I find this program works for all my image needs. Creation of sprites to picture retouching. It certainly has a lot of power that takes some learning and getting used to, but that is true of any software of this type. I've been using it for years to do numerous things from favicon.ico files to curvy corners to adding transparency to an image formerly having a white background, prayer card creation, image retouching and probably other tasks I've since forgotten.

This software has long been considered one of the best pieces of open source software for good reason. Easy installation on the top 3 operating systems makes it an easy choice if flexibility is a concern.

It's been about a year and a half since I last used GIMP, but I'm going to throw in my 2 cents anyway. It may have changed since then...so you'll want to double check all info for yourself rather than take my word for it.

First, let me say I'm a Photoshop user. I have been for years, and I was a Photoshop user before using GIMP. That's going to totally bias my review because I'm comparing the gold standard to a free, open source alternative.

However, when making that comparison, I was thoroughly disappointed with GIMP. Yes, it does lots of stuff that Photoshop does...but that's sorta like saying that a Yugo does lots of stuff that a BMW does. The reality is, it doesn't do that stuff nearly as well or as smooth. Yes, there's something called "GIMPshop" that's supposed to make "GIMP feel just like Photoshop". It doesn't.

The biggest downfall, for me, was that I needed to install X11 on my Mac to even use the program. For a designer, X11 is not something you'd have installed for any other reason...it's a huge install for one program. That was the killer for me.

In the end, if you do design even once every week or two, I say save a little money and buy something like Photoshop Elements. Or, obviously, if you do design all the time, buy the real thing. GIMP is good for a programmer who has to do a design in a pinch, but it is no where near good enough to output professional design consistently for your church or business.

OS X 10.5 comes with X11 installed as part of the base system now I believe so that is less of an issue than it was.

I was hoping you'd jump in! :-)

Ok I am an engineer. Drawing is not my thing... But for the cost this program lets me do amazing things. Not sure if there is a better software out there. I have had some problems in the past with it freezing and maybe I missed something but the lack of auto save is kinda a problem for me sometimes. I have not had it freeze on me in a while. I think I might have a newer version now. I love it. As I learn more I enjoy it more. There is a steep learning curve unless your familiar with photoshop or other drawing programs. Again I'm an engineer so Autocad is my thing not this frilly stuff but I can manage to produce a few custom icons and logos for a website.

If you are coming from nothing, or MS Paint which is less than nothing, then The Gimp is awesome and everything you'll need to tweek photos for the web or most non-pro jobs.

If you are coming from Photoshop you'll probably not like it. I started with The Gimp and "graduated" to Photoshop. There were 2 reasons for the upgrade - one is I got a great deal from a friend who wanted to sell her package and the other was I started watching videos to learn how to do graphics design and fell in love with the PS brush engine which The Gimp doesn't have.

In all, The Gimp is a great tool to let you make changes or create artwork, but it's not quite professional-grade.

When I was still using my XP box, I ran GIMP for all of my image editing needs. But when I moved to OS X, I realized how frustrating GIMP can be. It's not simply the X11 "issue" (for some a bigger one than others), it was annoying how GIMP wasn't designed "for Mac." It doesn't seem to fit. I found that many of the shortcuts just don't work. Rather than spend the dough on Photoshop (I'm not a big image editor), I purchased Pixelmator for $59 and have been pleased with how it works. Maybe it is a good "Photoshop Elements" alternative (I'll review Pixelmator soon). Even so, the biggest pro to GIMP is that it costs $FREE. So it is a good, full-featured photo editing software, but I was unhappy with it on Mac.

Pixelmator is awesome. I have PS for work, but I would use pixelmator if I didn't already have PS.

Anyone interested in the GIMP should check out: http://meetthegimp.org/ and subscribe to his video podcast. He's in Itunes, and he does some amazing things with the GIMP. Take that with a grain of salt because....I'm *not* a snob, I probably don't know enough about image manipulation to be a snob. :))

I just wanted to point out that as some of you might have noticed, GIMP has had a pretty major overhaul recently and it is not what it once was. I found it to work fantastic and only made more fantastic by being free. The interface has been improved and I was quite surprised by the new changes.

I've been using GIMP for over a year on an Intel Mac and a WIN XP box. It's not PS but it seems to be capable of doing almost anything most people need.

I use Gimp a lot. I don't even own a copy of Photoshop. It is great for scripting and batch processing. And if you learn the hotkeys you can navigate the user interface quickly.

That said...The multiple window interface is evil and old and a direct result of the fall :P. The fact that you can not dock the toolbox in the main window is unforgivable.