PC World - USA (2020-01)

JANUARY 2020 PCWorld 127

TIP 1: READ THE TUTORIALS
Who has time to read the tutorials?
Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, or Corel Paint
users will end up saving some time if they
do, because GIMP’s menus are very
different. There are over a dozen tutorials on
the GIMP Tutorials page (go.pcworld.com/
gtut) on the GIMP.org website. While I
advise you to review them all, these two
(including one from another site) will get you
started:

• The Basics Tutorial from GIMP.org (go.
  pcworld.com/bscs)


• GIMP Tutorials from How to GIMP (go.
  pcworld.com/h2gm)

TIP 2: REASSIGN THE
SHORTCUT KEYS
If Photoshop and its keyboard
shortcuts are part of your muscle
memory, you can reassign the GIMP
shortcut keys to match Photoshop’s.
To remap your keyboard shortcuts in
GIMP, select Edit > Keyboard
Shortcuts, and the Configure
Keyboard Shortcuts dialog window
opens. Follow the instructions
beside the lightbulb at the bottom of
the window, then click Save.
GIMP adds the new reassigned
shortcut to the correct GIMP menus,
so you can always see what they are.
Notice that some of the shortcut keys
are the same in both programs such

as Copy, Cut, Paste, etc.—a CUA (Common

User Access) standard that still applies.

TIPS 3 & 4: SELECTION AND

TRANSFORM TOOLS

Looking for the Pointer tool (that moves

objects) or the Hand tool (that moves the

image around inside the active window), like

in Photoshop? Sorry. There is no Hand tool

in GIMP, and don’t look for the Pointer/

Move tool in the Selection menus. The Move

tool is in Tools > Transform Tools > Move.

Use a Selection tool (Tools > Selection

Tools) to draw a circle, rectangle, or square;

or use the Free Select tool (Tools > Selection

Reassign GIMP

shortcut keys to

match Photoshop.