Gimp?

[AFABS]

anyone use GIMP as their photo editor or for other graphics? i just dowloaded it and plan to use it to tweak some of my photos and for my graphic design class. i can't afford photoshop at the moment and don't really feel right about pirating it. thoughts?

 

[pdxflint]

I have thought about using it myself. Why don't you let us know your impressions of it after using it a bit. I'm also wondering how it might serve as a PS alternative.

 

[LittleCanonKid]

Those are the exact reasons why I chose Gimp over Photoshop. If given the choice, I'd rather have a decent lens than Photoshop! I rarely tweak or edit my photos, and if I do it's usually a minor contrast boost or a little bit of cloning. Around 90% of my photos are straight out of the camera--I rarely spend more than a half hour on one photo (and it's usually the cloning that takes the longest). It's free and does all that I need it to do, so I don't have any complaints.

 

[shady825]

If your familiar with Photoshops terms and tools you will pretty much feel right at home with Gimp. I'd say that light to moderate users would find Gimp more than enough for there image editing needs.
It's a great program especially at the price!

 

[compuwar]

anyone use GIMP as their photo editor or for other graphics? i just dowloaded it and plan to use it to tweak some of my photos and for my graphic design class. i can't afford photoshop at the moment and don't really feel right about pirating it. thoughts?

I don't know if it's still going, but the "Film Gimp" port had color management aspirations back in the day. I used to use GIMP/Linux exclusively until it started to get in my way- it's good for basic edits and has likely evolved since then.

If you're in a class though, this is going to be your single-best time to purchase the Adobe stuff, as the educational discounts are good, and from there on out you'll be in the upgrade path only- if you plan on doing any freelance work in the future, then I'd start saving for the appropriate suite.

 

[AFABS]

I have thought about using it myself. Why don't you let us know your impressions of it after using it a bit. I'm also wondering how it might serve as a PS alternative.

Well I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to photo editing. I have some experience with iPhoto which for now i've had good results with. Mainly i just use it to fix up a photo's contrast, boost color, add tints, things like that. I don't really much experience with photoshop but so far gimp seems very similar.

 

[stcanard]

It serves reasonably well as a PS alternative for most people. It is missing a couple of big things -- adjustment layers being the biggest, and the masking options are a bit weaker.

Generally I found Photoshop a bit easier to do the kind of editing I liked to on a photo, but Gimp is really not that far different, especially when combined when used in combination with Aperture. Most Photoshop tutorials online can be translated to use with Gimp.

Overall I would say it is worth the price of admission, if you can't or don't want to afford PS it is quite a viable alternative.

 

[ChrisA]

anyone use GIMP as their photo editor or for other graphics? i just dowloaded it and plan to use it to tweak some of my photos and for my graphic design class. i can't afford photoshop at the moment and don't really feel right about pirating it. thoughts?

It works well for most casual users. It has a feature set about half way between Adobe Photoshop Elements and the Full up CS4 version. But it lacks a few things I need such as (1) Color management, ICC profiles and so on and (2) the ability to handle 16-bit per channel color. Those two things pretty much are deal breakers for professional use but it you are editing JPG files it will do what you need and then some.

The most serious complaint about Gimp comes from long time Photoshop users who complain that Gimp's user interface is not an exact clone of Photoshop. Gimp's devolopers claim this is intentional.

If you want Adobe Photoshop, buy a Wacom "Bamboo Fun" graphic tablet. You will want a tablet if you are doing any kind of graphic work. The "Fun" version of the tablet has a copy of Adoble PS Elements bundled inside. This is a fully upgradable version. Even better, Wacom's web site offers discounted upgrades to the full PS CS4 should you want that later. You can think of it as buying Elements and getting the tablet free or the other way about.

 

[stcanard]

I(1) Color management, ICC profiles and so on and

Happily, ICC profiles are in there now, and even better it actually works!

I just found this out yesterday, it is new to Gimp 2.6

(2) the ability to handle 16-bit per channel color. Those two things pretty much are deal breakers for professional use but it you are editing JPG files it will do what you need and then some.

Apparently this is a "real soon now" item (and has been for what, about 5 years now?). Although the difference is this time they actually have it in there in an alpha quality.

So there is hope, but I certainly wouldn't want to commit to it if you know you definitely need 16 bit now or in the future - given the history of 16 bit support, that is an "I'll believe it when I see it" feature.

 

[cube]

You might want to try Film Gimp a.k.a. Cinepaint as regular Gimp supports only 8-bit color components.

 

[TsuaSai]

The most serious complaint about Gimp comes from long time Photoshop users who complain that Gimp's user interface is not an exact clone of Photoshop. Gimp's devolopers claim this is intentional..

http://www.gimpshop.com/ Is a closer version to photoshop. I use the regular gimp for my stuff which is all minor. But my husband on the other hand uses it to do way more stuff than me and he was a long time PS. But for those coming from PS might have an easier time with GS. I personally haven't used it to say how well it is.

 

[JayCloth]

Gimp?

i can't afford photoshop at the moment and don't really feel right about pirating it. thoughts?

If you can't afford Photoshop you could try looking at Pixelmator http://www.pixelmator.com/ as an alternative. I've had this application installed since V1.0 and it's constantly being developed.

Currently it's at V1.4 and has just been fitted with a new graphics engine that makes better use of CoreImage in Leopard, in my experience it's now much faster at dealing with large images (particularly images that contain lots of layers).

Take a look if you have time, I think you'll be surprised!

For the record, I have no affiliation with Pixelmator, I'm just a user.

Regards,

Jason

 

[147798]

I don't know if it's still going, but the "Film Gimp" port had color management aspirations back in the day. I used to use GIMP/Linux exclusively until it started to get in my way- it's good for basic edits and has likely evolved since then.

If you're in a class though, this is going to be your single-best time to purchase the Adobe stuff, as the educational discounts are good, and from there on out you'll be in the upgrade path only- if you plan on doing any freelance work in the future, then I'd start saving for the appropriate suite.

Does the LR edu license allow you to upgrade? I thought edu prices DIDN'T allow you to upgrade...

 

[compuwar]

Does the LR edu license allow you to upgrade? I thought edu prices DIDN'T allow you to upgrade...

AFAIK, you can still do upgrades to the educational licenses. Originally, you could transfer them as well- that's no longer allowed.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/openoptions/student.html#faq

Q. Can students order Upgrade Plan for their licenses?
A. No. Student licenses are treated like retail licenses, which are not eligible for Upgrade Plan. Students may purchase commercial upgrades for their licenses when new versions of products are released.

Which means (AFAICT) you can upgrade, you'll just have to buy an upgrade like everyone else, you can't get on a plan.