Carl Abla writes in:
I recently downloaded a copy of Gimp. Recently I heard about “plug ins” and your site. I am not sure what to do with the plugs in, how to save them, what folder to save them in. etc. How to set up your folders to store or save these plug ins etc? I really want to make the best of this and learn how to use this program to do something wonderful with my images and possible do some design work for websites etc.
And is it possible to use plug ins that are written for Photoshop in Gimp as well? How would I set this up?
Plugins are bits of code that work with GIMP to add to the functionality. They may offer several exciting ways to extend the utility of the program. Plugins can be saved by unzipping the downloaded folder (if it is in a .zip format), and placing them in x:\Document and Settings\<username>\.gimp-<version>\plug-ins\, where ‘x’ is the drive of Windows XP installation (username and version are self-explanatory). If you have GIMP open, exit and open it again, and the plugin will be activated.
Some of the plugins are actually scripts, ending with a .scm extension. In such cases, drop them to x:\Document and Settings\<username>\.gimp-<version>\scripts\ instead.
GIMP is open-source, and is hence flexible in application. Many of the Photoshop plugins work with GIMP (on Windows only, obviously), and it is a matter of trial-and-error. The same procedure applies here too.
Update: I decided to extend this to explain installing brushes and gradients too.
Brushes and gradients too are installed similarly – extract and drop the brushes into x:\Document and Settings\<username>\.gimp-<version>\brushes\ and gradients into x:\Document and Settings\<username>\.gimp-<version>\gradients\