GIMP/Preface
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Hello and welcome to GIMP!
GIMP is an open-source Image editing program. The name is an acronym for 'GNU Image Manipulation Program', and is licensed under the GNU General Public Licence. The program can best be described as a Adobe Photoshop clone, containing nearly all the functionality and ease of use as Photoshop with a few extra tools of its own.
The project was started in 1995, and its first public release (0.54) was in January of 1996. Now, 13 years after its first release, GIMP is used by a variety of people ranging from professional graphic artists, to computer hobbyists of all ages who don't want to put down $700 for a copy of the newest Photoshop.
Since its original release for Unix and GNU/Linux operating systems, GIMP has been ported to many major operating systems and platforms including Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. GIMP requires Gimp Toolkit (GTK), an advanced widget library created during the development of GIMP. If you download GIMP for any platform, you must first install GTK if it isn't installed already. Although this comes standard in most modern Linux distributions, it does not come standard with Windows or Mac OS X. Additionally, GTK does not run fully native on Mac OS X and requires a special X Server package.
The current look of GIMP are 2 windows - image window and Toolbox. Also by default there's an utility window. Image window is always under utility windows, but can easily go over by using the Tab key.
More information about GIMP can be found on the GIMP website.
