Discovering The GIMP

Installation

Getting started

Colour selection

Perspective correction

Cloning an image

Step by step: editing an image

Cloning an image

To clone an area of an image to fix a problem like a telegraph pole, click the Paint using Patterns or image regions tool and Control + Click in a place on the image to clone from. Choose a brush shape and size from the Brushes palette - to view these, choose Dialogs, Brushes. Now paint over the area to cover.

Other dialogs such as Colors, Patterns and Fonts are selectable from the Dialogs menu. You can only hide a dialog by closing it using its Close button. Otherwise, choosing Dialogs, and then selecting the relevant dialog brings it to the front of the displayed dialogs so its easy to see.

When you're done editing a file, choose File, Save As from the menu on top of the image and you can specify a new filename to save a copy of the image. Make sure you add an extension because GIMP won't do it for you. From the Determine file type list choose the format for the image - remember to make sure the extension and the file type match or the file may not open in other programs. Choose a format like Photoshop's .psd format to save channel and layer information with the file.

You will find that with a little practice and a sense of adventure that GIMP is a handy graphics tool.