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Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

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Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#61

Post by rimantas »

na85 wrote: post #40
k__ wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't you know what you want to to, if you're a professional? If you don't know what you want to accomplish, you need to experiment. This is when those non-destructive features come in handy, but if you know the goal and how to achieve it, they aren't necessary.

This post is a really poignant (if unintentional) example of how a lot of programmers/non-arty types have a fundamental misunderstanding about how graphic design works. "Just do it right the first time" is such a maligned attitude when directed towards coders ("No, boss. I need to make revisions!"). Interesting that the perspective isn't being applied equally. Shouldn't you know what you want to do, if you're a profe…

Andrew Clarke talks a bit about this: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/03/25/a-modern-designer...

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#62

Post by jjcm »

This was posted to reddit a couple weeks back, and I'll repeat the same comment I made there.

"I spend about 90% of my time in Lightroom and only 10% in Photoshop."

This is why he was able to do this. He isn't using the functionality that Photoshop provides, he's using the functionality that Photoshop Essentials provides. Look at his parity instructions - every feature is found in Photoshop Essentials. If that's all you use, then great, by all means switch over to Gimp. The bigger the userbase it has, the better off it will be.

But don't think that it's going to replace Photoshop in the near future. Non-destructive editing is the biggest thing GIMP is missing in my opinion, but supposedly the move to GEGL will allow them to start development on this ( https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-user-list/2013-December... ).

Smart objects are another huge feature it's missing - not only the ability to downscale losslessly, but also the ability to edit all replicates at once. This is huge for designers. If I'm defining a user control for a design mockup, and I need to make a change to that control, in Photoshop all I have to do is edit the singular smart object source. The source edits will propagate to all the copies automatically. In Gimp I have to do this by hand. There are some minor features too that bug me. The inability to add a mask to layer groups is a big one for me. Layer effects (while often overused and gaudy) can be really helpful for design work - need to change the color of an icon that's raster art? Just drop a color overlay on it. If you have style swatches, it can be really easy to do fast mockups using this. This in conjunction with Layer Comps (also something missing in Gimp right now) can really help in switching between two or more alts. A great way to see what Gimp is currently missing in comparison to Photoshop is to look at the development roadmap ( http://wiki.gimp.org/index.php/Roadmap ). If some of your heavily used features are on that list, it might not be worth switching over to Gimp. If you don't see yourself as a user of those features though, give it a shot.

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#63

Post by th0ma5 »

evan_ wrote: post #59
th0ma5 wrote: post #45

As a developer, I've often felt that if I can't script something, embed it into my own software or service, or even redistribute it, then I haven't really done it with software. This is an unrealistic goal if I was in DTP work still, but by setting this bar, I've been amazed about how my understanding of the context of a problem has broadened my horizons. For instance I feel I now have a great grasp on Nurbs, Voxels,…

Photoshop got full scripting support in 2003 with Photoshop CS. Before that you had to install a free plugin and it didn't support everything but it was still pretty powerful, I don't remember exactly when that came out but I think it was first for version 6 in 2000. Photoshop has also had full recordable macro support ("Actions") since 1996. Many photographers I've worked with have developed huge suites of actions t…

Yeah I guess I was thinking about that when I wrote this, but for instance with Python I can instantiate a batch of transformations, and integrate other libraries, other programs, and share inputs and outputs among all of them. I'd be excited if there was a CS scripting whereby I could take an AI file, apply layer effects, and then position that in a 3D transform in AE, and render an MP4 all in one script.

I can do that with Linux and open source utilities, but I can't with CS. Also AI is horribly leaky in memory when dealing with advanced computational design where you have billions of points, whereas open source SVG renders take such a thing in stride.

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#64

Post by neovive »

windsurfer wrote: post #55
niels_olson wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, is it just me or are InkScape and GIMP both set up with rather unhelpful defaults? I didn't run into such problems with Huygen.

Inkscape is actually very good, and certainly comparable to Adobe Illustrator, if not superior nowadays. The main problem I see people have with Inkscape is when they have a MacOS computer, the only available build is from 3 years ago.

I use InkScape on the Mac. To get the most recent builds running, you need install XQuartz which is not bundled with recent OS X versions.

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#65

Post by jbeja »

niels_olson wrote: post #20
Joeboy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Makes me wish people weren't so inflexible about the tiniest UI differences. It's difficult to please the converts. I replaced Photoshop with Gimp years ago, but I still find Gimp incredibly painful to use. It accounts for a tiny proportion of my software use, but a massive proportion of my swearing. I use to think it was just down to being familiar with Photoshop, but I think I can only excuse it on that basis for…

Yeah, is it just me or are InkScape and GIMP both set up with rather unhelpful defaults? I didn't run into such problems with Huygen.

Inkscape is not the same history as GIMP vs Photoshop, Inkscape is actually very very good in what it does, one doesn't even need to compare it to AI.

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#66

Post by Udo_Schmitz »

acomjean wrote: post #60
Guvante wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're willing to pay thousands Photoshop CS6 is $700. If you are doing professional work that is a trivial amount of money.

I don't think you can just buy photoshop anymore. You have to subscribe to it for a monthly fee

http://www.adobe.com/products/catalog/cs6._sl_id-contentfilt...

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#67

Post by digitalsushi »

acomjean wrote: post #60
Guvante wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're willing to pay thousands Photoshop CS6 is $700. If you are doing professional work that is a trivial amount of money.

I don't think you can just buy photoshop anymore. You have to subscribe to it for a monthly fee

You can still get CS6, but CC, which was equivalent to CS6 when it started, is coming up on a year old, and you pay 20 dollars a month to have access to it. CC will continue to get updates. When you stop paying your 20 dollars, you stop having Photoshop at the end of the month.

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#68

Post by jebblue »

dperfect wrote: post #46
jebblue wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> and one that apparently the GIMP devs seem to be ignoring If you can code then contribute the feature, if not then hire someone to write it and contribute it and if neither then at least file a bug/feature request.

Non-destructive editing has been on the list of GIMP feature requests and roadmaps for many years. I may be wrong, but it sounds like the problem is more a misalignment of project goals with target user requirements rather than a sheer lack of development resources at this point (since so many other features have been implemented in the meantime).

I could be wrong too however we are both just stating opinions and mine is proven to work eventually so why am I being downvoted?

Re: Switch from Photoshop to Gimp: Tips From a Pro

#70

Post by Thiz »

For web developers and web designers, GIMP is a great tool.

Best of all it is free.

While I'd gladly pay ten or twenty bucks for cropping and texting images for my web properties, I'd never pay hundreds for photoshop and their invasive anti-piracy software.

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