These results will give you suggestions for different plugins that have this functionality, and often they’ll even share the link so you can download it. Start by searching for guides or tutorials on what you want to do, for example: “How to do Content Aware Resizing in GIMP?” Here are some tips to make your search more efficient: Look for tutorials Fortunately, in this day and age, you can find anything just by Googling.Īs you know, search engines like Google will show you a lot of results some of it can be outdated, other results can even be a virus, so be careful with what you download.

There used to be one registry that held all the plugins, scripts, images, and files, but it’s not active anymore. Because neither GIMP nor the plugins are made by one developer, there isn’t a website that you can go to find a list with links. This is where it starts to get more tricky. So while you might find GIMP to be somewhat basic at first, once you start adding plugins and scripts you’ll see that it really has a lot to offer. Well, GIMP has scripts to automate processes and save you time and effort. You’ve probably heard of Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets, both of which are scripts. Since we are already talking about expanding the capabilities of software, scripts are another essential add-on to be aware of. As a result, the software gets more powerful and gains more capabilities.Ĭommercial software has plugins, too ( Photoshop, for example). It can be a filter, a tool, or a library that isn’t included in the original source code. What are plugins?Ī plugin is an add-on that gives more functions to a program. Here’s an introductory guide to get you started.

So you might need some time to get used to it. That’s why everybody keeps telling you GIMP is amazing because it’s “open source.” On the other hand, GIMP is not as user-friendly as other programs. Instead, an open-source program can be used, modified, and distributed by anyone. You have to pay a license to use such a program, and you can’t change it in any way. In commercial software, this code is protected by copyright. When a developer builds software, they write lines of text in a specific programming language. Hopefully, this article can save you some time and turn you into an avid GIMP user, as well. But now I actually prefer GIMP to Photoshop for certain edits. My first few attempts to use GIMP were quite off-putting, and when I tried to install a plugin I ended up completely frustrated. Have you heard all about how GIMP is free and open-source, but you’ve struggled to embrace the program? Well, I was like that at first that’s why I decided to make this guide on installing GIMP plugins from one non-techie to another.

Gimp mac user guide