GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free, open-source raster image editor — a capable alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It handles photo retouching, digital painting, graphic design, and image compositing. It's one of the most mature open-source applications available, with a large plugin ecosystem and scripting support (Python-Fu and Script-Fu).
Installation
macOS (Apple Silicon)
GIMP is distributed as a universal binary for macOS. Download from gimp.org/downloads . Open the .dmg and drag GIMP to Applications.
Via Homebrew:
Note: GIMP on macOS requires XQuartz (an X11 implementation) for older builds, but modern builds (2.10.36+ / 3.x) are native Cocoa apps and no longer need XQuartz. If you're on a recent version, you don't need to install XQuartz.
Fedora KDE
GIMP is in the Fedora repositories:
Or via Flatpak for the latest version:
— Placeholder — GIMP on first launch showing the default single-window layout.
Windows 11
GIMP has an official Windows installer. Download the 64-bit .exe from gimp.org/downloads . Run the installer — no XQuartz or compatibility layer is needed; GIMP runs natively on Windows. Alternatively, install via winget :
GIMP on Windows 11 is fully featured and the interface is identical to the Linux version. All tools, layer modes, Script-Fu, Python-Fu, and import/export formats work the same way. GIMP 3.x brings improved HiDPI scaling on Windows — if you're on a high-resolution display, the 3.x release candidate or stable version is worth using.
Interface Overview
By default on modern GIMP versions, the interface is in single-window mode , with all panels docked together. If it's in multi-window mode (floating panels), switch to single-window via Windows → Single-Window Mode .
The main areas are: the Toolbox (left — all the tools), Tool Options (below the toolbox — settings for the active tool), the Canvas (centre — your image), the Layers / Channels / Paths panel (right), and the Brushes / Patterns / Gradients panel (also right, tabbed).
— Placeholder — annotated GIMP single-window interface.
Opening and Creating Images
Open an existing image: File → Open ( Ctrl O ). GIMP supports JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, PSD (Photoshop), BMP, GIF, and many others.
Create a new canvas: File → New ( Ctrl N ). Set width, height, resolution (72 PPI for screen, 300 PPI for print), and colour mode (RGB for most work, Grayscale for black and white).
To open as a layer on top of an existing image (useful for compositing): File → Open as Layers .
The Toolbox
GIMP has a large toolbox. Here are the tools you'll use most often:
Selection Tools
Rectangle Select ( R ) — draw a rectangular selection. Ellipse Select ( E ) — draw an elliptical/circular selection. Free Select (Lasso) ( F ) — draw a freehand selection. Fuzzy Select (Magic Wand) ( U ) — select a contiguous region of similar colour. Select by Colour ( Shift U ) — select all pixels of a similar colour across the whole image. Scissors Select ( I ) — intelligent edge-following selection tool.
— Placeholder — the GIMP toolbox with selection tools visible.
Paint Tools
Pencil ( N ) — hard-edged painting. Paintbrush ( P ) — soft-edged painting. Eraser ( Shift E ) — erase pixels (makes them transparent on a layer with an alpha channel). Airbrush — pressure-sensitive painting that builds up colour. Bucket Fill ( Shift B ) — fill a selection or region with colour or pattern. Gradient ( G ) — draw a colour gradient.
Transform Tools
Move ( M ) — move layers, selections, or paths. Scale ( Shift T ) — resize a layer or selection. Rotate ( Shift R ) — rotate a layer or selection. Crop ( Shift C ) — crop the canvas or clip a layer. Perspective — distort a layer to adjust its perspective. Flip ( Shift F ) — mirror horizontally or vertically.
Other Essential Tools
Clone ( C ) — paint using another area of the image as the source. Used for retouching blemishes and unwanted objects. Healing ( H ) — like Clone but blends with surrounding texture. Better for skin and organic surfaces. Dodge/Burn ( Shift D ) — lighten (dodge) or darken (burn) areas by painting over them. Smudge — blend/smear pixels. Text ( T ) — add text as an editable text layer.
Layers
Layers are the fundamental building block of non-destructive image editing in GIMP. Each layer is an independent plane of pixels that stacks on top of others. Changes to one layer don't affect others.
— Placeholder — the layers panel with multiple layers and different blend modes.
Layer Operations
The Layers panel (right side) shows all layers, from top to bottom in stacking order. Operations:
New layer : click the + button at the bottom of the Layers panel, or use Layer → New Layer ( Shift Ctrl N ). Duplicate layer : Layer → Duplicate Layer ( Shift Ctrl D ). Delete layer : click the trash icon. Reorder layers : drag layers up or down in the panel. Hide/show : click the eye icon. Merge down : Layer → Merge Down — combines a layer with the one below it.
Layer Blend Modes
Each layer has a blend mode that controls how it interacts with layers beneath it. The most useful blend modes are: Normal (default), Multiply (darkens — like two transparencies stacked), Screen (lightens — good for glows), Overlay (increases contrast), Soft Light (gentle contrast), Difference (inverts based on the layer beneath), and Hue/Saturation/Colour (affect only that aspect of the layer below).
Layer Opacity
The Opacity slider at the top of the Layers panel controls how transparent the active layer is. 100% is fully opaque; 0% is invisible. This is commonly used to blend adjustment layers at reduced strength.
Selections and Masking
Refining Selections
After making a selection, refine it with: Select → Feather (soften the edges), Select → Grow/Shrink (expand or contract by pixels), and Select → Invert ( Ctrl I ) (select everything except the current selection).
To add to a selection, hold Shift while drawing a new selection. To subtract from a selection, hold Ctrl .
Quick Mask
Press Shift Q to enter Quick Mask mode. The selection is shown as a red overlay. Paint with black to remove from the selection, white to add to it. Press Shift Q again to convert back to a marching ants selection. This is the most precise way to make complex selections.
