I wanted Photoshop but was too tight fisted to buy it so have downloaded Gimp. I have no doubt that it is great and easy to use when you know what you are doing - I don't. I have 'mastered' a couple of easy tasks but that's about all.
Can someone recommend a little booklet/book that will give me help doing what I want to do and to show me what I could also do but didn't know about.
I know that there are 'Help' screens etc but a hard copy would be better for me to use.
It originally stood for general image manipulation program and then later GNU image manipulation program when it was incorporated into the GNU project (gnu is a Unix like operating system that Linux steams from)
A lot cheaper than the full Photoshop but with all the essential functions is Photoshop Elements, its around £70 and will do just about everything you are likely to want to do to your pics.
I recommend going to http://www.gimpedtutorials.com and checking out the gimp for beginners page. There are a number of lessons there that will get you started. Also, you can get a free ebook that teaches a bit more on gimp, and there are a few very low-cost books offered by the site. All in all it's a great resource for anyone looking to learn how to use gimp.