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Gimp is 25 years old today

gimp.org

211–220 of 271 posts

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#211
post #82

For me it's a case of being the worst open source image editor, except for all the others. The scripts always seem broken, the UI was a mess for a while on a Mac. The multi windowed system was great if the windowing manager expected that sort of thing and terrible otherwise. Ufraw integration seems an awful way of getting to edit raw files and I go years at a time without being able to get it working on a Mac. But it…

Your experience from 10-15 years ago is kinda irrelevant today :) No multiple windows, darktable or RawTherapee rather than UFRaw etc.

Single-Window Mode only became default in 2018 with Gimp 2.10. There are plenty of people around who haven't updated Gimp in that time and have yet to find out about this wonderful feature.

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a single rapid workflow for saving an edited PNG. You mean instead of two rapid workflows? 1. File -> Overwrite Existing .png. First time it is used, there is prompting. After that, no prompting. Has no hotkey. 2. Or use Export As, which has a Shift-Ctrl-E hotkey. The first time you use Export As, there is prompting. But after the first use, the "Overwrite Existing .png" menu item (for workflow 1) disappears…

Thanks. I feel stupid now. I guess I would have expected this to be called “save”?

"Save" and "Export" used to be under the same function many versions ago. I am guessing they changed it to avoid data loss.

Consider if someone "saved" into a format that does not actually support all the features of Gimp, like PNG. They might be surprised when they open their file and things like layers are missing.

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a single rapid workflow for saving an edited PNG. You mean instead of two rapid workflows? 1. File -> Overwrite Existing .png. First time it is used, there is prompting. After that, no prompting. Has no hotkey. 2. Or use Export As, which has a Shift-Ctrl-E hotkey. The first time you use Export As, there is prompting. But after the first use, the "Overwrite Existing .png" menu item (for workflow 1) disappears…

Thanks. I feel stupid now. I guess I would have expected this to be called “save”?

You just have to read the whole File menu (of every program you use, not just GIMP!)

In GIMP, saving refers to persisting the project in the native .xcf format. Everything else is exporting.

Exporting loses information, that's why it's not called saving. It can use lossy compression, first of all. And then, the target format might not support all the semantics. For instance, it might not support layers, or not support layers with all their GIMP nuances, like layer masks and whatnot.

If you're working on a PNG or JPEG and want to close GIMP and continue later without any loss of data or disruption, you have to save the project as an .XCF.

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's perfect. It's a funky little tool you only take out of the box when you need it for a specific purpose. You use it (with vigor and some cussing because it fights back); get your job done, and shove it back into the box of shame, until the next time you need it. You might love what it does for you but you rarely celebrate the tool itself, preferring instead to delight in the faint tinge of shame. "GIMP" is the pe…

It is also something you call disabled people when you want to be really insulting. It doesn't matter one bit that you didn't mean it to mean that, that meaning still exists, and it's still what people see when they see the name. It is an absolutely awful name.

> It doesn't matter one bit that you didn't mean it to mean that

If that's the case, the offense exists totally in another no matter my actions... is it not something that other needs address, not society or myself?

If you want to take things that way; why can't the GIMP be a beacon of hope and inspiration for the disabled? Despite being crippled by the UI it still serves legions well and faithfully.

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#215

Any Gimp article wouldnt be complete without a list of all the alternatives so here are some Image Manipulation Programs that are not Gimp but also not Photoshop: * Krita (OSS) https://krita.org * Pinta (OSS, Paint.NET Clone) https://www.pinta-project.com * Paint.NET (Freeware) https://www.getpaint.net * Paintshop Pro 4.14 (Last Freeware Version) https://www.pagetutor.com/downloads/psp412.html * Affinity Photo https:…

As an alternative to Gimp's digital painting use case, MyPaint is very much worth mentioning, with an awesome brush engine and spectral color blending: http://mypaint.org/

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#216
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Krita is a painting app comparable to Corel Painter. You can't compare it with GIMP or Photoshop.

Doesn't matter. People have work to do with tools, not list out all the features. If Krita works for the person, there's no reason to use Gimp or Photoshop.

If Krita works for the person it implies neither Gimp or Photoshop were exactly the right tool to begin with, since Krita is oriented towards a different set of tasks than Gimp/Photoshop

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#219
And it still doesn't have a single real vfx / design project to it's name.

Gimp is the single real reason people switch back from linux to osx. It's a mediocre replacement for mainstream image processing tooling at best.

I tried to make it work in a production setting with over a $1x10^7 in licensing in a competitor driving the transition and it just didn't happen.

Stick with you existing pipeline unless you are constrainted by license costs.

Re: Gimp is 25 years old today

#220
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Krita is a painting app comparable to Corel Painter. You can't compare it with GIMP or Photoshop.

Doesn't matter. People have work to do with tools, not list out all the features. If Krita works for the person, there's no reason to use Gimp or Photoshop.

Whether it works for you isn't the criteria by which you should judge whether something is better or not. A hammer is also better than the GIMP at hammering a nail, but because I only need to hammer nails doesn't make the GIMP worse at what it does than a hammer.

Krita is better for people who need to do a lot less than what the GIMP is capable of doing.

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