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GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

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21–30 of 174 posts

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#21
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, not that I disagree with any specific point, but I've certainly been able to use it many times to do real work. Plus the Python-fu was awesome when I needed it. Thanks for release!

I don't know, I must be slow but many, many times I _forced_ myself to learn it, and there's just no way. I've finally come to the conclusion that it isn't me, but it's the usability that is completely flawed. Unfortunately, when one tries to say anything the response is "you go fix it then, asshole!" but I don't know how to develop desktop apps, so...

> Unfortunately, when one tries to say anything the response is "you go fix it then, asshole!" but I don't know how to develop desktop apps, so...

There are other ways you can help!

As someone with experience using graphics applications, you could look into making UI mockups of the changes / improvements you have in mind. Seeing the mockups might get someone interested enough to start work on user-testing, prototyping, implementing, ..., them.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#22
post #6

Downvote all you want--I know open source can't handle criticism, but as much as I want to love GIMP, it's completely unusable. First, it's still in GTK2 so on my monitor it looks zoomed out at 50%. Then, the UI is the least intuitive thing I've ever seen. To resize and move a layer takes 4 times the steps compared to Pinta (or of course Photoshop). Shortcuts are the weirdest thing, completely different compared to a…

My guess is the reason they haven’t overhauled the UI is they build GIMP for themselves and their own mental model. Having used Photoshop forever, I can’t make the transition to GIMP because it feels unintuitive. Unless Linux is your desktop OS, there are plenty of other cheaper options (than Photoshop), for example Pixelmator (OS X) or Paint.NET (Windows) that feel way more familiar.

Paint.NET is by far the best the best picture editor I've seen. Not nearly as feature-reach as GIMP or Photoshop so not an option for graphics professionals but for casual usage - it's bloody amazing, extremely intuitive in particular. I use Pinta on Linux and Mac - it's not as great as the original Paint.NET but still very handy while GIMP is like vim - you have to study it before you can use it (and you are going to forget what you have learnt if you don't use it regularly).

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#23
post #8

A new Dashboard dock helps with monitoring GIMP’s resource usage to keep things in check, allowing you to make more educated decisions about various configuration options. That looks so ridiculous and out-of-place in an image editing program. If it weren't for the left side, you'd think it was Visual Studio! https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/MSDNBlogsFS/p...

You did and will keep getting downvoted (like my comment below about GIMP's usability will), but you're absolutely right. This is another case where developers decide what's cool, and of course pick features that are cool to them, not their users. Not once in my life would I ever think I'm missing that feature in GIMP.

Did you stop to think that perhaps GIMP's developers are in fact its users? I'm an engineer and I draw as a hobby. I don't mind developer-oriented features in my drawing program. If I wanted Photoshop, I would be using that.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#24
post #6

Downvote all you want--I know open source can't handle criticism, but as much as I want to love GIMP, it's completely unusable. First, it's still in GTK2 so on my monitor it looks zoomed out at 50%. Then, the UI is the least intuitive thing I've ever seen. To resize and move a layer takes 4 times the steps compared to Pinta (or of course Photoshop). Shortcuts are the weirdest thing, completely different compared to a…

I agree with you, and it's disappointing people are downvoting you. I ended up having beers with several core GIMP developers a few years ago, and they outright stated that improving usability was not a goal for them, in fact they would rather not have the burden of users who expected it to be easier to use. Speaking for myself, I've found other graphics programs were very intuitive and helped me be very creative, ye…

When was this? I remember getting a similar impression like a decade or so ago but I think now GIMP definitely has devs that are interested in usability. And usability has certainly improved in the last few years, although it still has some serious annoyances (for my workflow / taste).

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#25
post #8

A new Dashboard dock helps with monitoring GIMP’s resource usage to keep things in check, allowing you to make more educated decisions about various configuration options. That looks so ridiculous and out-of-place in an image editing program. If it weren't for the left side, you'd think it was Visual Studio! https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/MSDNBlogsFS/p...

