Want to learn GIMP for free? This tutorial page is the perfect place to start

GIMP 3.0 is finally here, and it's perfect timing really – with creatives everywhere yearning to save money on expensive photo editing and digital art software subscriptions. GIMP has long been our top free pick in our best photo editing software guide, and the recent update will only solidify that choice. GIMP can do almost everything Photoshop can do, it's that powerful, and any compromises feel well worth it for the fact it's free. Did I mention it's free?

But learning a new software comes with its challenges, and can feel intimidating. Luckily, the GIMP website has a brilliant help page, with links to user manuals, books and a fantastic tutorials page that is community-led. Hosting tips and tricks for getting started (known as GIMP Quickies) to more in-depth guides, this is the way to get started for free. You can even contribute your own tutorials if you have the skills to offer other learners.

GIMP is totally open source so there's a community of developers and users contributing to the tutorials. There are beginner-centred guides, including using Layer Masks, Basic Colour Curves and there's also an Asset Folder, which holds plug-ins, brushes, scripts and more.

If you want more specific creative tutorials, you can use the Photo Editing or Painting sections – and then there are sections for Configuration help and Coding tutorials as well.

So if you've been waiting for the time to ditch your pricey subscriptions (perhaps to afford one of the best laptops for photo editing), the launch of GIMP 3.0 combined with this tutorial page could be the perfect opportunity.

Not sure yet? See our Photoshop vs GIMP comparison.