Understanding the Tools

The following is a guide to all the tools on the toolbox (or main dock) of GIMP.

Shortcuts are ways to select tools without having to switch back to the GIMP toolbox every time you want to switch. If I do not note a shortcut, there is not one (that I know of).

Please note that all tools have special adjustments and customizations you can play with in their dialogs.

Tools:

	The Rectangle Selection Tool, which is used to select a rectangular region. Pretty straight-forward. This can be used for various forms of selection and cropping (particularly layer cropping). The shortcut is R.
	The Ellipse Selection Tool, which is used to select a circular/ellipse region. This can be used for various forms of selection and cropping, and is particularly useful when you are dealing with a curved or circular object. The shortcut is E.
	The Free Select Tool, which is used to select a hand drawn region. This is a tricky tool to use unless you have a tablet. The shortcut is F.
	The Fuzzy Select Tool, which is used to select a continuous region on the basis of color. This can be useful when you want to select a section that is all one color - such as a stripe. The shortcut is U.
	The Select by Color Tool, which is used to select a color anywhere on the image (rather than one portion of continuous color, like the Fuzzy Select Tool). This can be useful when you want to select a certain color all over the image. The shortcut is SHIFT+O.
	Scissors Select Tool, which is used to select shapes using intelligent edge fitting. This is an excellent alternative to the harder-to-control Free Select Tool. This can be useful when you want to cut out a certain part of the image - such as an actress you want to use for a photo collage or manip. The shortcut is I.
	The Foreground Select Tool, which is used to select a region containing foreground objects. This is another good alternative to the Free Select Tool. This tool allows you to color in what you want to select, and makes it easy to see the spots you missed.
	The Paths Tool, which is used to create and edit paths. This tool makes it possible for you to easily create solid, clean lines. It is particularly useful when turning a hand drawn sketch into graphic art, or in other areas of graphic art. The shortcut is B.
	The Color Picker Tool, which is used to set colors from image pixels. This is perfect for when you need a certain color color code) from your image. The shortcut is O.
	The Zoom Tool, which is used to adjust the zoom level. Pretty obvious. The shortcut is Z, or SHIFT and + (zoom in), SHIFT and - (zoom out).
	The Measure Tool, which is used to measure distances and angles. You must click CTR+click to make it work. The shortcut is SHIFT+M.
	The Move Tool, which is used to move layers, selections, and other objects. I like to keep my option for this tool on "Move Current Layer Only," because otherwise you run the risk of unintentionally moving other layers without noticing your mistake. The shortcut is M.
	The Alignment Tool, which is used to align or arrange layers and other objects. This will save you a heck of a lot of time trying to section layers and objects. To activate it, you must use CTR+click. The shortcut is Q.
	The Crop Tool, which is used to remove edge areas from layers or images. Highlight what you want cropped and click ENTER. The shortcut is SHIFT+C.
	The Rotate Tool, which is used to rotate the layer, selection or path. Helpful when straightening out a crooked image. The shortcut is SHIFT+R.
	The Scale Tool, which is used to scale the layer, selection or path. This can be tricky to do right - I prefer to shrink something through Layer > Scale Layer. The shortcut is SHIFT+T.
	The Shear Tool, which is used to shear the layer, selection or path. This means that it rotates it in a weird way. I'm not sure what you use this for. The shortcut is SHIFT+P.
	The Flip Tool, which is used to reverse the layer, selection or path horizontally or vertically. The shortcut is SHIFT+F.
	The Text Tool, which is used to create and edit text layers. The shortcut is SHIFT+T.
	The Bucket Fill Tool, which is used to fill the selected area with a color or pattern. The shortcut is SHIFT+B.
	The Blend (or Gradient) Tool, which is used to fill the selected area with a color gradient. There are a lot of creative things you can do with gradients. The shortcut is L.
	The Pencil Tool, which is used like a hard-edge brush. The shortcut is N.
	The Paintbrush Tool, which is used to paint smooth strokes. You can use any of your brushes with this tool - soft or hard. The difference between the Paintbrush and the Airbrush is that the Paintbrush immediately paints at the full opacity you've selected, while the Airbrush takes a few minutes to get more solid. The shortcut is P.
	The Eraser Tool, which is used to erase background or transparency using a brush. The shortcut is SHIFT+E.
	The Airbrush Tool, which is used to paint using a brush, with variable pressures. You can use any of your brushes with this tool - soft or hard. The difference between the Paintbrush and the Airbrush is that the Paintbrush immediately paints at the full opacity you've selected, while the Airbrush takes a few minutes to get more solid. The shortcut is A.
	The Ink Tool, which is used to paint in a calligraphy style. This brush is always hard. The longer you hold down the clicker in one place, the bigger the brush gets. The shortcut is K.
	The Clone Tool, which is used to selectively copy from an image or pattern using a brush. To make it work, you much use CTR+click to select the area you want to copy form. The shortcut is C.
	The Healing Tool, which is used to heal image irregularities. This is similar to the clone brush, but it has a softer effect. It is perfect for editing out pimples and other face imperfections. To make it work, you much use CTR+click to select the area you want to copy form. The shortcut is H.
	The Perspective Clone Tool, which is used to clone from an image source after applying a perspective transformation. I'm not sure how this works or what it's for.
	The Blur / Sharpening Tool, which is used to selectively blur or sharpen part of an image using a brush. The shortcut is SHIFT+U.
	The Smudge Tool, which is used to smudge selectively using a brush. This is a good tool for when you want a painting/brush stroke effect, or when the biggest blur will not solve the pixel-y look that's driving you insane. The shortcut is S.
	The Dodge / Burn Tool, which is used to selectively lighten or darken using a brush. Use this tool with caution - tool much burning or dodging will ruin your picture's quality. The shortcut is SHIFT+D.

Other:

	When you select a tool, it will be highlighted like this. By double clicking, you can open your tool's dialog.
	This shows the colors you have ready to use in your brushes or bucket fill. The default colors are black and white. You can switch the foreground and background colors by clicking the white arrows. You can change the colors by clicking either of the boxes. And if you ever want to go back to plain black and white, just click the mini black and white boxes to the side.