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GIMP for Beginners: Free Book Covers with Free Images (Udemy.com)

GIMP graphic design for beginners: Free GIMP on Windows/Mac/Linux: Free book/eBook covers for self-publishing!

4.3
240 reviews

Created by: Brian Jackson

Last updated January 2022

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What you will learn

  • Install the GIMP on Your PC
  • Use the GIMP to produce a basic book cover
  • Use advanced concepts to produce professional looking book covers
  • Use tips and suggestions to maximize our design and implemention

How it compares

Against the other 503 rated Udemy courses in Teaching & Academics on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.3 out of 5higher than 16% of them
  • Reviews240#345 of 504 by number of reviews
  • Length10.3 hourslonger than 85% of them
  • Last updatedJanuary 2022earlier than 63% of them

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Course Description

Learn the GIMP from the Ground Up In this course I'll show you how to use the Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), a free Photoshop like program, to produce professional looking, high quality graphics on a budget. The course uses the creation of book covers for self-publishing as the basis for demonstrating the use of the program. The techniques demonstrated can be used to create stunning graphics for any purpose including display on the Web. GIMP Easily Explained: Excellent course with detailed explanations on how to use GIMP to create fabulous book covers. Thank you! -Maria Oquendo This course provides material suitable for the absolute beginner and includes information on how to install all required tools and resources. It then goes on to show you how to use those components to produce unique, professional looking, and high quality graphics suitable for use as book covers for self-publishing. The course includes information on graphic composition that can be used to cause the most important elements of your image stand out. Note: I demonstrate the use of the GIMP on a PC running Microsoft Windows 7. If you're a Linux or Mac user, the GIMP is also available to you, and information in this course beyond installation is fully applicable. Sell More of Anything with Professional Looking Graphics Though you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, the truth is that most people do exactly that. Why not produce the best impression you can by displaying stunning graphics mixed with text. Whether you're selling books or some other product, graphics that can capture the customer's attention will give you a leg up in differentiating yourself from your competition. This Course Includes Everything You Need to Know to Become Proficient with the GIMP This course includes 29 lectures, over two hours of material, divided into the following major categories of information: Installing, staring, and stopping the GIMPGIMP window layoutCreating a simple book coverWorking with layers and selectionsLoading fonts and using text effectsBuying and manipulating inexpensive imagesCreating colored boxesUsing layer masksStroking a pathPutting it all togetherLearn to Create Stunning Book Covers and More Why focus on book covers? The course benefits from having a specific focus and I'm the most familiar with using the GIMP to create book covers. Besides, you only need to know the fundamentals of using the GIMP to produce book covers. Don't worry, you can still create amazing images for the Web and beyond using the basics of the GIMP. A Great Cover Course Bite sized lessons that are clear and concise on how to use The GIMP to create ebook covers for the KINDLE. Very easy to follow. -Bronwyn Wilson This course uses a combination of presentation slides and screen capture to show you how to use the GIMP to produce book covers specifically. Expect to spend several days to weeks digesting all the information provided in this course. Start Today! Silly as it may seem, your book cover is the first characteristic of your book that is likely to distinguish you from the crowd. Why not spend some time learning how to produce a quality, professional looking book cover for your self-published work using free tools and inexpensive professional quality images?
I'll see you in the classroom,---Brian Who this course is for:
Anyone seeking an introduction on how to produce high quality graphics using the GIMPSelf-published authors needing to produce professional looking, high quality book covers on a budget
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 10.3h

