GIMP 2.2 Review For Digital Photo Editing
GIMP 2.2 arrived at an interesting point in desktop photography. Digital cameras were becoming common, memory cards were getting larger, and home users were beginning to expect serious editing tools without paying professional publishing prices. For someone working on Windows or Ubuntu, the GNU Image Manipulation Program offered a remarkably capable route into layers, masks, selections and colour correction.
This review looks at GIMP 2.2 as a practical photo editor rather than as a general-purpose graphics package. It is powerful, flexible and free, yet its interface and printing workflow demand more patience than commercial rivals. Australian users will also need to consider local software pricing, modest broadband allowances of the period and the realities of preparing images for both online albums and prints from a suburban photo lab.
| Area | GIMP 2.2 | Adobe Photoshop CS2 | Paint Shop Pro 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free and open source | Commercial licence | Commercial licence |
| Best platform fit | Linux, Windows, Unix-like systems | Windows and Mac OS X | Windows |
| Layer editing | Strong, with masks and blend modes | Excellent and highly polished | Strong and accessible |
| RAW workflow | Dependent on external tools | Better integrated | Useful, depending on camera support |
| Ease of learning | Steep at first | Steep but well documented | Relatively approachable |
| Print preparation | Capable, but fiddly | Mature professional workflow | Practical for home users |
| Ideal user | Curious, budget-conscious editor | Professional creative worker | Enthusiast seeking convenience |
A Free Editor With Serious Ambition
GIMP 2.2 does far more than crop holiday snapshots. It supports layers, alpha channels, paths, guides, channels, filters and a broad set of selection tools. Its core image-editing engine is strong enough for retouching, compositing and web graphics, while the open-source licence removes the purchase barrier that kept many home users away from advanced editing.
That freedom matters in Australia, where imported software prices could feel particularly steep after currency conversion, GST and local distributor mark-ups. A hobby photographer in Brisbane or Adelaide could download GIMP legally, install it on more than one compatible computer and avoid treating image editing as a major household expense. For students and Linux users, this was a substantial advantage rather than a philosophical footnote.
GIMP 2.2 also feels refreshingly transparent. It does not hide the structure of an image behind a simplified consumer interface. When a user wants to understand what a layer, mask or selection is doing, the relevant controls are visible. The application rewards curiosity, although it does not always reward impatience.
Interface And Everyday Handling
The first encounter can be disorienting. GIMP 2.2 uses separate windows for the image, toolbox and various dockable dialogues. On a large monitor this arrangement becomes manageable, but on a smaller CRT or early LCD panel the floating windows can cover the photograph. The interface feels more like a collection of workshop instruments than a single polished studio.
Once the layout is arranged, everyday navigation becomes much easier. The toolbox provides familiar tools for moving, cropping, rotating, scaling, painting, cloning and healing. Keyboard shortcuts speed up repeated operations, and the image window gives useful control over zoom and display. Users who spend an afternoon setting up docks and learning a few shortcuts will work far more quickly than those who rely entirely on menus.
The programme’s terminology is occasionally less friendly than it could be. A beginner may understand “brightness” immediately but hesitate over “levels”, “curves” or “alpha to selection”. Documentation and online tutorials help, though many assume a degree of graphics knowledge. Australian users relying on capped dial-up or early broadband connections might prefer printed guides or local computer magazines to downloading a large collection of tutorials.
Tools For Improving Digital Photos
For ordinary camera images, GIMP 2.2 provides the essential corrections. Cropping is straightforward, scaling is flexible, and rotation can rescue a slightly crooked horizon. The Levels and Curves tools offer meaningful control over contrast and tonal range, while colour balance and hue-saturation adjustments can correct a dull or overly warm image.
The Clone tool is useful for removing dust marks, stray objects and minor distractions. With a soft brush and a low opacity setting, it can produce convincing repairs. The Smudge and Blur tools are less elegant for delicate portrait work, but they remain serviceable for softening edges or preparing an image for the web. Sharpening filters need restraint; an over-sharpened photograph quickly develops hard halos around buildings, foliage and hair.
GIMP’s layer system is the foundation of its editing strength. An adjustment can be made on a duplicate layer, blended with the original and reduced in opacity without permanently altering the base image. Layer masks allow selective corrections, such as brightening a shaded face while preserving a bright Australian sky. This is slower to learn than a simple “fix photo” button, yet it gives the editor far more control.
The programme handles common JPEG, TIFF, PNG and GIF files well, along with several other formats. JPEG compression should be treated carefully, since repeatedly opening and saving a file can degrade detail. A sensible workflow is to retain an original copy, work in the native GIMP format while editing and export a final JPEG only when the image is ready for email, a website or printing.
