Here is a source for background images and the like:
http://www.sxc.hu/home
I’ve even downloaded very suitable desktop backgrounds from them.
And it’s free, my favorite price!
I wouldn’t be so quick to write off MS Paint:
http://blog.pduggan.net/PermaLink,guid,6ed3d1de-685a-4a07-a6c4-f5e512ae654c.aspx
I disagree with the post. Graphics design may be getting more software in it, but a vast majority of software development never has any graphics elements in it - the GUI is only a small part of the system. And for a majority of the GUIs, the design of them is either dictated by guidelines external to the software developer, or handled by a HCI team.
Now, if you are a GUI developer, the thesis makes perfect sense, but not if you’re a firmware developer.
MAC’s version of GIMP (although you can you GIMP under X11) is SeaShore. It is basically GIMP enginge with a CoaCoa front much like NeoOffice is to Open Office.
My kids prefer TuxPaint though 
@Jeff: While I don’t disagree with you in the least, you don’t come close to saying why SD folks should learn a GD tool. You say they are interrelated, but don’t say how. Care to elaborate?
Thanks,
–dang
While on the surface I agree with this idea, I have to ask what basic proficiency is.
As someone with competence in several programs for my hobby, I would have a much different idea of competence (ability to use layers and understand certain ‘blend’ modes) then a less sophisticated user (learn how to crop Grandma out of the wedding shot by mirroring the good side of the photo).
+1 for Inkscape, it’s the best simple and powerful solution out there.
Strange no one’s mentioned this: graphics editors can be FUN even if you’re a developer… i’ve spent hours playing around with my photos on photoshop… (and you can dramatically improve you’r photos) its great way to learn photoshop…
this is of course not th same as UI design… but it goes a long way towards familiarizing you with graphics editing…
As someone who uses both Photoshop and GIMP regularly, I have to say the interfaces of both programs are abysmal. However, the Photoshop interface designers at least don’t appear to be actively trying to prevent me from getting work done.
Whoever on the GIMP team was responsible for the modal dialog when creating a new layer needs to be shot. I would have let him off with a severe beating if “Enter” dismissed the dialog by default.
And what the hell’s up with layers having a fixed size and those stupid layer boundaries being displayed by default? I wouldn’t even mind this so much if it remembered my damn settings when I turn it off.
Sure GIMP is remarkably powerful for a free OSS effort, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a special circle of hell saved for its UI designers.
Gotta crawl before you can walk.
This goes for vector editors as well (Fireworks et al)-- that’s why I didn’t include them in the list.
I disagree with this, vector graphics and raster graphics are definitely not the same thing and knowing a raster graphics tool is definitely not necessary to learn a good vector graphics tool.
In fact, starting with vector graphics may be more intuitive and simpler for the math-oriented types as vector graphics are heavily based on Bzier curves
How many of the Gimp trollers have really used it for more than five minutes? I started using Fireworks until the team developing Gimp added vector drawing. This feature needs a bit of polishment, but damn, the Gimp is good. Not only good, because of Gimp we have GTK wich is beautiful, and is fucking Open Source. What else do you need? Oh! Yeah! The stupid YMCK versus RGB debate, but I wouldn’t even think about buying Photoshop when having the perfect tool just works. It’s a shame that The Gimp doesn’t get as much publicity, tutorials, patterns, etc.
Anyway, great work to the guys developing The Gimp and thank you very much for all.
F*** you trollers, try learning it before talking bs, or just go pull your pants down on Adobe.
Corel Paint Shop Pro comes with a great user guide (accessible from the help menu or as a PDF file in PSP’s program file folder) which beginners can find useful to get started and learn basic editing techniques.
I completely agree that having some graphic tool knowledge is absolutely essential for a developer (echo chamber?) I fire up Paint.NET several times every day to cut stuff up.
I have a license of Adobe Studio which is great. Unfortunately it’s only on one machine at the current time so I use Paint.NET on my other machines. You can argue all you want, but Photoshop is really leaps and bounds above the rest of the other tools out there.
An even bigger problem than the fact that Photoshop is the best is that it’s what every designer out there uses. Anytime you get a file back from a graphic designer to work with it’s always in .PSD format. I can accomplish almost anything that I need as a programmer in Paint.NET except open PSD files. Why oh why won’t someone create an open source application capable of this.
Same thing goes for vector graphics. Sure there may be some tools out there that rival Illustrator - at least for what I need to do, but all the files I ever get from designers are Illustrator files or .EPS files.
Does anyone know of an open source program capable of opening Adobe specific files?
I learned Adobe Fireworks time ago, but now I wan’t to get ride of it, and trying some easy-for-the-non-designer program.
- It has to have docked tools windows (all programs copy photoshop, but it’s a really a PITA to work with)
- It has to be vector based, but support working with bitmaps.
- Not from Adobe (Fireworks disable aero in Vista, and Adobe want my $$$ for their glitch)
I’m thinking in MS Expression Design, but not sure.
@Daniel Dang Griffith:
Correct me if I’m wrong Jeff, but the reason for this post is to make developers aware of tools that can potentially be helpful for their career.
This post correctly reflects the software development approach for web applications. Rapid Web Application Development has had a large uptake in the recent years with IDE’s such as Visual Studio 2005 and Eclipse allowing developers to quickly ‘wireframe’ an application to demo to a client. Armed with graphic design tools the developer can quickly design the look and feel of an application, enabling the client to give critical feedback sooner rather than later.
Obviously if you are a device driver developer or low level software architect this post is slightly irrelevent - however you’ll be amazed at how much you can do with graphic design programs these days even if it is not work related. I’ll be the first to admit that recoloring my eyes a bright green is fun! 
@Lisa: Very interesting thought about using 3D models to demonstrate software and UI functionality. I would like to know if anyone else has had any success with this particular approach.
Like to throw one more program in the mix…CorelDraw Graphics Suite. Great vector and bitmamp editing tools for the money! I’m been using it since Windows 3.1 and it always amazes me how power yet simple it is.
If you are thinking of getting PSP, I would recommend a version between 7 or 10, depending on how much editing of photos you will want to do. After Corel took over it started to get a bit bloated, slow and buggy. But 10 has a very good feature set.
Here’s why this blog is good to read - it’s eclectic. I didn’t even know the difference between vector and raster graphics (actually, it was in backup tapes somewhere in the noggin, but the tapes were not loading in the current hardware) until this post caused me to look it up.
What kind of loser code monkey am I that I don’t such basics? One who is learning.
I cut my teeth on a pirated copy of Photoshop 4, mostly just making really, really bad wallpapers and doing what a lot of first time Photoshop users do… go crazy on the filters. It was always just a hobby but knowing about things like blacklevels, layers, etc. has come in handy more times than I can count.
I like a mix of Photoshop (now a legal copy of CS2 thank you and Paint.NET. I use Paint.NET for a lot of quick fixes and Photoshop when I want to do something more involved or know I’ll be sharing the PSD with someone.
Be careful though, more than a few times I’ve created a “placeholder” splashscreen or graphic only to have upper management say that it looks fine and we don’t need to invest in a designer. I know how to do a lot with graphics but I’ll be first to admit I don’t have that art flair that makes the difference between “OK” and “Amazing”.
It’s good to learn graphics programs to get your feet wet, but I’d say that going the extra mile to learn a little bit about the fundamentals of graphic design will help you much more.
Gotta crawl before you can walk.
This goes for vector editors as well (Fireworks et al)-- that’s why I didn’t include them in the list.