Photoshop vs. The GIMP. Which is better?

r3nu4l

Okay, I really am new at this stuff, anyone looking at my sig can see that I'm interested mainly in photo and image manipulation and both packages are used for this but what I want to know is which is better?

Photoshop or the GIMP? Why? Should I splash out the money on Photoshop because it's easier to use (is it?) or should I learn first using the GIMP and then learn photoshop?

Added a poll for interests sake...

If you think any other program is better, please say what program and why.

Briony Noh

Essentially no difference between them that I've found for image manipulation. Even the key-presses are largely similar. Really, this is a non-question, in my view. GIMP if you're broke, Photoshop if someone else is paying the bill and you don't care about Adobe's software practices.

These might be a bit old, but they're still tragi-comic:

http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=165

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=426

and others

Rhyme

I would think that Photoshop is a much more powerful tool for image manipulation, im not a user myself but my expereince with it was a tad overwhelming and i assume that if you could become familiar with it it would serve you well. Never used The Gimp.

A Gimp vrs Photoshop list

I use Paintshop Pro anyway

tba

get the gimp...

Its free and once you get better they will have introduced new features. If you decide to move over to PS then the transition will be easy enough, maybe a week or two of relearning stuff.

r3nu4l

tba wrote:

get the gimp...

Its free and once you get better they will have introduced new features. If you decide to move over to PS then the transition will be easy enough, maybe a week or two of relearning stuff.

Thanks tba, I am already using the gimp, I just wondered whether it is worth forking out the cash for PS when I don't plan to be doing any commercial or print work.

I find the gimp really useful and have used it to create collages of photos and place collages within visually recognisable boundries (outline of Europe for example). Just wondering why people choose PS when the gimp is free?

melekalikimaka

for photos i find ps much better, the amount of tutorials and plug ins is crazy... its not that expensive if you know where to look...

Ruu_Old

melekalikimaka wrote:

for photos i find ps much better, the amount of tutorials and plug ins is crazy... its not that expensive if you know where to look...

Agreed with the above, I couldn't be without it for photography.

r3nu4l

Ruu wrote:

Agreed with the above, I couldn't be without it for photography.

Thanks for all the replies so far

Have you guys actually tried the GIMP or is this just based on your brilliant fantabulous experiences with PS?

Anyway r3nu4l has a lot of expenses in the next few months including purchase of a house, used car and wedding to pay for (gulp, checks wallet!).

As I refuse to pirate PS I will have to pay, so I assume ebay would be my best bet and that an older version would be cheaper so which should I go for?

Is photoshop elements like a "PS lite"? Any good. Lot's cheaper so probably lots less funcitonality?

Lots of questions I know but even £30 is a lot for me right now, I may be taking up a part-time job after work soon (not joking ), so all help appreciated.

Goodshape

I'd agree that Photoshop is probably better, certainly more user friendly.

But I think spending time with the Gimp will produce the same results, and (potentially) save you a lot of money.

Also, I know from experience that going from Photoshop to Gimp is extremely head wrecking.. I'm willing to bet it's a lot easier the other way around, so I'd stick with the GIMP for as long as it works for you.

Briony Noh

Many people who endorse Photoshop may be doing so because Adobe got its arm into the industry first and most successfully, so if you have any pretension or expectation to work in that industry, it will undoubtedly be the Adobe suites that you'll be sucking on.

What the designers of The Gimp set out to show was that there wasn't anything particularly special about how Adobe combined all the elements they did into a single program. Naturally, to avoid copyright infringement and litigation entanglements, they had to re-write every routine and interface it slightly differently. Open source invites improvements and suggestions from all over, so while the team involved in Photoshop is impressive (though quite a few names change with each succeeding version), the Gimp team is - well, put it this way: you aren't likely to see so many names together in one place that aren't listed alphabetical order and followed by a telephone number.

The Gimp is currently probably about equal to, if not exceeding in power ar least, Photoshop 4 or 5, but being open source it's fast catching up - and upgrades are free, too - and Adobe has to begin to consider it a serious threat in the home market, at least.

Anyone who learns one system will find its competitors annoying or just "not right" - this is the basis of Microsoft's success over far better and more stable software companies - so we lucky few who started out on the Gimp often can't see what all this Photoshop nonsense is about, anyway. We can still create and produce end products that are in every way at least as good as your average Photoshopper can produce. We can choose add-ons that enable us to output for professional printers or not depending on whether we need that facility or not - or on if we have no better use for our hard-drive capacity. But in the end, going broke to own what, while staying legal, we can have just as easily for free is well worth it in my opinion.

Hobbes

TBH not much difference beyond what kind of UI to get used to.

GIMP is used in the professional industry although more so for film editing.

