29 Jan 2010 03:13 AM, by devvv (Bernhard Stockmann)

What is your vision of an optimal GIMP community website?

We're dedicated to GIMP since many years now! Currently we're planning some major updates on gimpusers.com! We don't make a normal poll on this but we want to get your comments and opinions for an optimal community site/GIMP portal in the comments of the news article.

In general: What do you think a GIMP site like gimpusers.com must have to be a an even better user portal for GIMP? Does "optimal" mean that it is a mostly simple site covering news and exclusive high quality tutorials or are there any other things that are important to you? Maybe features that the community gets closer together? What could that be? Try to think without any limits, also regardless of other websites. Or are there websites you like that have cool features that make sense for a big community site? Please post it ;)

Of course we're also interested in what you do not like, or what you don't want to see on a GIMP site. At the moment we don't want to discuss (visual) design of a website. We're more interested in functionality or features you like.

We are looking forward to you comments!

This article is licensed under the following license: Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Austria

Comments

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http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 03:33:34 AM CET Coche (Jose), 29 Jan 2010 03:33 AM

I think gimpusers is really cool the way it is, but I think it can grab some ideas from blendernation like posting examples of GIMP usage in the industry, works from GIMPers. Keep the great work guys, gimpusers is already a really great community site!!
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 04:05:47 AM CET bimal, 29 Jan 2010 04:05 AM

This are some changes:
1. Change current design. Make it looks like more closer look to GIMP.ORG (dark background etc.)
2.Add sections like Plugins, Brushes etc..
3. Current forum is very basic level. Use PHPBB or like this forum software and customize theme to match site.

That what I think now.. Will post more..
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 04:11:18 AM CET mahvin, 29 Jan 2010 04:11 AM

I'd like to see a mix of several things, including some of things Jose mentioned (GIMP usage in the industry). A semi-gallery for artists to display their finished works (not like DeviantArt, more like taking submissions and letting the users vote on the best one). Implement taking tutorial requests from users and allow those willing to join the tutorial brigade, make them. The big thing is, there is so much talent out there, it would be nice to give the new GIMP users, like myself, more exposure to how more experienced users benefit from it.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 04:53:48 AM CET Shaun, 29 Jan 2010 04:53 AM

I would like to see more for the beginner. there always things that all of us can learn from others. I would like to see more tutorials on the many facets of Gimp from people who use it for there own purposes. I am a big fan of Gimp and wish I knew much more. Thanks for the great site and allowing us to give our two cents.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 05:00:10 AM CET Kota W, 29 Jan 2010 05:00 AM

As mentioned before, I think it would be very cool if this site had a similar structure to Blendernation. However, such a site is always a hassle to maintain...
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 05:39:54 AM CET e.m.fields, 29 Jan 2010 05:39 AM

This site is *TOO BUSY*.
I love the gimp community but the junk at the top bar makes me leave quickly every time.

The ideal site:
1. Takes questions from the users
2. Finds an answer
3. Writes up a clear and well-written article about this.
4. Rinse and repeat.

Forums are INEFFICIENT... it's a bunch of people who don't have a clue shooting in the dark ... and when someone does find a solution, there's another 50 people asking the same question because it's buried in 10,000 other threads of people shooting in the dark.

Ideal site? Start picking out the answers to the questions in your forums and put it into a wiki!

In good spirit, love to you all.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 04:04:12 PM CET Rich L, 29 Jan 2010 04:04 PM

Plain Vanilla please. Name at the top. Users work directly below. Index to one side. No water marks or other extraneous ... items under the information. Article taking up 70% of the space.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 06:05:08 PM CET luis, 29 Jan 2010 06:05 PM

please reorganized the whole site, and make it work right(currently the whole site is to the "left"... i myself feel confused with some many buttons and no order! It's needs some color. (i know you said no visual comments, but that the weak point in this site) and put a nice forum!
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 07:22:08 PM CET ursaminor, 29 Jan 2010 07:22 PM

I like to use my printer for saving articles so I could access info and other while I work. Is print page allowable?
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 29 Jan 2010 09:06:40 PM CET gsvolt, 29 Jan 2010 09:06 PM

Gimp is a fantastic tool. Palettes, Plugins, Patterns, Gradients, and more.

I think what the envato.com network does is something gimpusers can adopt albeit in a non-commercial way - eg: they have tutorial networks for say psd/etc. as well as marketplaces where assets are solidly sold.

