Adobe Photoshop is the most important tool in the hand of a designer and we easily can find masterpieces on the Internet which are simply amazingly made with this program. I am not a promoter of Adobe products but the entire suite is an almost irreplaceable resource and without it the actual design would be poorer. To express the dependence about these programs better, a lot of people use frequently the term “photoshoped” instead of manipulated image.

In spite of these the entire Adobe Suite has a great disadvantage: the price; it’s true the overall value of the products is much higher than the price itself but we can ignore the fact that a lot of creative designers come from countries having big economic problems and a latest version of Photoshop is equivalent of few monthly incomes (if not a year income). Also not in the developed countries the situation is completely different: there are many students or simply amateurs of image manipulating which can’t afford buying Photoshop for their home use.It isn’t a solution, but people found out how to resolve this annoying fact: pirated versions. There is no reliable statistics about the percentage of the fake versions but anyway it’s clearly alarming, the medium percentage of the various polls on the Internet I found is nearly 50%. Think of this, from two versions of Photoshop, one is pirated!
It is sad, yet some gifted people agreed with me but they conceived a better solution: a free version of Photoshop or a program enough powerful to be a real competition of the expensive Photoshop.This program is called GIMP which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program and the good news is that it is work and is stable on any operating systems. You can download it from here ; and if you like it, then it is wonderful to donate some money.

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A good impression is made by the official website which is full of information and it is really hard not to discover what you need.  Another important aspect of this website is the fact that everybody can be involved having a lot of opportunities like: reporting bugs, adding documentation, translating it in your own language, writing tutorials or articles like this and so on. GIMP isn’t only a free program, it is a community and this is great!
Here I propose you an entire and pretty detailed list which can help anybody from the very beginning to a professional level. I hope to enjoy it and share with us if you find something which deserves to be here and I missed!
First of all, if someone had never to do with GIMP then an introduction is a priceless help and once again, the official website is a solution: the user manual. I think it is good to know what GIMP can really do before starting studying it; can it really replace Adobe Photoshop? I am pretty sure that yes, it can…see the examples bellow:

1. Enya

Enya is amazing portrait done entirely in GIMP which makes a lot of viewers take into the consideration the power of this application.

2.Gimp effect

I saw a pretty similar project on Photoshop and there were almost no difference. Anyway, it is a pretty cool effect.

3. Jack Sparrow

A GIMP painted version of Jack Sparrow.

4. Ian Somerhalder

Another masterpiece, a well done portrait.

5.Glow effects

Playing with lights and glows was always very creative but at the same time hard to obtain a good result. This artist did a very interesting project, of course with the GIMP effects.

6.Before and after in GIMP

GIMP was a project which from its beginning should be a good replacement of Photoshop and from making layouts for websites to photo manipulation it should have offered alternatives. Here we have an example that regarding retouching GIMP can be used successfully.

7. Carnage Ensembly

This work is an artistic interpretation of the end of humanity; sad but full of details and not easy to create.

8.GIMP eye

Working with the eyes it is difficult both for doctors and designers but here is a masterpiece…no comments!

9. Yes we can

What have in common president Obama and GIMP? I believe the slogan is appropriate by both: “Yes we can!” and yes, GIMP is a viable solution.

10. Colorful

This image demonstrated that GIMP is truly powerful and the possibilities of enhancing colors, shadows, and lights are pretty similar to the most expensive “enemy”.

11. Champion of GIMP

The designer is challenging himself to become the best user of GIMP; seeing this work seems that he is indeed a master of this program.

12. Dragon GIMP

This project is a very abstract creation and the combination of colors is simply the best!

13.GIMP fractal

Fractals are always awesome and this is one of the best.

14.GIMP poster

A nice poster and a good example of GIMP possibilities.

15.My blog theme

GIMP can be used also in web design, its features allow to a talented designer to draw the layout of a webpage.

16. Blazed GIMP

I hope you noticed that I selected each image to reveal all the domains where Photoshop is used: retouching, manipulation, color correction, web design and I couldn’t neglect the text effects. Here is a cool idea.

17. The GIMP splash

What about a Vista style combined with GIMP icon?

So let’s get starting using GIMP, I propose here some very nice tutorials, all of them are put in a progressive order, from the basic to complex:

1. How to use quick mask

2.Red eye removal

3.Creating Light Leaks on Photographs using GIMP

4.How to use dynamic range

5. Solar winds effect

6. Create a website design

7. Working on the hair of a female

8. Abstract wave effect

9. Text effect- create a Harry Potter style text

10.Nice glow effect

11. Create a realist bolt

12. How to transform in a Navi being

13.Bokeh effect

14.Create fireball and explosion (my favorite

15. Fiery space explosion

Don’t forget to leave a comment and let us know what do you think !