----- Forwarded message from Nathan Carl Summers -----

This is the the Call for Answers for the "clean room" reimplementation of the GIMP User FAQ. Please send rock@gimp.org a message stating your intent to write an answer, and CC it to the lists so that no one else takes that question. If I do not recieve an answer within three days, I will open that question up again.

Once all the questions are answered, I will send a final draft out for comments. The final version of the FAQ will be placed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence.

Soon thereafter we will start with the Call for Questions for the Developer FAQ.

I must reiterate that copying from the current GIMP FAQ's is simply not acceptable. Such submissions will be rejected.

If English is not your first language, don't feel that you can't take part. Any grammar mistakes will be lovingly corrected, so even if your English is not perfect, you can still contribute significantly.

FAQ entries should be written with respect to 1.2.x, but should also contain any significant changes in 1.3.x. If you don't use 1.3.x, it is not neccessary to mention differences in 1.3.x -- they will be added by the GIMP web team.

Please do not assume that all readers of this document will be Linux users -- we want to treat users of all supported operating systems equally, to the extent that our limited resources are capible of supporting.

Here is the list of questions:

I. About the GIMP.

1. What is the GIMP? 2. What does GIMP stand for?
3. What features does it have?
3a. What limitations does GIMP have? How many layers, channels, etc. can GIMP handle?
4. How close in functionality to PhotoShop is the gimp? 4a. Does it support CMYK?
b. 16-bit per channel images?
c. Floating-point channels?
d. Does GIMP provide a "gamut warning" like Photoshop? 5. What are the minimum system requirements? 5a. What operating systems is it available for? 6. Where can I get it?
6a. There are some binary versions on the GIMP website. Should I download them or build GIMP myself?
6b. Where can I get non-official gimp packages for foo? 7. What version should I get?
8. What documentation is available? 8a. Where can I find some "good" GIMP tutorials? 9. Is there a GIMP mailing list?
10. How about an IRC channel?
11. Where can I find other GIMP stuff? 12. What books on the gimp are recommended? Beginner and intermediate level books would be great.
13. Is GIMP a true GNU program?
14. What is the history of GIMP?
15. What is the relationship between GNOME and GIMP? 16. What is that cute little animal's name? Who drew him? 17. Easter eggs are fun. Does GIMP have any?

II. Hardware Support

18. Does GIMP support digital cameras? 19. Does GIMP support scanners?
20. Does GIMP support drawing tablets?

III. Installing From Source

21. I just downloaded this GIMP soure thing, and now I don't know what to do! Help!
22. Ok, I'm trying to compile gimp, and this `./configure' program complains about missing or old libraries. What gives? 22a.But I know I have the right version of libfoo! Why can't configure find it?

IV. Basic Usage

23. How do layers work? 23a.What are layer "masks" and how do they work? 24. How do channels work?
25. Paths?
26. Selections?
26a.What is this "Quick Mask"?
27. How can I draw basic shapes (straight line, circle, square, etc.)? 28. How can I change the color I draw in? 29. How can I change the foreground color of some text to a pattern? 30. Is it possible to align text along a curve in an image? If so, how is it done?
31. What does "feathering" mean?
32. What does "anti-aliasing" mean?
33. What about "subsampling"?
34. How can I make what I have selected into a separate image? 35. How can I add what I have selected into a new image? 36. How can I make part of my image transparent? 36a.How can I make all of a certain color transparent? 37. How can I do gamma correction?

V. Animation

38. Can I create animations with GIMP? 38a.Where can I find online resources/tutorials on creating animations with GIMP?
39. What restrictions are imposed on animations created with GIMP?

VI. Plug-ins

40. What are plug-ins? 41. Where can I find new plug-ins?
41a.How can I add them to my GIMP?
42. EEEK! I downloaded the latest version of gimp, and my favorite plug-in has dissappeared!
43. Are Photoshop Filters/Plugins supported?

VII. Scripting

44. What is Script-Fu? 44a.How does the "Xtns/Script-Fu" menu differ from the "Script-Fu" pop-up menu?
45. Where can I learn more about it? 46. How can I find out the step-by-step process to make the logo effects in the "Xtns/Script-Fu/Logos" menu? I can see the resultant layer data, but have NO idea of how to do that myself. 47. How can I call a plug-in in Script-Fu? How about another script? 48. What in the world is a "Procedural Database Error?" 49. Is there a macro recorder that automagically creates Script-Fu scripts for me?

VIII. Customizing GIMP

50. How can I change keybindings? 51. How can I ensure that certain of the GIMP's windows, for instance the Levels or Crop and Resize Information windows, always open in the same position on screen?
52. What other customizations can I make to the interface? 53. Can I add my own brushes?
53a.Can I use brushes from other software such as Photo Shop or Paint Shop Pro with the GIMP?
54. Can I add my own patterns?
55. Can I give a copy of this gradient or palette I've created to a friend?
56. How does one set defaults in Gimp for e.g., output formats?

VIV. Coping with Fonts

57. My fonts are ugly. 58. What font formats does GIMP support? 59. Where can I get more fonts?
60. The font that the GIMP uses for its menu text is nappy. How can I change it?
61. I want to make my own font to use with gimp. What font editors are there that work with GIMP?

IX. File Formats

62. How can I save a graphic without losing anything? 63. What other formats does GIMP support? 63a.What versions of PhotoShop .PSD files are supported by the PhotoShop plug-in?
64. I can't save my file as a GIF or TIFF. 65. I can't save my file as some other file format. 66. How can I add support for the foo file format to GIMP?

X. International Issues

67. What languages does GIMP support? 68. Does GIMP support X Input Method? 69. Why doesn't text in my native language render correctly with the Text tool?
70. Does GIMP support bidirectional output?

XI. Batch Mode

71. How do I use batch mode? 72. At what point is it better to use The GIMP for batch processing over ImageMagick?
73. Do I have to use an X server to run GIMP even in batch mode? 74. How can I call a Script-Fu script using batch mode? 75. How can I connect my web server to GIMP like flamingtext.com?

XII. Performance and Troubleshooting

76. I'm trying to paint and nothing is happening - what did I do wrong? 77. GIMP is slow. How can I speed it up? 78. How can I see which bugs have been reported? 79. How can I report a bug I've found which hasn't been reported yet? 80. I'm using . What problems specific to it do you know about?
81. I'm using . What problems specific to it do you know about?

XIII. Credits

82. Who wrote GIMP? 83. Who has contributed to the FAQ?
84. Who wrote the included plug-ins? 85. Who wrote the Script-Fu scripts? 86. Who made the brushes and patterns included with the GIMP? 87. Who made the gradients and palettes incluced with the GIMP? 88. Who created the artwork?
89. Who is the GIMP FAQ team?
90. Who has contributed to the FAQ?

Rockwalrus