You did and will keep getting downvoted (like my comment below about GIMP's usability will), but you're absolutely right. This is another case where developers decide what's cool, and of course pick features that are cool to them, not their users. Not once in my life would I ever think I'm missing that feature in GIMP.

With that logic, you can argue against any debugging facility in software. Log files? Only developers think those are cool, useless!

FWIW, I have missed better tools for performance tweaking in competing (Adobe) products, so while I don't know if the one in GIMP would be useful, I can see why one would want something like it even as an end user.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#26

A new Dashboard dock helps with monitoring GIMP’s resource usage to keep things in check, allowing you to make more educated decisions about various configuration options. That looks so ridiculous and out-of-place in an image editing program. If it weren't for the left side, you'd think it was Visual Studio! https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/MSDNBlogsFS/p...

That might not be useful for most users, but could be useful for people in resource-constrained environments. I have a friend with a 2010 MacBook Pro, who is constantly monitoring resource usage as he edits photos etc, and has to close apps, delete files to make space for more Photoshop swap, otherwise the computer just dies.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#27
post #6

Downvote all you want--I know open source can't handle criticism, but as much as I want to love GIMP, it's completely unusable. First, it's still in GTK2 so on my monitor it looks zoomed out at 50%. Then, the UI is the least intuitive thing I've ever seen. To resize and move a layer takes 4 times the steps compared to Pinta (or of course Photoshop). Shortcuts are the weirdest thing, completely different compared to a…

You can install Photoshop's keyboard shortcuts into Gimp, takes like five minutes. And Photoshop doesn't have an intuitive UI either, no way for a newcomer to start using it on the spot, takes time to learn it. So, no, UI is not the problem, Gimp is roughly on the same level as Photoshop when it comes to UI. And spreading this silly myth doesn't help anyone.

Gimp's biggest problem is performance. Then features.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#28
post #23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You did and will keep getting downvoted (like my comment below about GIMP's usability will), but you're absolutely right. This is another case where developers decide what's cool, and of course pick features that are cool to them, not their users. Not once in my life would I ever think I'm missing that feature in GIMP.

Did you stop to think that perhaps GIMP's developers are in fact its users? I'm an engineer and I draw as a hobby. I don't mind developer-oriented features in my drawing program. If I wanted Photoshop, I would be using that.

That’s all well and good, but if GIMP is targeting devs first who are also artists, Linux remains an OS without an image editor targeted at artists first. IMO that’s an important hole in the software library that prevents wider adoption.

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#29
GIMP was the first advanced image editor I have used. I grew quite fond of it and its tools. Nowadays I have moved away from it because it does not play well with macOS, but still return to it when I am on a Linux box.

For me, GIMP has always excelled in making simple actions simple. Even today I am quite surprised that other software has not taken some of the ideas for interface that gimp has.

Mainly:

- The selection tool is just miles ahead any of the software I have used. It makes the crop tool obsolete and every time I have to switch modes just to resize my previous rectangular selection I long for it.

- Resizing and clipping layers is dead simple. Other programs I have used have no "clip to selection" on layers and I have never understood why.

- Color to transparency is a single button

- Masks are actually simple to use as one can draw on them using all tools, not just some arbitrary subset

It has its dose of quirks and the interface is in dire need of a rework, however I must say that despite what many people say I find GIMP quite intuitive to use. I suppose that it is a force of habit.

Edit: formatting

Re: GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate 1 Released

#30
post #3

So still no GTK3? I think when GTK4 is released in a few months, it would be a good time to move to GTK3 as they can still be outdated. I know I am being a bit bitter for an open source project with less funding, but GIMP was supposed to be a poster boy GTK application in the first place.

The "G" in GTK+ stands for "Gimp". If Gimp is using GTK+ ver 2 who are we to say different? Perhaps ver 2 is the version and the rest are just pointless forks...

This is a serious question in general. There will always be s steady stream of significant upgrades/changes of any popular open source project as later developers add in things they consider important. At some point the decision has to be made to stop following those changes. This decision is usually made by default when it turns out that no one can be bothered to follow the changes of a project from another project.

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