<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gimp-tips>









  <tip level="start">
    <welcome>
      <big>Welcome to The GIMP !</big>
    </welcome>
    <thetip>  
      Nearly all image operations are performed by right-clicking on the image. And don't worry, you can undo most mistakes...    
    </thetip>
    <thetip xml:lang="test">  
      You are so very lucky to be using this excellent program.    
    </thetip>   
  </tip>   





  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>    
    You can get context-sensitive help for most of the GIMP's features by pressing the F1 key at any time. This also works inside the menus.
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>    
    The GIMP uses layers to let you organize your image. Think of them as a stack of slides or filters, such that looking through them you see a composite of their contents.
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>
    You can perform many layer operations by right-clicking on the text label of a layer in the &quot;Layers, Channels and Paths&quot; dialog.
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>
    When you save an image to work on it again later, try using XCF, the GIMP's native file format (use the file extension <tt>.xcf</tt>). This preserves the layers and every aspect of your work-in-progress. Once a project is completed, you can save it as JPEG, PNG, GIF, ...
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>
    The layer named &quot;Background&quot; it special because it lacks transparency. This prevents you from adding a layer mask or moving the layer up in the stack. You may add transparency to it by right-clicking in the &quot;Layers, Channels and Paths&quot; dialog and selecting &quot;Add Alpha Channel&quot;.
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>
    Most plug-ins work on the current layer of the current image. In some cases, you will have to merge all layers (Layers-&gt;Flatten Image) if you want the plug-in to work on the whole image.
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
  <tip level="beginner">
    <thetip>
    Not all effects can be applied to all kinds of images. This is indicated by a grayed-out menu-entry. You may need to change the image mode to RGB (Image-&gt;Mode-&gt;RGB), add an alpha-channel (Layers-&gt;Add Alpha Channel) or flatten it (Layers-&gt;Flatten Image).
    </thetip>  
  </tip>   
   



</gimp-tips>