I have Photoshop LE (from a scanner I own) Its ok. For photo manipulation I found PSP7 easier for me but thats only because I got PSP first. Gimp I found was grand for a free App.

bullpost

I'd say , based on your reasoning, to stick with the Gimp.
The fact that it's free is a compelling argument for you right now. Doesn't sound like you've hit any technical limitations with it or need a feature which it doesn't have.
Why not spend the money on a really good Gimp book instead - I've just bought this one and its really good http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-GIMP-Novice-Professional-Peck/dp/1590595874/sr=8-1/qid=1159885894/ref=pd_ka_1/026-8781334-1234039?ie=UTF8&s=books.

It's going to take me a long time to exhaust all of its many possibilities and by that time the rewritten Gimp 2.4 will be out with lots of new functionality :-)

Camdec

Hobbes wrote:

TBH not much difference beyond what kind of UI to get used to.

GIMP is used in the professional industry although more so for film editing.

I have Photoshop LE (from a scanner I own) Its ok. For photo manipulation I found PSP7 easier for me but thats only because I got PSP first. Gimp I found was grand for a free App.

Photoshop is certainly the best, but as you say it costs. But you can still get it from Apple Resellers cheaper if you are a student - it comes in a lot cheaperif you are, but you have to prove you are student. I sometimes use Photoshop at work (also Quark Xpress) and it is the leader in the field. Can be used on Mac or PC (PC edition). PS Elements is also a good option and is way way cheaper and I think it hasn't got a lot less options than big brother Photoshop. Where can I have a look at GIMP (never heard of it - yet):)

r3nu4l

bullpost wrote:

Doesn't sound like you've hit any technical limitations with it or need a feature which it doesn't have.

I'm so new at this I could probably get by with MS Paint at this stage :D

bullpost wrote:

Why not spend the money on a really good Gimp book instead - I've just bought this one and its really good http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-GIMP-Novice-Professional-Peck/dp/1590595874/sr=8-1/qid=1159885894/ref=pd_ka_1/026-8781334-1234039?ie=UTF8&s=books.

That looks pretty good, once I exhaust the online tutorials I might get the book (probably ask for it as a Christmas present).

Thanks for the replies (and debate). Keep 'em coming

EDIT: Camdec, the GIMP be here. Download section is in the menu on the right. There is artwork on other websites. Google

Abby D Cody

So far as I'm concerned, this is a no-brainer. Not only is the Gimp free, but it's worth every penny.

That didn't come out right, let me try again. Engage brain:

Not only is the Gimp free, it's worth every penny I might otherwise have foolishly spent on a legitimate copy of Photoshop. Sure, Adobe do other things that make you want to stay with them forever with your misplaced brand-loyalty, but so do the open-source guys. With no more effort than it takes to sharpen a pencil, you can have everything you need on a Linux platform for publishing as well as the basic drawing and design program.

I used Photoshop for years and was perfectly happy until I discovered the Gimp. Now I write advertising slogans like "I used Photoshop for years and was perfectly happy until I discovered the Gimp".

r3nu4l

I agree with much of your sentiment but I also think people can be slavishly loyal to open source. I do use open-office but am the first to admit aht it isn't as nice, intuitive or as polished as M$ Office...yet .

Also only yesterday, two black-hats released details of what they describe as an unpatchable and severley critical javascript handling flaw in Firefox, an open-source browser. It may require a re-write of massive sections of the browser.

Anyway, that aside, I do love my open-source and most people seem to think that the GIMP will suffice for most things and since I'm nowhere near good at this kind of thing yet I'll stick with the GIMP and re-evaluate at a later date.

Extra smiley for the fun of it and because I seem to use them a lot...:)

IPI

I don't know if I should be doing this, I'm not really a regular visitor here, but I don't think it's fair that people are left with the impression that Photo Shop is the best thing since sliced bread when in reality you can only really toast with The Gimp. I have it on a Windows OS and find it user-friendly and powerful which, when all is said and done, is all you really need from any programme, but Gimp goes even further. My last book had its jacket designed entirely using Gimp and Inkscape (not by me, I confess, but I provided the photos) and I heard the design is up for a minor award from an Australian publishing house (results in 07, fingers crossed).

Hobbes

Camdec wrote:

Photoshop is certainly the best

Depending on what you want to do Photoshop is certainly not the best.

Camdec

Hobbes wrote:

Depending on what you want to do Photoshop is certainly not the best.

But it does everything you can possibly want to do for your line of work. I know you pay for it (expensively) and besides if you want you can get PS Elements which is cheaper and can do much the same. I forget to mention, there is also an edition of it for teachers - know any teachers!!, they get everything cheaper than us - (I think I mentioned the student edition previously)

Hobbes

Camdec wrote:

But it does everything you can possibly want to do for your line of work.

Learning curve for that and the gimp are the same. Cost for gimp = 0.

If all you want to do is edit photos for yourself then you can use Picasa. Again its free and does the job well with little learning curve.

PSP has an easier learning curve then Gimp/PSP but costs a little.

Just because PSP can do everything doesn't make it the best. You have to factor in price and knowledge of user and what they ultimately what they want to do.

Its like buying a dual core to play freecell.


If your doing professional design work then I would recommend PSP.