I have this Amazon.com gift card and I intend on buying a book for beginning and intermediate GIMP users. In looking for such a manual I was surprised at the number of books out there. I'm looking for one that will teach me the basics as well as tutorials on technique. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The book by Arkanna Peck comes highly recommended.

Thanks 2-ton, I'll check that out.

Great book, but was written for versions 2.4 to 2.6 and I'm using 2.8. Not sure how the different versions have changed. I have no experience with previous versions.

I have used both 2.4 an 2.6 and currently use 2.8. I don't think there is a lot of difference on how things work, but of course, each version has new things that won't be in the book.

Thanks again.

I pirchased the "Gimp Bible" by Jason Van Gumster and Robert Shimonski, It takes you through all the tools and filters explaining the various settings, also has a companion website so you can view image examples online.

Although it doesn't really have any tutorials it an excellent book for explaining how gimp works and I often find myself refering to it.

I would recommend reading 2nd edition of "The Artist's Guide to GIMP Effects: Creative Techniques for Photographers, Artists, and Designers" by Michael J. Hammel.
It's been out for couple of months, covers 2.8 version of GIMP.

I read A.Pecks book years ago and then I read Michael's 1st edition. These two books are equally good but I liked Michael's better.
I believe Odinbc has got 2nd edition, he can tell you more.

Michael Hammel was a regular contributor to Linux Format magazine and released several of his GIMP tutorials as PDFs -- these examples will give you an idea as to the quality of his writing skills (which, for what it's worth, I consider to be very good), and you just might learn something as well .

You might also considering saving your money for other pursuits* (such as making a donation to the GIMP project) and focusing on many of the free online options for learning to use GIMP on your own. There are several online tutorials -- both video and textual -- as well as the original Grokking the GIMP, which is a bit outdated with regard to the GIMP interface but the image manipulation techniques presented are still valid.

You could even reconcile yourself to learning from, and asking questions of, the members of the many GIMP users forums such as this one.


* I am a great fan of "dead tree" books (some might say I am a voracious reader), and am certainly not opposed to supporting authors who write about GIMP. Nonetheless, I personally prefer to learn about computer things while sitting in front of a computer.

I second Saulgoode suggestion, the Michael Hammel tutorial are a good complement to his book
(they could not be included for a different C ) that is also the most updated

But i believe video may be often more useful because may clear in seconds what will need long written explication and several illustrations, and even then would remain less clear

Maybe video may look less adapt for a present , but the first 100 episodes of MeetTheGimp http://blog.meetthegimp.org/ are available on a licit torrent , licit but also huge about 20GB
(btw there is also another pack with episodes from 101 to 150 )

But that 20GB may become 5 dvd wrapped in a nice box ...just a idea
It will cost much less but also will require much more of your time ... if nicely packed may be a more unique Gift , the gift of something that you could not buy in a shop

I chose 'GIMP Bible'. After reading a few pages I realize that I need to learn more of the basics and I've already learned a great deal just in the first few pages I've read.

I have GIMP Bible and The Artist's Guide to Gimp, both are excellent. In your case, The Artist's Guide to Gimp should be your first choice and then Gimp Bible. Both books are filled with knowledge.

The problem is that if you buy a gimp book it will be out of date before you open the cover or as soon as the next version comes out. For me, gimp was easy to learn, there is ample help available online. What's hard is keeping up with the continuous influx of filters, extensions, and plugins.