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Instructor Details

Brian Jackson

I was born the middle of the last century in Los Angeles, California. After moving for a time to the Silicon Valley, I graduated from Humboldt State University amid the redwoods of Northern California.
Two weeks after graduation I was working as a computer systems programmer for Lockheed Missiles and Space (LMSC) back in the Silicon Valley. Two months after that and I was married as I have been happy ever since (for 40 years).
After 14 years at Lockheed I moved from working on IBM mainframes to using PCs running the Unix operating system and encountered a thing called the Internet. Cisco Systems seemed to be the right place to work, so I joined the company as their 650th employee. Eleven years later Cisco had grown to over 20,000 employees.
I retired at the age of 48 and instantly became bored!
Throughout my professional career I'd always enjoyed both writing and providing technical training. So, I attended creative writing classes at my local junior college and began to write.
I managed to write and self-publish a handful of books, but things didn't take off until my wife, Melanie Jackson, an established author with a New York company, left traditional publishing to join me in self-publishing.
In 10 years, from 2010 to now, Melanie and I have made half-a-million dollars self-publishing well over 100 books. I also managed to record a pair of audiobooks for Amazon and Audible sale.
By 2014, our rapid rise to Kindle fame had already dwindled. I decided to p

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Reviews

4.3

240 ratings on Udemy

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By Shelena Muller on 9/3/2020

Great course for self-published authors and anyone interested in cover design. Very informative. Thanks!

By Craig Mazur on 3/5/2020

Out of the box, GIMP is not very user friendly or intuitive. This course got me over than hump.

By Valda Copeland on 11/7/2019

So far, so good. The version of GIMP I downloaded was the newer 2.10 so the short video on changing preferences was a great addition. I want to make my own book covers, so hoping I can find everything I'm looking for here. Thanks!

By Maitland on 10/12/2019

Several hours it took to convey the basic functions could've been taught in 1/10th of the time. He's good at image editing, but the same can't be said of his video editing skills. Only about a fourth of the way in and I couldn't take anymore. I hit the speed-up option to end it.

By Bernadette Waugh on 9/27/2019

Great pace in going through every step of the way. Other instructors skip over steps - not taking into the mind of a beginner. NOT with this instructor! He would make an Awesome school teacher! Where was he when I was going to school. lol

By Tim on 7/12/2019

I've tried to figure out the GIMP on my own several times over the years, using the documentation and/or YouTube videos. Occasionally, I'd gain a bit of insight but always became frustrated and moved on to something else. In this course, Brian Jackson goes step-by-step and explains what he's doing and why. For the first time, I feel that I am finally going to conquer the GIMP and I could not be more pleased. Thank you for this excellent course, Brian.
...Sincerely.

By Larry Catlin on 3/23/2019

Learning lots of stuff about the Gimp

By Sharee Wanner on 11/16/2018

It's very easy to understand and very detailed in the explanation.

By Carmen Barber on 11/13/2018

I love how the instructor teaches one concept at a time, but shows other techniques while doing it. This gives you "previews" at things to come, reminds you of what you've already learned, but he doesn't make these things a big deal so they don't detract from the concept being taught. I'm enjoying this course very much.

By Joel Smallwood on 9/15/2018

This was a pretty good course. The instructor is engaging and quite responsive to comments and questions.
It comes with all of the pros and cons of a course that teaches you a tool with a specific purpose. In this case, Gimp to Create Book Covers. The Pros are that it is focused and practical. You get to see many real-world examples of the usage of Gimp. In particular, by the time you finish the course, the use of layers in your images become second nature.
The Cons of this approach, of course, is that many features of Gimp are not explored. I think the instructor does have a more generic Gimp course, so perhaps other features are covered there. But it gave me what I needed. I am actually not quite making book covers, but what I need falls in the basic feature set.
One more thing. The course is pretty short. The core is probably just a few hours, and the rest is a lot of practical examples.

By Gus Van Auden on 9/8/2018

Because this course is so easy to understand and follow.

By Christine Myers on 8/15/2018

It was a little less complex than I wanted but I did learn some things I needed.

Showing 12 of 129 reviews

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Overall Score : 86 / 100

GIMP for Beginners: Free Book Covers with Free Images
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  • Video Duration: icon 10.3h
  • Price: $19.99
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon January 2022
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
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