I also think gimpusers.com will differentiate their site if they can simplify design related tasks - for example - anybody who's online these days knows about wordpress and running a blog of some sort - how many of them design their own graphic assets themselves? - I estimate a petty fraction. Reason: as there are many useful designs out there already. Consequence - Zero Personalization. SAD.

This is just one observation that comes to my mind. For developers gimp has scriptfu, how many creatives use it ? Again a fraction in my estimation. I hope these observations change, I hope gimpusers.com provides this change!

@gsvolt
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sat 30 Jan 2010 08:05:01 AM CET Fredz, 30 Jan 2010 08:05 AM

I've tried GIMP several times and I think that finally I get the layers thing. As a programmer, I looked at GIMP for a rare image touchup and found the tutorials lacking. This time around, the tutorials are better, but not all of them. Keeping track of the current version in the tutorials is also lacking. But, having said all of that, I now like and use GIMP a lot more and thinking in layers helps. So, please make sure that when a new version comes out, that the tutorials are working.

I'll be more interested in the fancier stuff as a grown into a GIMPER. Just remember that the first rule of rocket science is Keep It Simple.

And thanks for all your hard work and the very nice GIMP tool. Hooray!
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sat 30 Jan 2010 03:46:33 PM CET Jude, 30 Jan 2010 03:46 PM

I have have found GIMP hugely helpful just as it is. I tend to only use the Manual because I'm learning basics.So can't add any suggestions to an already excellent site!
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sat 30 Jan 2010 06:01:27 PM CET photocomix, 30 Jan 2010 06:01 PM

A space for video tutorial..images explain better then words

And if you like contributions make clear how to submit news, tutorial and what else
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sat 30 Jan 2010 10:17:46 PM CET geoff, 30 Jan 2010 10:17 PM

I like the site and find the tutorials very useful. I tend to agree with most of the comments made so far. I think removing or updating some of the tutorials for older versions of gimp would be a good idea. for example in the basics section there is a tutorial for whats new in gimp 2.45. I don't think thats required anymore.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sun 31 Jan 2010 04:53:52 AM CET Jeff Ding, 31 Jan 2010 04:53 AM

There should be video tutorials, this website should be better organized, add flash and javascript to the website to spice things up. There should be a plugin section, more tutorials, different versions of the GIMP (as in x64)and a chatroom.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Tue 02 Feb 2010 03:52:06 AM CET pcunite, 02 Feb 2010 03:52 AM

* Upgrade the forum software
* Upgrade the website theme
* Reward via praise those who post tutorials.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Tue 02 Feb 2010 04:14:13 PM CET boots, 02 Feb 2010 04:14 PM

More beginner Tutorials
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Tue 02 Feb 2010 05:32:37 PM CET Shiretoko, 02 Feb 2010 05:32 PM

BlenderArtists.org
BlenderNation.com
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Wed 03 Feb 2010 10:29:52 PM CET devvv, 03 Feb 2010 10:29 PM

thanks for all the suggestions! i appreciate every single comment on this topic ;)

reading all the comments here as well as on our german site it seems that there is a general wish for a specific show-your-gimp-images-gallery and for a resources section. secondary there is the wish for a "real" forum on gimpusers.com. I'm not sure about this because there are lots of other forums already out there?!

is it hard for you guys that some of the screenshot-images are in german language instead of english?

what I'm also thinking of is a kind of a system that helps users to make some kind of gfx tournaments or so. would you be interested in something like that... contests or something?

I'm also looking for something that gets users together. something else than a forum. ideas?
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Wed 03 Feb 2010 10:59:47 PM CET mahvin, 03 Feb 2010 10:59 PM

I love the idea of contests, along with a showcase gallery of winning entries. That would give us a sense of community and create friendships among members. I see so much talent on the internet and continually find myself in awe of what people can do with GIMP.

If not a forum, what else could there be? I mean, outside of a member GFX contest gallery, what could get us members together? Perhaps a members gallery that you can showcase members and their talents each month? GIMPer of the Month Gallery?