Working With Colour And Print
Colour management is where GIMP 2.2 feels less mature than premium alternatives. The editor can make attractive images, but a user preparing a large print needs to understand the difference between what appears on screen and what emerges from an inkjet printer or minilab. Monitor calibration was already valuable in 2005, although affordable hardware and clear guidance were not always easy to find.
Australian photographers often moved between very different output paths: a home inkjet, a camera shop in a suburban shopping centre, or an online service that returned prints by post. The same file could look bright on a backlit monitor and subdued on matte paper. A small test print is a wise step before ordering a full set of enlargements, particularly for beach scenes, red outback earth and high-contrast sunlight.
GIMP includes practical print controls, but they are not especially welcoming. Paper size, orientation, margins and image placement require attention, and the dialogue does not provide the reassuring automation found in some commercial packages. Users may need to check the printer driver separately, confirm the correct paper profile where available and avoid letting both the application and the driver alter colour.
For screen work, the situation is simpler. The editor is excellent for resizing photographs for a personal site, reducing file size and adding modest sharpening after resampling. This was useful when Australian web users were still working around limited monthly download quotas and slow uploads. A carefully prepared 800-pixel image could be much more practical than an uncompressed camera original.
RAW Files And Camera Workflows
GIMP 2.2 is less convincing as a complete digital darkroom. Many early digital cameras recorded JPEG files, so this limitation was not immediately serious for every household. Enthusiasts using cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus or Pentax, however, increasingly wanted the flexibility of RAW capture, especially when dealing with difficult exposure or mixed lighting.
The usual solution was to convert RAW files with a separate utility and then open the resulting TIFF or another supported format in GIMP. This adds an extra step, and it means the quality of the final result depends on the converter as well as the editor. GIMP can then perform detailed retouching and compositing, but it does not provide the smooth, integrated camera-to-print workflow that specialist applications were beginning to offer.
For photographers who spend weekends around the Great Ocean Road, the Dandenong Ranges or the beaches north of Sydney, this distinction matters. High-contrast scenes can contain deep shadows and bright cloud or water, making RAW adjustment valuable. GIMP remains useful after conversion, but a serious photographer should regard it as the editing room rather than the whole photographic pipeline.
File organisation is another area where the application leaves work to the user. It does not function as a photo catalogue with ratings, keywords and searchable albums. Folders, sensible filenames and regular backups are essential. A simple structure organised by year, event and location is more reliable than relying on memory after several thousand family and travel photographs accumulate.
Comparing The Alternatives
Photoshop CS2 remains the more polished professional option. Its interface is more cohesive, its colour and print features are better integrated, and its documentation and commercial support are extensive. Users who regularly exchange layered files with design studios or advertising agencies will find Photoshop’s compatibility persuasive. An Australian freelancer working with clients in Melbourne or Sydney may also encounter PSD files as part of an established production workflow.
That convenience came at a price. Commercial Adobe software could represent a substantial purchase for a student, small business or casual photographer. Readers comparing costs may find the broader history of Adobe alternatives useful, particularly when deciding whether a familiar commercial workflow justifies its licence expense. GIMP’s lack of a purchase price changes the calculation, even when time spent learning it is counted honestly.
Paint Shop Pro 9 is arguably easier for a Windows enthusiast who wants a conventional interface and a wide range of practical corrections. It provides strong layer support and a less fragmented workspace, while still costing considerably less than Photoshop. Its weakness is platform limitation, which makes it less appealing to users who have moved to Ubuntu or another Unix-like desktop.
GIMP’s real competitor is often not another editor but the user’s willingness to learn. Someone who wants automatic red-eye removal, quick printing and a guided slideshow may be happier with a consumer photo package. Someone who wants to understand masks, preserve editable layers and experiment with image construction will discover more room to grow in GIMP.
Verdict For Home And Enthusiast Users
GIMP 2.2 is a capable digital photo editor with a serious technical core. Its strongest features are the layer and mask system, extensive selection tools, flexible tonal adjustments and complete freedom from licence fees. It can produce excellent results for web publishing, family archives, creative composites and many forms of print preparation.
Its weaknesses are equally clear. The multi-window interface takes time to settle, colour management is not as smooth as it should be, RAW support depends on outside software and printing requires careful manual setup. Beginners looking for a single-button solution may find the programme demanding, particularly when a quick edit is needed before heading to the local chemist or camera shop.
For an Australian home user in the mid-2000s, GIMP 2.2 makes strong economic sense. It works well on modest hardware, suits Windows and Linux households, and offers enough depth to remain useful after the first novelty of free software wears off. The best results come from a measured workflow: preserve the original, edit in layers, save an editable master, check colour with a test print and export only at the final stage.
GIMP 2.2 is therefore recommended for patient photographers, students, Linux users and technically curious computer owners. It is less suitable for people who value instant results above control. The programme may not make photo editing effortless, but it makes advanced editing accessible, and that remains its most important achievement.