Free online courseGIMP 2.10: Photo Editing, Layers, Masks and Retouching

Course Description

Take control of your photo edits with GIMP 2.10 and build a workflow you can repeat on any image. This free online course is designed for anyone who wants clean, professional-looking results without paying for expensive software, whether you’re polishing content for social media, building a design portfolio, or preparing images for clients.

You’ll start by setting up GIMP properly, getting comfortable with the interface, and learning the small settings that make a big difference in speed, consistency, and comfort. From there, you’ll develop the core skill behind non-destructive editing: working confidently with layers. You’ll understand how layers interact, how to keep complex projects organized, and how to save work files so you can return later without losing your editability.

As you progress, you’ll strengthen essential image editing fundamentals, including navigating, selecting, and refining areas of an image with precision. That precision becomes especially powerful once you pair it with layer masks, quick masks, paths, and channel-based techniques that help you handle difficult edges like hair and fine detail. Instead of relying on rough cutouts, you’ll learn to make believable composites and targeted adjustments that blend naturally.

Color and tone are treated as practical tools, not abstract theory. You’ll learn to read and improve images using Levels, Curves, brightness and contrast, hue and saturation, and color correction methods that help fix unwanted casts while preserving natural-looking skin and midtones. You’ll also discover how blending modes can dramatically expand what you can do, from subtle contrast and color tweaks to creative effects and duotone-style looks.

The course goes beyond basic edits and moves into real retouching workflows. You’ll remove distractions cleanly, retouch non-destructively on separate layers, and explore techniques like frequency separation, dodging and burning, and warp-based adjustments. You’ll also learn practical exporting decisions, including preparing files for web, print, PDF, and PSD exchange, plus how plugins like the Google Nik Collection can add both global and local enhancements while keeping your original image safe.

By the end, you’ll be able to approach photo editing with a clear process: set up the file correctly, make precise selections, refine tone and color, retouch with control, and export with confidence for the result you need.