It would be really cool to get to know everyone in the GIMP community and learn interesting things about them. Certainly those who have no interest in sharing about themselves wouldn't be forced to do so, but on the other hand it would open the door for those who are interested. Just a thought.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Thu 04 Feb 2010 03:50:27 PM CET tlsmith1000, 04 Feb 2010 03:50 PM

I'd kinda like to be able to change my password.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Feb 2010 06:07:36 PM CET Shiretoko, 05 Feb 2010 06:07 PM

First thing this site needs is a new layout. The homepage feels cramped upon the first visit. The articles don't seem appealing due to the way they're presented (small picture besides every article can help), and the frequency of updates is very low (which can be solved by adding a prominent "Submit News" icon that sends an email to you). There is a huge amount of room for improvement in gimpusers.com.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sun 07 Feb 2010 03:30:24 AM CET pcunite, 07 Feb 2010 03:30 AM

devvv,
A GFx tournament sounds cool. I think the secret for GFx tutorials (which is the real thing that is going to drive traffic to this site and keep us here) is to make them easy to upload, browse, search and then rate. This means user accounts. A nice forum would truly be needed so collaboration could occur. If you want to get us together then make the hub about tutorials and/or final art. All of your spokes will be people creating and/or commenting on that. Then you have people who really stand out and you reward them as they might get hired for various work.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Mar 2010 08:27:42 PM CET GimpDummy, 05 Mar 2010 08:27 PM

Most people are going to know that you can do Free basic editing of Jpeg and Gif with a system known as "Paint."

It will slice millimetres off the height and width, reduce or enlarge the picture, add blank millimetres to height and width of picture allowing you to then paste other pictures side by side, allow you to rease bits of the picture and allow you to add text to the picture.

I am on my third day of Gimp for the purposes of
learning to fade an image/picture onto another and learning to blend a picture onto another.

I have been to the tutorial http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/users/manuals/gimp/gimp2.2.pdf and searched for fade and blend without any full, clear and simple definitions. Here is a question of mine that has gone unanswered for two days here:
http://www.gimpusers.com/forums/gimpusers-about/12423-How-do-I-fade-one-picture-onto-another.html#top

I've searched Google and I still can't find a simple PDF or video telling me how to do something that I should be able to do in two minutes once I know how!!!

Here is something I posted on another forum where I got a partial answer:

This works but I can't move the inserted image from where it positions itself which seems to be in top left hand cnr.:

#1:
* [File -> Open] -> select the background image.
* [File -> Open as Layers] -> select the second image. That should come up as a layer on to of the first image.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This also works but I also can't move the inserted image from where it positions itself which seems to be in top left hand cnr.:

#2:
* Open both as separate images.
* Select and copy part (or all) of one image, and [Edit -> Paste As -> New Layer] to bring it into a new layer on top of the first image.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I still haven't found anyway to shave some millimeters of width or height off picture yet using Gimp (although it is easy in "Paint".

Gimps guillotine just seems to be a tool to cut out everything that is not the shape you select

Quite often trying to shave some millimeters off width or height in Gimp reduces the image as a whole.

I am quite frustrated that what I thought would be primary needs of beginners are so hard to
get clear information or videos on.

I do have a couple of YouTube videos to look at but they are very fast moving and don't cover the issues I am looking for exclusively.

That is the key problem. There are bits of information everywhere, but nothing specific, clear and complete.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Mar 2010 08:30:53 PM CET GimpDummy, 05 Mar 2010 08:30 PM

I am on Windows XP version by the way.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Mar 2010 09:10:04 PM CET GimpDummy, 05 Mar 2010 09:10 PM

Here is an example of what drives me mad:

I read this:
http://docs.gimp.org/2.6/en/gimp-tool-blend.html

then go to my picture->Rclick it->Edit with Gimp->Left click the blend tool->left click an area on the image I want blended->bingo the whole image just goes the same black and white colour of the icon.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Mar 2010 09:20:04 PM CET GimpDummy, 05 Mar 2010 09:20 PM

Lets imagine I want to trim a centimetre off width and height of image. I click "Image" and I click "Tools" but see no explicit labels for tools for this most fundamental of tasks.
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Fri 05 Mar 2010 09:41:13 PM CET GimpDummy, 05 Mar 2010 09:41 PM

This is your page for "Basics":
http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials.php?cat=6

So where are the clear basic instructions for basic skills??

I mean Basics are basics aren't they or has the English language changed?
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2010-01-29/your-vision-of-a-optimal-gimp-portal.html Sat 06 Mar 2010 12:11:40 AM CET GimpDummy, 06 Mar 2010 12:11 AM

Here is another thing I have tried:
Open up my background image with Gimp.

Within that image I have gone to ->File->Open as layers->selected the top image-> saved it-> applied the eraser tool to it hoping to see the underneath image where I had erased but all I see is a white mark.

There must be a way to communicate GIMP skills easily.

How come all the video tutorials are on advanced skills, in another language, in another video format? and have to be downloaded rather than seen on Youtube?

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