GIMPhelp  a guide for beginners    This is what I call a GIMPhelp thread. Its just something I made to help out any new people to the world of GFX and digital arts.    To start  When you first open GIMP it will be very confusing. Don't worry, this will all change in a while.       
Downloading   If you have already decided that gimp is what you want, but you can't find a download link, don't worry because we have one  
here. All you need to do is go here, press downloads, and then click on the very first download link. Simple, easy as pie, and don't forget to enjoy.     
know the buttons: http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=12003819    Opening up a canvas  If your going to make any piece of art your going to have to open a canvas. To do this just go to new on the GIMP menu bar and put in the size you want. Any size it really doesn¡¦t matter. Bare in mind though that the maximum signature size for the AE forums is 500x100. You don¡¦t always have to use something below that but its good to keep that in mind while making something    
Creating effects  Now you must be thinking cool but how do I do anything on it. There are hundreds of different things you can do.  You could use brushes or filters or C4D's(see below to find out what all three are)      
Filters  Filters are something to basically add an effect and maybe make your tag look better. There are a lot of them so try experimenting for awhile. To get to grips with what a lot of them do. I¡¦ve been making art for 3 months now and I¡¦m not sure I know all the filters either. Just take your time with this.   
 In particular some useful ones for beginners is filters>render. There are a couple of things there for example. Difference clouds or plasma. When you click on them you just choose the settings and a result will come up on your canvas. Simple enough eh.  

  The difference cloud filter is going to be used in a written tutorial that is below    
Brushing  Brushing will be a key thing for you when you first start using GIMP. You only start with a few brushes. And there not particularly good for beginners. So I recommend looking below in the resource section for any brushes your thinking of downloading.   
 To use this just go to the GIMP menu and click on the paintbrush icon. If you click on the box to the right of the word brush you can change the shape of the brush to any you like. You can set the opacity making them less prominent . or change the scale to make it a different size.    
 To save brushes so they come up on GIMP. Go to program files>GIMP 2.0>share>GIMP>2.0>brushes. Just put the brushes in that folder. Do not put any brushes in there own folder in that folder. They will not come up if you do that    
C4D  C4D is short for cinema 4D. What we use in GIMP are things that are created in this program. They are put into the image to make it look better or add flow etc. These are better used if you create a new layer. Then set it to screen, overlay or put the opacity down. This isn¡¦t really for people who have only just started.       
The tools  I¡¦m just going to mark down the ones which have been useful to me in the past: 
 Brushes:- detailed description above 
 Eraser tool- for erasing things. I think that this is pretty obvious XD 
 Blend tool- for using gradients. 
 Smudge tool- used to smudge parts of a piece of art. If used correctly it can make something look pretty nice. 
 Dodge/burn tool- dodge makes something lighter. Burn makes it darker. That¡¦s about it.    
Layers  Don't worry if your new and you dont understand the whole layers thing. I know I didn't when I started.   
 Layers can be made by going on the taskbar above the canvas you're using. Go to Layer>New Layer. This will bring up a box that should say "Create a New Layer". Put in whatever you want to name the layer (this is to distinguish which layer you are on, because if you have a lot of layers, you need to know where you are, and if you name it, it's a lot easier to find it), and look down. There is a height and width box, ignore that and leave it as it is. Now look down again, and there will be a section called "Layer Fill Type". This determines what the new layer will be set as, and how it will look. The first option, foreground color, will give you a new layer that is the color of your foreground color. To change this color, go back to the GIMP main menu. There will be two boxes, and the default colors will be black and white. The black box is the forground, the white box is the background color. To change these colors, double click them, and a new box will appear, then you can choose your new color. Now back to the Layers. The second option, background color, will give you a new layer filled with the color of your background color. The third option, white, will give you a new layer filled with white. The fourth option, and probably the most used, is transparency, which will give you a new layer that is invisible/transparent.  
 A useful way to check up on your layers is to do Ctrl+L, which will give you a box that lists all the different layers that you have, and will let you change the mode and opacity of the layer.     