— Placeholder — Quick Mask mode with the unselected area shown in red.
Layer Masks
A layer mask controls the transparency of parts of a layer non-destructively. Right-click a layer in the Layers panel and choose Add Layer Mask . Paint with black on the mask to hide parts of the layer, white to reveal. The original layer pixels are never destroyed.
Colour Correction
GIMP's colour correction tools are under the Colours menu.
Levels
Colours → Levels adjusts the black point, white point, and midtone gamma of the image. Drag the black input triangle right to set the darkest point; drag the white input triangle left to set the brightest point. Drag the output sliders to limit the tonal range. Click Auto for an automatic correction.
— Placeholder — the Levels dialog with histogram and input/output triangles.
Curves
Colours → Curves is the most powerful tonal adjustment. The diagonal line maps input values (x-axis) to output values (y-axis). Click to add control points and drag to reshape the curve. An S-curve (pull highlights up, shadows down) adds contrast. Work on the composite RGB channel first, then individual R, G, B channels for colour grading.
— Placeholder — the Curves dialog with a gentle S-curve for contrast.
Hue-Saturation
Colours → Hue-Saturation adjusts the overall hue shift, saturation, and lightness. Select "All" to affect every colour, or select a specific colour range (R, Y, G, C, B, M) to target just that range.
Colour Balance
Colours → Colour Balance adds warm or cool casts independently to shadows, midtones, and highlights. Useful for matching footage colours or creating a stylised grade.
Retouching
Clone Tool
Select the Clone tool ( C ). Ctrl+click to set the source point, then paint over the area you want to fix — GIMP copies pixels from the source to the brush. Use a soft brush and a source point near the area you're fixing so texture and tone match.
Heal Tool
The Heal tool works similarly to Clone but blends the cloned pixels with the surrounding texture, making it more seamless for skin and complex textures. Ctrl+click to set the source, then paint to heal.
Spot Healing with Script-Fu
For a quick automatic heal, try Filters → Enhance → Heal Selection (if installed via the Resynthesizer plugin — see below). Select the area to remove, run the filter, and GIMP synthesises a plausible replacement from surrounding pixels.
Filters and Plugins
GIMP's Filters menu contains a large library of built-in filters: blur (Gaussian, motion, lens), sharpen (unsharp mask), distort (warp, ripple), render (clouds, plasma, noise), and more.
Recommended Plugins
Resynthesizer — adds content-aware fill (Heal Selection). Install on Fedora:
On macOS, download from the Resynthesizer GitHub releases and place the .so or .py files in ~/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins/ (GIMP 2.x) or the equivalent GIMP 3.x plug-ins path.
G'MIC — a massive collection of image processing filters (colour grading, denoising, artistic effects, frequency separation). Install on Fedora:
On macOS, download the G'MIC installer from gmic.eu . On Windows 11, the G'MIC installer is available from the same page — it detects GIMP automatically and places the plugin in the correct folder.
To install the Resynthesizer plugin on Windows, download the compiled .exe Windows installer from the Resynthesizer GitHub releases page and run it.
Working with Text
Select the Text tool ( T ). Click on the canvas to create a text layer. Type your text; use the Tool Options to set font, size, colour, and alignment. The text remains editable as long as you don't flatten or merge the text layer.
To apply effects to text (like a drop shadow), right-click the text layer and select Alpha to Selection , then apply effects to a new layer below it. Or use Filters → Light and Shadow → Drop Shadow directly.
Saving and Exporting
GIMP's native format is XCF — it preserves all layers, masks, and guides. Always save as XCF while working.
To export to a web-ready format (JPEG, PNG, WebP), use File → Export As ( Shift Ctrl E ). The export dialog lets you configure quality and format-specific options without affecting your XCF file.
For PNG (lossless, supports transparency): leave compression at 6 for a balance of file size and speed.
For JPEG (lossy, no transparency): 80–90 quality is a good default for high quality with reasonable file size. Check Progressive for web use.
For WebP: use 80–90 quality for lossy, or enable lossless compression.
— Placeholder — the Export As dialog with JPEG quality settings.
Key Keyboard Shortcuts
Tips and Gotchas
Use layers for everything. Never edit directly on the Background layer. Duplicate it first ( Shift Ctrl D ) and work on the copy, keeping the original untouched at the bottom.
GIMP's undo history is generous but finite. Set the undo steps in Edit → Preferences → Environment → Maximum undo history size . The default (around 64MB) is usually sufficient.
Script-Fu console ( Filters → Script-Fu → Console ) lets you run Scheme scripts against the open image. Python-Fu is also available for Python scripts. This is powerful for batch operations.
On macOS , GIMP 2.10 uses a single-window mode that can feel slightly different from Photoshop. GIMP 3.x (currently in release candidates) improves macOS integration significantly — if 3.x is stable when you read this, install that version.
On Fedora KDE , GIMP is well-integrated. If HiDPI scaling looks wrong, adjust the display scaling in GIMP's preferences: Edit → Preferences → Interface → Display → Monitors → Dot-for-dot — uncheck this and set the correct DPI for your monitor.
On Windows 11 , GIMP stores user data (scripts, brushes, plug-ins, fonts) in %APPDATA%\GIMP\<version>\ . Add custom brushes by placing .gbr or .gih files in the Brushes subfolder there, then refreshing brushes in Windows → Dockable Dialogs → Brushes → Refresh . If GIMP is slow to start on Windows, it's usually indexing fonts — go to Edit → Preferences → Folders → Fonts and remove any folders you don't need.
Customise your toolbox. Go to Edit → Preferences → Interface → Toolbox to choose which tools appear and in what order. Remove tools you never use to reduce clutter.