you just need an Internet connection. GIMP is available in a large number of languages.

This chapter focuses on downloading GIMP 2.8+ released in 2012. If you have an older version of GIMP, now is the time to upgrade—GIMP is free. See the following sections for instructions for downloading and installing GIMP on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Windows: Downloading and Installing GIMP

Downloading and installing GIMP on Win7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP is easy. Anyone who has downloaded a program on a Windows computer can do this. If you have never downloaded anything before, try now.

Close any other programs that are currently running on your computer. This is to ensure a clean installation.

To get the latest version of GIMP, you will be clicking through a few screens.

1. Go to www.gimp.org (Figure 1-1).
   

   Figure 1-1. The GIMP web site

2. Click the Download button. This takes you to the GIMP for Windows downloads page (Figure 1-2).
   

   Figure 1-2. GIMP for Windows download page at www.gimp.org/downloads/

3. Click the “Download GIMP 2.8 – Installer for Windows XP sp2 or later” link. When you click the link, you will be taken to the SourceForge download center (Figure 1-3). The installer for Windows XP sp2 or later includes GIMP.
   

   Figure 1-3. The SourceForge download page for GIMP.

4. If the download does not start automatically, click the Save button at the bottom of the SourceForge page. When GIMP has downloaded to your computer, a small window will pop up asking if you want to run this file. You're nearly there—just a few more clicks!
5. Click Run (Figure 1-4). If you do not see the pop-up screen, look in your Downloads folder or the folder where you normally download items from the Internet.
   

   Figure 1-4. This window pops up after GIMP has downloaded to your computer

6. Follow the instructions in the installation setup wizard (Figure 1-5).
   

   Figure 1-5. The first GIMP installation screen

   The next screen has the GNU General Public License.

7. Click Next to accept the GNU General Public License. The final installation screen follows (Figure 1-6).
8. Click the “Install now” button.

Figure 1-6. Click the “Install now” button to install GIMP onto your computer

When GIMP is installed on your computer, you will see a screen with the option to launch (or start) GIMP. Congratulations! GIMP is now installed.

Portable GIMP for Windows: Installing GIMP on a USB Drive, CD, or DVD

This is an optional extra for people with Microsoft Windows on their computer. GIMP is small enough to run on a USB drive. GIMP portable will run on a thumb drive/USB stick, CD, or DVD. GIMP Portable will not run as fast as if it was installed on your computer but can be very handy to have on hand.

Figure 1-7. Portable GIMP is available from www.portableapps.com

1. Go to www.portableapps.com (see Figure 1-7).
2. Click on Applications in the top menu bar.
3. Scroll down and click on GIMP portable. You will then see the GIMP portable download area.
4. Click on the Download button.

When GIMP Portable has downloaded to your computer, it is a good idea to test the download on your desktop. Click and start GIMP Portable on your desktop. If GIMP Portable opens and runs well, your test is complete. Close GIMP Portable by clicking on File Exit. Copy the file to your USB drive, CD, or DVD.

If there is a problem with the download, delete that copy and download GIMP Portable again. This should sort out most problems.

Mac: Downloading and Installing GIMP

If you are not sure which Mac OS X operating system you have, click on the Apple logo on your top Mac menu bar and then click “About This Mac”.

Check below to see if GIMP 2.8 is available for your version of the Mac operating system. Usually it's just a matter of time before GIMP is available for the latest Mac operating system.

Snow Leopard and Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6x, Mac 10.5x)

Before downloading GIMP, it is a good idea to install the latest updates of Snow Leopard or Leopard on your Mac. These general operating system updates increase the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. The updates are free, so go to www.apple.com/support/ and search for Snow Leopard or Leopard updates.

Now you are ready to download GIMP. To ensure you get the latest version of GIMP, you will be clicking through some web pages to get to the download area.

Figure 1-8. www.gimp.org is the official Internet home for GIMP

1. Go to www.gimp.org and click on the Download button (Figure 1-8).
2. On the next screen under the GIMP for MAC OS X heading, click the Download link (yes, a second Download click). This takes you to the web site dedicated to GIMP for Mac (Figure 1-9).
   

