Secrets!

We all have 'em. And I’m willing to share a really big one with you, mainly because IT Guy shared it with me, and I want to pass it on.

Photoshop is expensive. Oh, you knew that already? Well, here’s the secret part: did you know that GIMP, a photo software program that rivals Photoshop, is absolutely FREE? Yes, I said FREE! And, my goodness, you can do everything in the world with GIMP. Several Photoshop plugins work with GIMP, too, or so I’ve read, anyway. I'm still working on all the things GIMP already has, like the old photo button (results above) and the cloning tool (see below. I took that strange woman right out of the photo).

There are tons of tutorials about GIMP on the web, so you won’t be alone in learning it. Just like Photoshop, though, there’ll be a learning period as you plow through your first experiences with photo enhancing. As with anything you do nowadays, read up on GIMP on the Internet. Then, if you decide to try it, go to http://opensourcewindows.org/rcewindows.org/ and download it. I’ve read about GIMP being difficult to download, but we had no problems at all, and it wasn’t because IT Guy is so gifted in that department. It’s just that no problems appeared during the download.

While you’re at OpenSource, look at all the other free stuff that’s there. You might just find something else you can use. Here’s a big thank you to all you code-writing geniuses who gave us GIMP and all the other free software in cyberspace.

I did my header in GIMP yesterday, and slapped it up so you could see how versatile the program is, but it can do much more everyday things than the header.

Do you have any secrets you'd like to share?