Using GIMP
 

Well this blooming idiot doesnt know what it is...lol. Cant wait to see what someone else has to say.
blessings.

LOL! It is a photo editing program..I feel like I am trying to read Greek...

What do you need help with specifically? I've been using it for about ten years now, and while I don't know all the ins and outs I do know the basics. If I know what you're looking for I may be able to point you to some good basic tutorials.

Cook..I don't understand any of it LOL..can you pm me some basic tips? Like how to apply what you want..LOL

Are you trying to use it for editing / colouring digital images, or for photo editing?
Are you on gmail, by chance, because then we could google chat in a while, but it's just about dinner time here so I've got to go and start frying up some pancakes.

If you have a gmail address, then I can invite you to chat.
Otherwise I'd say emailing might be better than a PM, because then I could attach screenshots, which are always helpful :D.

Install google chat or GIMP? I don't think you need to install anything for chat, so no administrator rights should be called for.
This tutorial has some basic stuff : Getting Started with The GIMP: an informal tutorial
There's a short video here - that might be helpful too: GIMP Basics -Introduction + Beginner tutorial exercise (How to use GIMP) - YouTube
Top tip - the default extension for saving is the .xcf, native to GIMP. So if you want to upload here, remember to save as JPG or PNG.

I heard it was eas to use a watermark with Gimp. Is that the case? How to??

Karen

Are you talking about creating a watermark from scratch or just inserting one that you've already made/purchased? Inserting is easy, you just copy and paste it in.
Here's a link to a tutorial on creating your own: All I Do Is Stamp: Watermark Tutorial
Note where she says you must save it as a .png - that's vital.
Vicki's is just a plain text watermark - it's very easy to add images using Brushes. Tons of free brush loads available, as the abr format for PhotoShop work in GIMP.
Somewhere I think I've written out how to add images, if you want to know just ask and I'll try to find where.

Thanks Sabrina, for the link. I've saved that. And yes, I would love to know how to add the images. I don't have a blog but I would like the watermarks for posting cards. Thanks so much.
Karen

If you look at almost any of my recent uploads the watermark includes an image as well as my name. This is how I add them.
You'll have to experiment with size - I upload my photos at about 840 pixels wide, and for that I create my watermark in a 400 pixels wide by 100 high file. Create your new image file, making sure that the background is set to transparency. I add my images using brushes:
The brush tool is the 6th one down on the right in the Tool Box, it looks like a paint brush.
When you click on it the Paintbrush dialogue opens up at the bottom of the tool box.
The default brush is a circle, but if you click on that it will open out a box which shows all the brushes you have loaded.
The default ones in GIMP are pretty limited - there are round brushes, feathered brushes, a green pepper and few other odd things.
So long as you're using version 2.6, then any paintbrushes for PhotoShop (.abr extension) should work, but there are also plenty of free GIMP ones available for download.
DeviantArt is one place, but if you Google GIMP paintbrushes or PhotoShop paintbrushes you'll find all sorts of styles.
Download the ones you want, making sure you know where they are downloading to.
Mostly they come as ZIP files, so then you need to unzip them.

This is the best way I have found of adding downloaded brushes into the GIMP library. I know it's complicated, sorry about that.
Open the C drive.
Open Programs.
Open GIMP folder.
Open Share
Open Gimp
Open 2.0
Open Brushes.

Now copy and paste, or drag and drop, your downloaded brushes into that folder.
If you had GIMP open, close it and open it again, and when you click on that brush option in the Brush dialogue, you should see all your lovely new brushes.
They really work like a stamp. Choose the one you want, and you should see a dotted outline when you hold it over the file you're pasting it into.
If it's too big, then go back to the brush dialogue box and change the scale down a bit.
Once it's the size you want, just place the cursor where you want it to be in your text box and click once.
Don't hold your mouse down or you'll get an effect like painting with a shaped brush.
You can change the colour where you change text colour, if you want it more or less opaque there's a box for adjusting opacity in the brush dialogue.
Add your text box and text the normal way. I usually use two text boxes as I make the month and year a smaller font size.
Make sure to save as a .png, and NOT as a jpeg, as you need the transparency to be maintained.
Any questions, please feel free to send a pm :D.

I have been wanting to learn gimp. Thanks to all of you for the information.

Thanks for the instructions Sabrina. I will copy this and save it for when I have time to do this. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all this. I would have been very lost.

Karen