5 Great GIMP Extensions for Graphic Designers
GIMP extensions for graphic designers are dynamic and versatile. The open source style allows users to create extensions that provide further flexibility and power for the user. Below you will find 5 great graphic designer GIMP extensions.
FX Foundry
FX Foundry is a super pack of tools. There are over 100 different options to choose from when editing an image. This super powered extension will enable the graphic designer to go far beyond the standard options.
This extension takes the gimp out of GIMP. The tools are separated into menu categories such as ‘Animation’, ‘Layer Effects’, and ‘Shapes’. Each category itself holds intuitive descriptions to provide the user with the correct tool for the job. Sitepoint.com rates FX Foundry as the number 1 for graphic designer extension.
Save for Web
A necessity for the blogger, freelancer, or any designer interacting with images for the internet. This little tool separated from the FX Foundry extension because of its strength and popularity. The script provides a balance between file size with the image quality in just the right combination.
When you are ready to save, Save for Web can adjust quality and smoothing on a scale of 0 to 100. The extension also provides the user with options to save the file as a JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Save for Web is GIMP’s in-house compression software and an essential graphic designer extension.
GAP (GIMP Animation Package)
GAP is the go to extension for animation. It delivers high quality along with a smooth finish. Both the novice and advanced user will find what they are looking for with this versatile extension. This graphic designer extension offers the possibility of working with video files and will create a ‘Video’ menu in GIMP.
GAP has four sections to perfect the animation process. These are: ‘source and handling’, ‘modifiers’, ‘timeline points’, and ‘time span, preview and positioning’. There is also a preview panel to show you what each option is doing as you do it.
GIMP offers a tutorial of this extension here.
BIMP (Batch Image Manipulation Plugin)
GIMP can be a little irritating when designing multiple images at once. That is where BIMP comes in. The ability to easily manipulate multiple images puts BIMP on this list. It offers the user options to resize, rename, rotate, watermark, and crop images in a simple format. The edited images preview in a side panel and the image can expand to view the edits up close. More editing options can be added to provide further versatility to the extension, making this the most popular batch extension for graphic designers.
G’MIC (GREYC’s Magic for Image Computing)
G’MIC is an image processing framework that will apply various filters to your image. It can preview each filter before you select it, much like many photo editing apps for smartphones. Multiple layer inputs and outputs are managed simultaneously. Graphic designers have the option to update their filter lists directly from the internet. This is because G’MIC allows users to create custom filters in an open-sourced environment using the G’MIC language. It is a dynamic graphic designer extension that is quite large in comparison to other extensions, but also invaluable to the image computing process.
Conclusion
After you download these extensions, the possibilities for graphic design become endless. Whether you’re looking to create images, video, or are just plain curious what GIMP can do, these 5 GIMP extensions for graphic designers will blow your mind.
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