TheGimp?, properly referred to as GIMP or The GIMP, is a GPL graphics editing program.

It was originally developed on X11 by two students, Peter Mattis and Spencer Kimball, who wanted a graphical editing program. Now, it has developed into a highly polished UserInterface ToolKit called GTK+?, the GIMP Toolkit, and a serious graphical editor for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

The GIMP's website tells us the software "can be used as a simple paint program, a expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, a image format converter", and for many other purposes.

A subproject, based on a very old fork of The GIMP's source code, originally called !FilmGimp? (now CinePaint) is used in the film industry, and has made its way onto Hollywood movies such as 2 Fast 2 Furious, Scooby-Doo, Harry Potter and Stuart Little. (Read an article about CinePaint/Film GIMP) While !CinePaint? is great if you need to work with a high dynamic range, it is NOT a good solution for most users wanting to do animation or home video editing.

TheGIMP's user interface is a very powerful, non-MDI design. WellUsedRhetoric says that AdobePhotoshop users will find it difficult to get to grips with the interface - it suffers from the inevitable "It's almost, but not quite, entirely like AdobePhotoshop" complaints. There is an entire page devoted to this topic at GimpVersusPhotoshop. The interface will let you be extremely productive once you get to know it. Don't be put off by first impressions -- read a book, or post a question if you need help.

For those of you who actually find the unique interface intuitive and productive, or just want to learn more, there's The GIMP User Group. See a gallery of GIMP artwork at http://www.gimpforce.org/.

There are ports to MicrosoftWindows (Windows GIMP port) and, if you want to fork out £10 for the privelidge of downloading it, MacOSX (MacGIMP).

(Some GIMP screenshots.)