GIMP is an open-source, multi-platform graphics manipulation tool. It is a free tool that is used by both amateur and professional graphics designers around the world.
I rarely use applications like this. So my perspective as of a beginner user, who often uses this type of apps, is to crop images, resize them, convert them to other formats, etc. I remember that I installed GIMP, a couple of months after I got my first Mac, to use it for the aforementioned tasks. I also remember that he app didn't last a day on my Mac. The reason was simple. GIMP is not native-looking at all. It has a great interface and many tools. But the application wasn't suitable for Mac at all. I often found myself having to double-click on tool icons for them to work or hitting a hot-key that didn't work because GIMP uses the control key instead of the command key. All those small annoyances made me switch to easier-to-use applications that didn't have the power of GIMP, but were more responsive. I am not saying that GIMP isn't an excellent application. I am just saying that it didn't satisfy my needs.
Pros
- Very complete
Cons
- User interface isn't native at all
- Complicated
- It doesn't use standard hotkeys
This was one of the hardest softwares and applications I've used. Unless, you are an absolute expert in designing and computer software, I strongly recommend finding another app. I didn't not understand a quarter of where to go and what tools where there.
It was hard to operate at first, but when you learn where to get this or that tool, you can work fast enough in it.
I can't work in this application. I simply do not understand it. I do believe that this is a powerful tool, but I found out that it is not my tool of choice.