Customer Reviews

Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well written and easily understandable. This is the affordable manual so badly needed for Gimp. It is neither a tutorial or a reference, but has advantages of both. It's easy discussion style leads you through how to use Gimp, starting with the basics, and moving soon to advanced. But I have had no problem using the index to jump ahead to specific topics of interest, as the discussions made sense without reading everything in order. I feel like I will be a Gimp expert when I finish the book, but I and already getting lots of use from it in improving my digital photos.

The book is a couple of versions behind. There are a few mentions in the Appendix describing the differences in the newer versions, but the explanations are just short summaries. Most of the tools are still in the newer versions. But in newer versions (latest is 2.6.10) many tools have been relocated and can be hard to find. In fairness, with versions changing so rapidly, it would be difficult for any author or publisher to keep up. Because the book is advertised as covering version 2.6 but really doesn't, I downgraded my rating from five stars to four.

A few weeks ago I knew nothing whatsoever about the GIMP.
I downloaded version 2.6 and decided to learn how to use it.
After a frustrating attempt to educate myself with the online
help files I turned to Akkana Peck's Beginning Gimp, second edition.

I found her book to be just what I needed. It's a big book at just
under 600 pages, but I found it a reasonably quick read due in large
part to many full color examples and Akkana's clear writing style.

It is not easy to write technical documentation, and so it is wonderful
to encounter such a well written work. Ms. Peck has the rare talent
of being able to present volumes of technical information in a manner
that has enough detail to be useful, without overwhelming the reader with
minutiae, or being boring. Her style makes heavy use of examples,
which are nicely illustrated (kudos to the publisher to spending the extra
money for color images). Key concepts are presented in a well ordered manner, making it quite painless to understand the "Zen" of GIMP.

After reading the book cover to cover, working through most of the
example exercises, I feel I have expanded my image processing abilities
immensely. By the way, you can (and should) download all the example
material found on the publishers web site.

Many thanks to the extraordinarily talented programmers who created
this remarkable program. Thanks also to those who have created the
online help files (which are quite useful once one has a basic understanding of the GIMP).

And thanks again to Akkana Peck for making the initial learning curve so pleasant!

The book is frustrating as it takes you through editing a picture and then stops...
For instance Masks which is probably one of the hardest things...she tells you how to work on the mask and then doesn't finish, so you are left with the mask to the side of the transparent layer and your background below that..What do I do next?
Even cropping...she did the same thing...
I bought the book because I was tired of wading through online tutorials..well I'm still having to do that because she leaves me hanging. She does a great job if she would just finish the steps.

I give 3 stars because I'm glad I have the book...because when you are drowning in frustation, you need something to hold onto.

I recently downloaded GIMP 2.6. As I am a reasonably low-tech person I soon realized I needed some help to get going so I ordered "Beginning GIMP". I didn't realize that the book is based on version 2.4 so I was a little upset that this wasn't made clear in the promo for the book. However it hasn't been a problem as most of the book applies to 2,6 and I have had little difficulty in mastering at least the basics in the two weeks I have been using it. There is an appendix which outlines some of the differences between versions 2.4 and 2.6 and this is helpful.There is a ton and a half of info in the book which will apply to the more advanced photographers but the basics of image manipulation are easy to use and very clearly explained by the author. Any low-tech types will benefit from this book and so will the pros if they want to get the most out of GIMP. I would recommend this book.

For pretty long time my hobby is photography. In digital age I must now depend (at rather old age 76) on digital darkroom. Which one?
I first thought about upgrade of my old Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, but the only solution was (and is) to buy the most recent one, perhaps the best on the market, but with a lot of gimmick gadgets and verbose help I will never use. Then I come across GIMP. After a number of evenings on the Internet I come across references about this GIMP book and other books as well.
I made the very best choice. This book is now my companion because of the very straightforward language (English is not my native language) and some intrigue questions it set up chapter by chapter, so that the reader wants to follow it. Because of that I believe that soon I am able to use all features of GIMP I need and to improve colors and tone scale of my pictures beyond Adobe Elements 2.0.
I also like the graphical side of the book which makes reading easy and pleasurable. Therefore no wander why I praised this book so high.
Wojciech Swider

It's clear the author knows the subject, but she covers so much that a lot of it is touched on very briefly. You can use the book to see what is possible to do, but I found myself watching online tutorial videos (from the general user community) whenever possible, to see how multi-step processes in Gimp are actually accomplished.

I have had this book for a couple years now and I still refer to it. I read someone else's review that gave the book 3 stars with his major complaint being that this was not a reference book. I do not necessarily agree with that opinion but I would concur that this is a type of book that you want to set down and read throughly and then use it as reference book. There is an awful lot to learn from in there ;-) The book is worth every penny!

I am taking an online Class in[...]on using Gimp. This book has served me as a good reference guide. The perspective of the book is focused on "photos" but Gimp can do so much more. I have found the index to be very useful and pretty complete. There are alot of screen shots and I find this very helful along with very specific instructions on using the tools.

I tried using GIMP on multiple occasions but would often abandon it in favor of easier to use programs with fewer features.

This book made it easy to locate the task I wanted to do in GIMP and had great instructions on how to use it in the program.

Thanks to this book, GIMP is now the primary picture editing software I use.

Have always wanted to get Photoshop, but could not see spending that kind of money on something that would only get used now and then. Downloaded Gimp only to find that it is not that intuitive to use. Hence getting this manual. Excellent way to learn the program. Takes you step by step through the various options and possibilities. Only about half way through at this point and I already know how to work with layers, various brushes and their options, cropping, colors, etc. This program is far too complex to just work it out using trial and error. Peck's book gives you the map to work your way through this extensive maze. Even has partial updates that relate to the newest version of the program.