Re: RE: GIMP 2.0

Richard Ford wrote:
> This is my need as well.  For digi shots - to sometimes a quick
> crop/rotate/resize/etc sort of stuff.
> 
> GIMP is too complex - layers - jeez - don't want to go down that path. 
> My needs are mainly for small things - so I don't have to go through the
> process of using the graphics dept at work - which while good in
> results, is not good for my productivity at times.  I want it done NOW.
> I am sick of having to use win32 software.....
> 
> I have digi cams connection working fine in linux.  But now I need to
> find a replacement for all the free simple software that came with my
> camera.
> 
> I wish we could get MacOSX apps to work in linux, like they can get
> linux apps to work in MacOSX.  As most digi cams come with mac and
> windows software....  :-(
> 
> RF.

I understand people taking a quick look at the gimp and being 
intimidated, but for these simple operations the gimp does quite well.

For example, cropping: open the picture. The default tool is the 
rectangle selection. Select what you want, then select the crop tool- 4 
across, 1 down. Click the selection. A dialog pops up, with a button 
that says, 'From selection.' Click it, hit OK, and you're cropped.

Resizing is really simple, too: Right click->Image->Scale Image. 
Rotate's there, too: Right Click->Image->Transforms->Rotate.

If you're looking to batch convert a lot of pictures (pretty common with 
a digicam - I want to upload 640x480 pictures, not the 1600x1200 
originals), then the Imagemagick package's 'convert' utility is great.
convert -resize 640x480 original.jpg new.jpg

But those are just examples of using the more powerful software, not 
simpler software packages. For those, I've tried these recently:
Pixieplus - a browser and viewer for KDE. Also does rotations and other 
simple transformations. It's in debian-testing. Bad name, though.

Even simpler is kview - It has even fewer functions than MS Paint, but 
it's small and can do crops and rotations.

I'm sure some others have suggestions, too. I'd recommend spending just 
a little time with The Gimp, though - once you spend a bit of time the 
interface is quite powerful. I do mean a little time, too - this isn't 
vi I'm talking about.