Using GIMP to Edit Images: As Good as Photoshop, but Cheaper

I just love the Open Source community. Not only are there tons of great free applications out there, but also there are so many folks who have figured out different tips and tricks for using and customizing those apps. You can find a free, open source application for just about any type of program you need. If you need office productivity software, there is Open Office. Need a replacement for Visio? Try Dia. Thankfully, there is even a great option for those in need of a quality image editor.

Image editing software is extremely useful for users of different skill levels. And even though Photoshop is no doubt the best on the market not everyone can afford Adobe's steep price tag. Thankfully the open source community has done us all a great favor, especially those of us who use Mac OS X Leopard. You see, when the newest version of Apple's OS was released, a compatible version of the GIMP software was not available. I was personally stung by this fact when I upgraded. When I was still running Mac OS X Panther on my Mac Mini, I needed to be able to edit and create new images for the different stuff for my blog. My editor of choice (since I could not afford Photoshop) was GIMP. It served me very well. But alas, all good things must come to an end. When I and thousands of other Mac users upgraded to Mac OS X Leopard in 2007 many of us were shocked and dismayed that GIMP does not run on Leopard. And to this day it still does not.

I began to seek out other Photoshop alternatives but none of the other free ones could touch GIMP much less Photoshop. I had resolved myself to the fact that I would be stuck buying something. I tried out Iris by NoLobe, which is not out yet and is still in beta. NoLobe offers the beta of Iris for free download so that users can try it out and they may even pre-order the real version for only $39. But after using Iris for a while it was clear that it was not what I am looking for. So I decided to search around on the internet to see if there was any news that GIMP might be soon coming to Leopard. Enter Wilber Loves Apple.

Wilber Loves Apple is an open source group that has developed a Leopard-compatible build of GIMP. I was so pleased to find out about this website. And not only do they offer their improvements to GIMP but their forums are full of tips and video tutorials that will help folks like me learn GIMP even better (because right now I can only do basic stuff when it comes to image editing). The open source community has come through for me again and I am eager to get back to creating images to use on my website. My hearty thanks to Wilber Loves Apple.