Gradients  Gradients are colors. add them into your tags to make a color scheme or lower the brightness of the tag. Gradients work hand in hand with Layers. Without layers the gradient tool would be alot less effective. some good techniques for it is: to create a new layer fill it with a gradient(or a gradient map[colors>maps>gradient map]) and then set that layer to color at a lower opaciny. or set it to anything else you feel like. Maybe you could erase parts of it to make it look better. I don't know whatever floats your boat.    
 Gradients can drastically change the look of the tag. Could change to looking horrible. could make it completely awesome.      
Improvement  If you want to improve then there is two thing you have to do. This is experimenting and reading tutorials.     
Renders & stocks  A render is a picture without a background. These can be gotten from 
www.planetrenders.com and a stock is a picture with a background. When you put a render onto a picture. It will have the background of the pre-existing tag.    
saving an image  Now you've finished creating a tag. you need to save it. This is pretty simple. all you need to do is go to file>save as and save it in the folder you wish. Try and remember where you put it though. It can cause trouble if you can't find an image      
Uploading an Image  To upload an image go to:    
www.photobucket.com    create an account then go to your album. You can upload things onto the internet. You do this by going to the top of the screen. There will be 3 boxes. click browse on the top one. Find the image you want and then click open or hitthe enter key. then click upload. when you have done that you will be given 4 links. you want the direct link. copy that and when you want the actual image to show. just put [image][/image] around it.   
 so it will look something like this:
[image] http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/zenron_2007/anepicbattle.png[/image]
    and if I take off the code tag. It will look like this:      
     here is some other places you can upload from:     
ImageShack   TinyPic   GoCa Hosting by Althorne    Lessons in GIMP by Lightning is my name are below. please try these there really helpful      
Resource section     
     http://project-gimpbc.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured    that's all you really need for brushes. You will probably find that this guy converts a lot of brushes. Most of the ones on DeviantART are made by him. Ill give you a hwole load more anyway   
 renders- 
http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=13130156  www.planetrenders.net    http://www.jeffsdigital.com/   http://www.secretloft.com/   http://7-days.net/ps_brushes.php   http://www.short-things.gr/_brushes/brushes.html   http://eerie-silence.net/visitor.php?psbrushes   http://www.manstomper.com/yltra/goodies.htm   http://www.vanillaeyeliner.com/amnesia/brushes.php   http://www.seishido.biz/   http://www.aunexamor.net/brushes.php   http://spiffyhink.atspace.com/brushes/brushes.html   http://radioslut.org/visitor.php   http://spiffyhink.atspace.com/brushes/index.html   http://www.1greeneye.net/brushes/   http://84percent.seraphellic.net/   http://www.photoshopbrushes.com/brushes.htm   http://stylistic-division.com/   http://www.peamarte.it/02/download.htm   http://www.freephotoshop.com/html/free_brushes.html   http://www.nymphaea.org/brushes/  http://lightningismyname.deviantart.com/art/lordsoccer10-converted-brushes-66393402    
     
     http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z213/RecursosGFX/Stocks/  http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff179/MaroonGFX/Stocks/  http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r126/Quarentine3/Stocks/  http://gillesgonthier.com/Photos/insecta.html   http://www.insectimages.org/   http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/slidefile/   http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/   http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/   http://www.farmphoto.com/   http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/   http://www.linux.org.au/~leonb/flahs/page1.html   http://www.fotoimpact.ro/   http://www.ironorchid.com/clipart/   http://www.fourbees.com/fourbees/phoelm.asp   http://www.apostroph.net/freshpics/   http://pix.halal.dk/       
     
     http://www.c4d-renders.com/  www.deviantart.com  www.planetrender.net  http://www.optiktutorials.info/c4d_renders.php  http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x87/spyderRESOURCES/C4D%20Renders/   http://www.c4d-renders.com/component/option,com_easygallery/act,categories/cid,16/Itemid,41/limit,12/limitstart,0/      
     http://www.geocities.com/neofpo/gimpart.html   Flying penguins .xcf's This really taught me alot    Sneevil of evils .xcf's    http://www.mediafire.com/?eyhwvsxxznm    http://www.mediafire.com/?bzxyxztvv2p    http://www.mediafire.com/?ejy1d4n1np2    http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=13017110&mpage=1&key=?    Ultimate resource place:  http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/article/Resources-Index-13013.html    
     
     First sig tut  you need a background(im calling it bg from now on) go to filters>render>difference clouds. a box should come up. set it to what you like and press ok. If you go to colors. You can change the color there.    
