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Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

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Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#101

Post by Mashimo »

thisislife2 wrote: post #67

The argument over the UI in GIMP and Photoshop is actually based on the kind of "false" premise that Photoshop has a "superior" UI. It reminds of my first experience using macOS, as a long time Windows user. The first few months on macOS was a totally frustrating and negative experience for me - "What the ...? why does the ENTER key not open files or folders? Why is it going to 'rename' mode? Why doesn't double-click…

I never used Photoshop, it was easy to use other advanced tools such as Davinci Resolve, Darktable etc. But Gimp is just horrible. Even when you don't compare it to Photoshop.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#102

Post by olavgg »

reaperducer wrote: post #31
neuralkoi wrote: post #21

GIMP gets the work done. I've never had an issue I couldn't address with its tools, but it's clear the UI was crafted by coders. I'm glad for this approach.

I completely agree. Every few years I give GIMP a shot, and every time I give up because it's completely inscrutable. Adobe is evil, and Pixelmator lacks features, but at least you can figure out how to use them in short order.

Every time I give Photoshop a chance I give completely up, the thing doesn't even start on neither Fedora or Ubuntu and I have no interest in configuring Wine for this. GIMP is the least painful way to get the job done. I have been using it for over 20 years, and it has been a pain-free experience. That GIMP is bad is just as wrong as the people who say Java is bad.

But you know what's even worse, people that use Illustrator to create SVG's for the web. Inkscape creates proper readable SVG's at 5KB, compared to 50MB SVG's I get from Illustrator experts.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#103

Post by elevation »

jdlyga wrote: post #84

GIMP should take a lesson from Blender. Blender used to be the most clunky, unintuitive pieces of open source software. But after a decade and a half of UI development, it's one of the smoothest interfaces you'll ever use.

> GIMP should take a lesson from Blender. Blender used to be the most clunky, unintuitive pieces of open source software. But after a decade and a half of UI development, it's one of the smoothest interfaces you'll ever use

Agreed. I'm already willing to use GIMP in its current state. But though I've used it since I was a child, I have to re-google for things I know it can do.

I had a photo of a barn. I was going to construct it in miniature, so to get scale measurements I wanted an isometric perspective from a photo that had been taken at an angle. I had done this in GIMP before so I was hesitant to start googling for answers but in 25 minutes of playing with it, no combination of inputs would do what I wanted. I had to find some youtube tutorials.

Even simple tasks aren't simple. Annotating a photograph with a couple red arrows is a multi step challenge involving paths, stroking, selections, layers, and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting. These UI concepts were impenetrable without tutorials -- I never would have figured this out on my own.

GIMP has helped me but it's never been pleasant to use.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#104

Post by iLoveOncall »

hootz wrote: post #71
iLoveOncall wrote: post #48

Gimp is shit. It has always been shit and likely will always be shit. The UI is made by Satan himself and it is much closer to Paint than to Photoshop in terms of feature coverage. There's absolutely no reason to use Gimp when https://www.photopea.com/ exists.

There's no reason to use GIMP when a closed-source ad ridden web app with premium AI features exists?

Open-source is not a selling point and I'm amazed that some people still consider it as such in 2026.

I have absolutely no ads on Photopea.

Gimp doesn't have any AI feature, and you're free to not use any of the Photopea AI features, so not sure why it's relevant?

Yes, we indeed don't need Gimp when we have a free Photoshop equivalent.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#105

Post by elevation »

jdlyga wrote: post #84

GIMP should take a lesson from Blender. Blender used to be the most clunky, unintuitive pieces of open source software. But after a decade and a half of UI development, it's one of the smoothest interfaces you'll ever use.

Another lesson GIMP could take from Blender is the importance of a python REPL that updates with the analog commands to the menu items you're clicking. GIMP allows scripting from some kind of lisp, but in many hours of attempt I've never gotten it to do what I know it can do. But I was effective in blender within seconds because it allowed me to directly translate my actions to code.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#106

Post by Matl »

While all the comments about GIMP needing a total UX overhaul etc. are likely valid, it's worth noting that there's something like 2 people working on the bulk of GIMP at the moment.

It's not a startup that has just raised a series A and opened a flashy San Francisco office.

All that is to say that I don't think the problem is the GIMP devs not knowing what the problems are and needing them explained over and over again.

The problem is a shortage of developers to address them.

So if you can, contribute.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#107

Post by iamcalledrob »

thisislife2 wrote: post #67

The argument over the UI in GIMP and Photoshop is actually based on the kind of "false" premise that Photoshop has a "superior" UI. It reminds of my first experience using macOS, as a long time Windows user. The first few months on macOS was a totally frustrating and negative experience for me - "What the ...? why does the ENTER key not open files or folders? Why is it going to 'rename' mode? Why doesn't double-click…

The micro-interactions and hotkeys in GIMP are just so poor though.

For example, basic stuff like zoom in and zoom out are bound differently to literally any other app on any platform. This catches me out every single time I try to use it, and I'll never learn the GIMP way.

Spoiler for anyone unfamiliar: it's not Ctrl+/Ctrl-.

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#108

Post by koiueo »

gedy wrote: post #68
pessimizer wrote: post #56

I really hate [edit: the necessity for something like] this. I deeply disagree that Photoshop has better UI than GIMP, it's just that GIMP is no professional's daily driver, you were paid to learn Photoshop; and whenever you learned any technique, you learned it in Photoshop. Clinging to Photoshop UI (which is completely arbitrary and bizarre) just supports Photoshop - you're taking a vacation instead of making a mov…

It's different not in an apples to oranges way, it's like apples to dried squid. GIMP is/was very much an acquired taste and pretty tough to learn compared to modern UI standards. Photoshop is not perfect or easy, but it's "normal".

That's a lot of hand waving. Any specific examples?

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#109

Post by etdznots »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #104
hootz wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no reason to use GIMP when a closed-source ad ridden web app with premium AI features exists?

Open-source is not a selling point and I'm amazed that some people still consider it as such in 2026. I have absolutely no ads on Photopea. Gimp doesn't have any AI feature, and you're free to not use any of the Photopea AI features, so not sure why it's relevant? Yes, we indeed don't need Gimp when we have a free Photoshop equivalent.

[dead]

Re: Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users

#110

Post by Jach »

hootz wrote: post #73
KnuthIsGod wrote: post #57

Krita is so much more accessible than GIMP. Only Gimp devs would love Gimps interface. Just the existence of Gimp seems like so much effort flushed down the toilet because of someone's bad, bad taste and incredibly poor user interface design

But how good is Krita with photo manipulation and composites? I don't want to paint, I want to edit images.

Krita is not very good for photo manipulation. Even basic stuff like rectangle select and selection manipulation is painful. But on a project I used Krita, Gimp, and Inkscape all at the same time, and it was fine. Different tools for different purposes. Though with Gimp 3 having better font/text behavior, and overall allowing to build a pipeline of effects instead of immediately applying them (aka non-destructive editing), I could probably drop Inkscape now.
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