   Figure 1-9. GIMP on OS X home

3. Scroll down and click on the correct link for your operating system. Choose one of the following: GIMP for Snow Leopard, GIMP for Leopard, or GIMP for Tiger. (You should be at the SourceForge download area, as shown in Figure 1-10.)
   

   Figure 1-10. SourceForge.net GIMP on OS X download area

4. You may see a pop-up screen asking if you're sure you want to download GIMP. Say yes. Alternatively, the download will start automatically. The files downloaded to your Mac will end in .dmg.
5. Click on the GIMP.dmg file on your computer to open it. You will see the contents shown in Figure 1-11.
   

   Figure 1-11. The contents of the opened .dmg file. This file may have the word Programme instead of Application

6. You have a choice. You can drag the gimp.app icon into the Programme folder (see Figure 1-12). Alternatively, you can drag gimp.app into your Applications folder. Either choice installs GIMP into your Applications folder.
   

   Figure 1-12. Drag GIMP.app onto the blue Programme folder to install GIMP

Congratulations! You can now open GIMP the same way you open any other program.

Tiger: Downloading and Installing GIMP

The GIMP Tiger installation requires an extra step: you need to install X11. You can get X11 from your Tiger installation DVD or go to the Apple Tiger support web page and follow the instructions for installing X11. After you install X11, follow the steps for Snow Leopard, discussed in the previous section. (Snow Leopard and Leopard come with X11 installed.)

GNU/Linux

GIMP is available for most Linux operating systems. Look for GIMP in your Linux Applications menu. The following systems will have GIMP installed or will have an easy software installer:

• Debian
• Fedora
• Gentoo Portage
• Slackware
• OpenSuse
• Ubuntu

If these options don't work for your version of Linux, install GIMP using the package management system for your Linux distribution. The distribution maintainers check for any dependent files and do the bug fix updates for GIMP. You can also get GIMP via the command line. Both these options are beyond the scope of this beginner's book. For further information on downloading using the package management system or downloading via the command line, go to www.gimp.org.

Ubuntu

If you are new to Linux, here's how to install GIMP on one of its most popular distributions: Ubuntu. Ubuntu Lucid and later distributions don't come with GIMP installed.

Figure 1-13. Ubuntu Applications menu showing the Ubuntu Software Centre

1. In the top Ubuntu Menu, click on Applications and scroll down and click on Ubuntu Software Centre (Figure 1-13).
2. Type GIMP into the search box located at the top right hand corner of the Ubuntu Software Applications Centre screen (Figure 1-14).
   

   Figure 1-14. Type GIMP into the search box in the top right hand corner

3. You will be taken to a list of programs. Scroll down to GIMP and click on Install.
4. When asked, type in your usual Ubuntu password.
5. You may be asked to approve extra files or dependencies for GIMP. There may also be security update files. Agree to install these files.
6. Click Install. GIMP will download and install into your Ubuntu system.

When the files are installed on your computer, GIMP will be available in the Applications/Graphics menu. The first time GIMP starts, it starts slowly because it is loading a number of tools. GIMP will start much faster next time.

Extra Functionality in GIMP via Plugins

GIMP has many plugins available to do extra things in GIMP such as editing RAW images or adding animation functionality. It's not necessary to add extra plugins. Sometimes a plugin can solve a particular task you wish to do in GIMP. This is a beginner's book so we will first focus on getting to know GIMP as it comes out of the box. Chapter 10 covers how to find and install plugins.

Summary

In this chapter you learned how to find and download GIMP 2.8+ for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Congratulations if you now have GIMP installed! With GIMP on your computer, you're ready to have some fun with digital editing. If you wish to add extra plugins to GIMP, see Chapter 10. If you know how to use Photoshop, Chapter 10 also has some tips and hints about the similarities and differences between Photoshop and GIMP.