Anyone ever use GIMP - the "free" photoshop?

**dipstik** · 07-11-2007, 07:51 AM

link is here: http://www.gimp.org/

It looks promising for the poor student category/can't afford photoshop crowd like myself.

I'm using Lightroom now, which is great for most of my needs, but nothing compares to photoshop...

**hemas** · 07-11-2007, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by dipstik

link is here: http://www.gimp.org/

It looks promising for the poor student category/can't afford photoshop crowd like myself.

You do know that the student price for PS CS3 is about 150 usd...

**dbp** · 07-11-2007, 08:02 AM

I tried out the windows version a few years ago. I couldn't get used to the interface after using Photoshop. Of course I didn't try very hard. You will hear professionals that use every ounce of Photoshop's potential say that GIMP doesn't really compare, but the features that it does lack won't be missed by 99% of users.

**hemas** · 07-11-2007, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by dbp

I tried out the windows version a few years ago. I couldn't get used to the interface after using Photoshop. Of course I didn't try very hard. You will hear professionals that use every ounce of Photoshop's potential say that GIMP doesn't really compare, but the features that it does lack won't be missed by 99% of users.

There's also a plugin that arranges all the menus and what not to pretty much the same as in PS...

**AsheanMT** · 07-11-2007, 08:07 AM

I like it! Its got plenty of features for the "average" user.

**f2f** · 07-11-2007, 08:28 AM

i'm doing all my shops and image manipulations in the gimp. there is a reasonable set of tutorials available on the net.

**smalls** · 07-11-2007, 11:27 AM

it's okay. you'll need to download some plugins to make it work the way you like. i haven't used it in awhile, but i recall having some issues with layer blending. might as well download it and give it a try. (you might have to move between lightroom and the gimp a bit)

**Dromond** · 07-11-2007, 11:31 AM

You mean photoshop isn't free?

*ducks*

For the record, my employer pays for it.

**bio-smear** · 07-11-2007, 01:20 PM

It can do most of what PS does...it's just different. The interface takes a few days or weeks of use to get comfortable with. It was the GIMP that spawned the window/gui library GTK (GIMP Tool Kit) commonly used with linux apps. It's probably one of the oldest and most prolific open source apps still active.

My main gripe with it is the lack of built-in automation control for doing batches. There are some plugins available, but they aren't so great.

**cj001f** · 07-11-2007, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by bio-smear

My main gripe with it is the lack of built-in automation control for doing batches. There are some plugins available, but they aren't so great.

That's what makes PS worthwhile. Especially CS3 and Bridge CS3.

**ptavv** · 07-11-2007, 01:29 PM

Is it really that hard to find "stores" that offer CS3 for "free" ?

**jrosendahl** · 07-12-2007, 09:50 AM

]The biggest thing missing from the gimp are Pantone support and CMYK support. Both of which matter a lot if you are going to press and don't matter at all if you are not. The best thing about the gimp is that you can open just abuot any file and edit it as raster.