Create Custom Logo With Gimp Image Editor

Gimp is an acronym for "Gnu Image Manipulation Program." It can re-size/scale, convert, manipulate, edit, and create images in just about any format or file extension you see on the web. as an experiment in my image editing class I used Gimp instead of the course required Macromedia Fireworks ® program. It worked. I got a "B+" in the project but failed to get the A I was shooting for only because of time constraints, not due to the program's lack of tools to do litterally everything the class required.

This program is only available for Linux, but most live CDs ship with the ISO image and will run right "out of the box." Canonical, the developers of the Ubuntu project have stated they will no longer ship Gimp with their new releases of the distribution. Anything 9.1 and earlier will have it though.

When I say this program can do everything, I mean everything. I have made animated .gif, transparant .png, and high art gallery quality .jpg (Jpeg) images with it.

The menu system is fairly simple for this program. to create a logo, you select the "file > create > logos >"

You can then choose from a long list of "Script Fu" extensions. These are all free, like the program itself. Let's for example choose "3D outline." You will then be given a pop-up window that is a configuration form. Below is a screen-shot of the window and it's option. You can see the options I've chosen there.

You can then view the work you've done. I've just created a custom band logo for my band! I won't keep it though. This was only a quick example. Once you've done this, it is your own copyright work. You have created the image, not edited an image from someone else.

Now click the "file" menu, then "Save as." It's that easy. If you type in the file name logo.png or anything other than a .xfc extension it will give you a simple dialog. If you select the defaults, it will turn out fine. The below is the result of the configuration from the screen-shot above. Play with it, make something new and exciting. Good luck.