Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a GNU open-source project that grew out of a software project started by a couple of Berkeley students who wanted to produce an image-editing program for Unix. Gimp runs on most Unix-based operating systems, Mac OS and Wmdows. You can download a Windows installer at.

It was originally designed to run in an X-Windows environment, so Gimp can seem a little anarchic compared with conventional Windows applications. Each interface element (the image window, toolbox, layers palette, etc) occupies its own window, together with a corresponding button on the taskbar.

The interface provides some docking options -layers, paths, channels and history palettes can live in shared accommodation, as can brushes, patterns, gradients and fonts. This setup also has the advantage that you can arrange things how you want them. It also has its drawbacks though, and if you have other applications running you can't Alt& Tab back into Gimp - only one of its numerous windows.

Gimp has developed into a feature-rich application with an array of sophisticated image adjustment and manipulation tools to rival the best. It has numerous selection tools including marquees, intelligent edgefinding scissors, fuzzy select (also known as magic wand) and a foreground select tool. The fuzzy select tool can select anti-aliased and feathered edges, transparent areas, sample merged (from multiple layers) and from the composite image, an individual charmel, hue saturation or value.
Most clone tools offer two alignment options - aligned and unaligned - but Gimp's has four. It supports a pressure-sensitive stylus input and has a clone brush for cloning from a source with an altered perspective. This would be useful for, say, cloning windows from one side of a building onto another.

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The layers palette has a full complement of blend modes, opacity and transparency lock and fully featured editable layer masks. You can toggle masks on and off, make masks from selections, and copy them from one layer to another. The Gimp's layers palette was the most fully featured and versatile of all the programs in this group test. About the only thing it doesn't provide is the ability to arrange layers into groups, but doubtless that will come.

While it has an impressive array of tools, and editing features, Gimp fails to match the other applications for help and guidance. There is a comprehensive help browser which provides explanation of every aspect of the program, but if you're starting out in digital image editing with Gimp, you'll find it a bit tough to get to grips with.
One advantage of Gimp's open-source provenance is that it is packed with effects filters and there's no shortage of plug-ins. Plug-in development is so central to Gimp it has its own website, Gimp Plug-in Registry at. Here you can find everything from noise removal and layer effects to plug-ins for working with Raw file formats from digital cameras.

Despite the availability of Raw plug-ins, Gimp's inability to work with 16-bit RGB images all but rules it out for serious photographic work. But if you have some existing knowledge of digital imaging and are prepared to make some effort to find your way around, Gimp won't disappoint.