Gimp: The Official Handbook: Learn the Ins and Outs of Gimp from the Masters Who Wrote the GIMP User's Manual on The Web [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Olof Kylander (Author), Karin Kylander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1999

Gimp: The Official Handbook is written by two Gimp experts and is the most comprehensive source of information available on this freely distributed image-manipulation program for the Open Source community. The only book to teach the entire program, including all built-in filters and third-party plug-ins. Beats the competition by teaching the program from cover to cover. Other books gloss over key features and focus on learning the program quickly, or are theoretical and provide no practical information on the product. Features a 32-page Color Studio with inspiring images readers can create by learning all of the program's techniques in the book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

GIMP: The Official Handbook explains virtually everything about this robust, flexible, and freely available graphics editor. Within the nearly 900 glossy pages, users of all levels can learn how to use and become productive with all the tools, filters, scripts, and effects, beginning with how to compile GIMP for a given system.

GIMP is not for everyone. It must be built, configured, and customized on each Unix-based system where it is installed. GIMP: The Official Handbook does a valiant job of explaining the technical details of this process. For instance, If you want to add support for a graphics tablet, chapter 41, "Drawing Tablets and GIMP," describes how to make the necessary configuration changes and includes instructions for recompiling the application so that it recognizes the new input source.

Full sections on GIMP's basic usage, navigation, tools, and scripting language, Script-fu, as well as how to compile plug-ins, use different filter types (render, distort, color, artistic, etc.), and create animation using AnimFrames are just a few of the 47 chapters that make this book worthwhile.

There are six appendices covering many technical aspects: GIMP start flags and initialization files, GIMP manual pages, Perl-Fu scripting, installing scanners, and more. GIMP: The Official Handbook doesn't want for technical information. A 32-page color section includes screen shots and examples of what GIMP can do, plus how many of the filters work.

GIMP is emerging as a breakaway application in the never-say-die grassroots movement of the open-source initiative. With its powerful scripting languages, plug-in filters, and the free nature of its distribution, GIMP is a powerful asset to any Web artist or any multi-platform digital artist. GIMP can show you how to use, and make the most of, this robust graphics application. --Mike Caputo

Product Details

• Paperback: 894 pages
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books (November 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576105202
• ISBN-13: 978-1576105207
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A total waste of money, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gimp: The Official Handbook: Learn the Ins and Outs of Gimp from the Masters Who Wrote the GIMP User's Manual on The Web (Paperback)

I have over 300 technical books on C, C++, Java, Linux, Unix, Windows NT, distributed processing, CORBA, DCOM, Perl, etc etc. I have been a software developer for over 17 years. The reason I mention this is that I know a good technical reference (or tutorial, or "handbook") when I see one, and this is none of those. The first reviewer here had it right when (s)he said "try looking something up". It's truly useless. A classic example of a rushed book timed to cash in on the open-source and Linux craze. Save your money. The online reference is actually more useful than this glossy garbage. Case in point: I tried looking on page 51 as the last (positive!) reviewer suggested and the only information I can see is a URL for the plug-in registry - not exactly a reference for someone looking for a particular add-on tool in a hurry. And it's true that when optional plug-ins are mentioned, NO indication of the package name is given, which is very frustrating. Do yourself a favor and wait for a more thought-out reference.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the worst technical books I have ever read, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gimp: The Official Handbook: Learn the Ins and Outs of Gimp from the Masters Who Wrote the GIMP User's Manual on The Web (Paperback)

I am sorry to give this such a poor review, but it is when you are beginning to use a product and need to look things up that you really see how good a book is. It is full of glossy pages that look great but give no useful substance. Calling this a "handbook" is a real stretch. It's more like a very extended chatty tour with no details. Two examples: 1. Looking up "Transparency" gives no useful instructions on how to actually make an image with transparent backgrounds. 2. The book gives examples of plug-ins that are optional (and extremely useful), and while it admits that these modules are not part of the standard install, it gives absolutely no clue as to how to find these modules, not even a name! I had to do a lot of digging around to find the "Paste into new image" plugin. I don't like to give bad reviews, there are usually at least some good qualities to any book. But apart from the unusually glossy finish, this is a truly useless book. Sorry.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, Web version for free, March 12, 2002

By 

Greg Nyquist (Eureka, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gimp: The Official Handbook: Learn the Ins and Outs of Gimp from the Masters Who Wrote the GIMP User's Manual on The Web (Paperback)

Like so much in the opensource world, this book is not designed for the ease of it's users. The authors show little concern for accessebility or introducing their material in a structured, sensible manner befitting a primer on Gimp. This book, at best, has value as a reference work...