I can follow a guide I find online as well as anybody, but when it comes to creating anything truly original…I’m kind of lost.

Considering how much (or little as the case may be) time I spend working with graphics and my skill level there’s no way I’ll spend hundreds of dollars on expensive software like the Adobe Photoshop series.

The true graphic pros say Photoshop is the best there is and I have no reason not to believe them. To me that still doesn’t justify spending hundreds of dollars. Especially not if I can find cheaper graphic editing tools that do the job I need them to do.

Using the best tools on the market would be nice, but for me if there’s a good tool that’s free I’ll definitely go for it.

The important thing about such a tool is that it’s fairly well supported. That means if there’s something I want to do I need to be able to find a good guide ASAP. There is no doubt that most graphic creation guides you find online are made for Photoshop. I don’t use Photoshop, but from time to time I can actually use those guides, many of the terms are after all the same no matter what graphic editing tool you use.

My graphic needs are pretty limited, which is probably one of the reasons I don’t fuss too much about using high end tools. I need to create the occasional button or header for my websites. That’s about it. Definitely not worth forking out $6-$700 for.

So, what do I use?

I’m glad you finally got around to asking. I use the Gimp! Actually, it’s just called Gimp, but I like calling it the Gimp.

The Gimp is a free graphic editing tool that is available at Gimp.org. It isn’t as good as Photoshop if you ask the pros, but for someone of my level of expertise I wouldn’t know the difference. Gimp is short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, it’s open source and therefore entirely free.

If you have similar graphic editing needs to mine Gimp is all you’ll ever need.

What I love about is that it has a well supported community. If there’s something you need to create with all you need to do is a simple Google search containing the action you need to perform + the word Gimp. I promise you will get plenty of results. I definitely haven’t had any issues whatsoever finding tutorials.