 Next you need whats called a render. This is a picture without a bg. Go to. 
www.planetrenders.net and become a member(its free) when you are click on any picture you want. then click it to make it the "full sized image" it should have a white BG normally. save it to werever you like then open it with GIMP. It will have a grey chequered bg. If you copy that onto your thing. It wont show the chequered part. making it alot easier to work with. Then do whatever you want. add text or add some brushes( you have some already but others can be downloaded at 
www.deviantart.com ) or put some more filters in.     
Vader's Tutorials and Help - Vader   
Brush Tutorial - Download to BG - crazysk8er   
_Dep's Burn Tut - _Depression   
INFERNO Tut by _Dep - _Depression   
Beginners Gimp Tutorial - Dracologist1   
Very Advance Gimp Tutorial - TyberAlyx   
Splatter Tutorial - Runnin With Sizzorz   
Space Tutorials! - LightningIsMyName   
Great Ripple Effect - Cyseros Orb    
Background in 5 minutes Tutorial - LightningIsMyName   
LIMN's Tag and FX Tutorial - LightningIsMyName   
Fiery Background Tut - _Depression   
I finally found a Tut that gives a pro smudge job - Stex   
Background Tut - _Depression   
GIMP Tutorials - Learning GIMP from the begining - LightningIsMyName   
Loopy abstract tut - LightningIsMyName   
Using The Pentool/Pathtool - A big guide - LightningIsMyName   
Animation Tutorial - LightningIsMyName   
Firey tut - Fartix   
Flaming text tut - LightningIsMyName   
How to make GIMP brushes - Stex   
LightTheWay Tut - Cyseros Orb   
To find everything I lost - LightningIsMyName   
Tutorial on GIMP rendering - Firemoon   
Ice/Water effect tutorial - ShadowBlitz   
RainBolt: A RisingStars Tutorial - _Depression   
signature tut - Zenron the Great   
.:GIMPhelp:.-A guide for beginners - Zenron the Great   
easy glowing bg tut - sneevil_of_evil   
GIMP tut for renderless sig - wolfythegreat   
Icey background tut - Mo   
Full Signature Tutorial - DeathKnight2   
how to get mist - Wen Su the Tank    
Quick & Easy, Installing GIMP. (With Pictures.) - T@G   
Less used/Not used Helpful hints/tips - Cool Dragonz   
Luigi Tag Tut - ShadowSlash   
Kicking sprite tag tut - Tormenter   
zoomed spark displacement tut - Zenron the great   
Cloud/Fog tutorial - .Silver   
sasuke GIMPpressionist tut - Zenron the great   
Wavey tag (Or just a tag) tut - Trake   
WhySoSerious Tut - crump   
cloud C4D tut - Zenron the great   
Tornado tag tut - Trake   
mosaic grunge effect - Zenron the great   
not always as it seems tag tut - Zenron the great        
 www.GIMPtalk.com  
 http://tutorialblog.org/gimp-tutorials/      Im going to add more when I can be bothered    
    If you want to add anything on to this just tell me    By ~ZTG~zenron the great   
 people who have helped in any way(even if they don't know it XD- 
 LIMN(for the lessons) 
 Tyberalex-tut  
 CY's orb-tut 
 wolfythegreat-tut 
 dabbleh-tut 
 trip-tut 
 shadowslah-layers part 
 ultimation2.0-downloading part 
 Shadowblitz-told me some good tuts 
 sneevil of evil-.xcfs 
 crazysk8er-xcf's 
 mo-tut 
 Lady alora-tut 
 cool dragonz- uploading sites, tut site   
 If I've missed anyone plz tell me     
 any of the resource sites. whoever made them 
 and thats about it. I made the rest myself.