How do i import pics from gimp onto my desktop as a proper picture?

Question

I Have made alot of pictures on "Gimp 2" (Like photoshop i guess) And, When i save them it wont let me open it properly like other pics, it wont let me upload it to Bebo either..Dose anyone who have Gimp Know how to fix this?

Its a waste though cause of how much pics i made on it :(

Answer 1

It sounds like you're using the wrong format to save. I haven't used GIMP, but I can explain it like it was photoshop. Instead of saving the images as a PSD (default, photoshop document), choose a proper image format, such as PNG, JPG, GIF or even BMP.

Answer 2

Gimp's native format is called XCF. It's what's called a lossless format, meaning that all the image data is preserved when you save it. Ideally when you make an image you save it in XCF, and then save a copy as a format suitable for display, like PNG, JPG, or GIF. Then, if you ever want to edit the image, you can open the XCF file, edit, and then resave the XCF file and make a new copy in PNG or JPG or GIF. Otherwise, if you didn't originally save in XCF, you'd have to edit that JPG you made. And then if you wanted to edit that second photo, you'd have to edit _that_ JPG. Since JPG is a lossy format, your image's quality would gradually get worse and worse and worse as more and more of the original information is lost by the JPG compression algorithm. So the other pics you made aren't wasted, you just need to save them as a normal format. :)

To save as something other than XCF, open the image in Gimp and go to the Save menu. When you're at the screen where you enter the name and choose where to save it, there should be a line of text at the very bottom of the Save window with a plus next to it that says "Select File Type By Extension". Click it to expand it, and then pick whatever format you want (Gimp supports lots of em). To save an image as your desktop background you'll probably want either BMP, JPG, or PNG. BMP is a lossless format like XCF (though it doesn't save your layers or transparent areas), but for files the size of desktop backgrounds a BMP can be huge (possibly hundreds of megabytes) which could slow your computer down. If it's a photo, use JPG. Otherwise, use PNG.