I havent even opened it yet...any pointers ?

If you're serious get photoshop, GIMP is slow and has a goofy user interface.

Okay, is there a way i can get photoshop free?

If you torrent it.

Gimp is alright, once you get used to it.

I suggest online tutorials.

No, don't listen to Littodude, torrenting a program is bad and I will come and hurt you.

Warez is bad.

On-topic: http://www.gimphelp.org/ is a pretty good site, that should help you get started.

The "odd" user interface may take some getting used to, but you can become proficient in it just as you can with photoshop.

If you're serious about art/photography, I'd recommend buying photoshop.

If you aren't so serious, GIMP is sufficient for your needs, and free to boot.

And if you find the interface is too hard, try Paint.NET,
http://paint.net/.

Hope I helped!

Torrents are bad. They give you tons of Trojans don't use them. Plus they are illegal (except a few indie bands and lunix stuff).

Google "Gimp Tutorials" and watch some of them.

Just mess around with Gimp for a few hours, mess around with every option you can find, and discover exactly what it does, and how they all work.

That is the best way to learn. Then when you want to do something specific google it.

Gimp is free and photoshop isnt. Nuff said really.

But for a pointer.... I recommend making ALL your new windows in transparency then just color it in. The white gets in my way sometimes if i'm using more than 1 layer.

...okay, all people this helped, and i dont trust google for my tutorial needs, i have redtube...errr youtube xD

to be honest, google has been my main source for tutorials, youtube doesn't have the vast "wide web" that google can reach.

one google search can find at least 5 good sites on the first page, if your interested in making signatures then search "GIMP sig tutorials" if avatars are your thing, search "GIMP Avatar tutorials" and so on and so forth. also, expirement, once you do a tutorial, find ways to modify it, and make something that hasn't been seen before!

all in all, practice makes perfect, you're not going to learn all the features of the program in one night, and you're not going to be an expert in graphics overnight.

a good thing about GIMP though, is that it's similar to Photoshop, while the paths to certain features may be different, through some searching in the program, I'm sure you can find the GIMP version of a Photoshop filter, morph, etc.

good luck!
~stups~