How To Open Images in GIMP

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GIMP isn’t like an online editing program. You don’t have to upload photos before you can edit them. And it’s not a photo organizing program like iPhoto or Picasa. You don’t have to import photos into GIMP. You can use GIMP right out of the box to open and edit any photo that’s on your computer.

To open photos with GIMP do the following:

• Start GIMP, then find the Main Window. It’s the one with the menu bar across the top.
• Go to File > Open. The Open Image window will pop up (see the image below).
• se this window to navigate through your computer’s files, and find the image you want to open. You can also use the Search function on the left side of this window to search for files by name.
• Once you find your image, click it to highlight it, then click Open. The image will open in GIMP’s main window, and you can start editing.

There’s obviously a lot more to using GIMP than opening your photos. But it’s a really important first step! I mean, if you couldn’t open you photos, you wouldn’t get very far.

You can use GIMP to do just about anything to your pictures. From small tweaks to contrast and color, to creating web banners, ‘Photoshopping’ people onto different backgrounds, GIMP’s got it all.

So tell me, what do you want to do with GIMP? Do you want to retouch portraits, or spruce up your product photos? Make a web banner, or a Valentines card? Do you want to correct funky colors, or create photographic works of art? Pick your poison, and let me know in the comments below.