This is NOT an attack on GIMP
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Ridcully Dec 25, 2010 9:05 PM EDT |
In all seriousness, this is not an attack on GIMP.......just a few comments on how I perceive the software and I hope any reader will accept that completely. Because of my move to KDE4, Crossover Office does not properly support my long suffering copy of Photoshop7, and I miss it badly. (Crossover people have informed me that the problem is being addressed - I fervently hope so.) However in the meantime I have been forced to use GIMP as the "only native Linux image editor in town that I am even a little bit familiar with". While the GIMP commands are often very different in location and execution, I happily admit that they can do the jobs I want to do, and familiarity is building up speed......Routine tasks that I had to fight with a week or two ago, are now a little more familiar and work reasonably well. But as a Photoshop user, and given that (like it or not, and as far as I know) Photoshop is *the* default image manipulation software in the larger world, it remains a surprise to me as to just how remote GIMP remains from Photoshop in its general operations. For instance, I really do detest the three floating windows that GIMP uses. This may be personal, but I think it is a definite "turn-off" to a Photoshop user. Apparently GIMP 2.8 will give the option of a single window with floating tool bars.........For me that will be sheer heaven and I understand it is coming in the first quarter of 2011. Great news :-) At long last, a typical Photoshop user will see a screen that is more or less what they expect to see. And that brings me to my second comment: the GIMP menu system. Let me diverge for a moment and consider OpenOffice.....or better still, Libre Office which will go onto this computer to replace OOo as soon as a solid production level version is released. LibreOffice in essence mimics Word although I stress its menu commands can be different from those of Word, and OOo/LO's reliance on styles is very different from Word.......The basic fact is however, that a person migrating from Word, can use OO or LO in at least its basic functions, with perhaps 5 minutes tuition.....and the rest is what we all have to do: read the wretched manual or the FAQ pages. My impression with respect to the menu system is that the GIMP developers also branched out on their own. Sure there is a toolbar, but its icons are not quite close enough in terms of shape to give you a hint as to what they may be in Photoshop terms. The menu structures are also remarkably different and once more it is a case of having to relearn everything you have committed to memory in Photoshop...and it is, I confess, downright annoying, but you persevere if you want to use the software. I recall that several years ago, I saw that some enterprising developer had produced a GIMP plug-in that could produce a "Photoshop-like" command menu structure for GIMP. I also seem to recall (I may be wrong on this) that rather than support this (to me) excellent approach, the GIMP team shunned the development and as far as I know, it has now fallen by the wayside. Okay......GIMP is excellent and it can do the jobs I require, but it would have been so nice to have been able to drop over into at least a basically recognisable structure and menu system when moving from Photoshop. GIMP deserves much, much better. I welcome the single window presentation coming in the new year, and given my options, I'd encourage the development of a plug-in that gives Photoshop like commands to GIMP. More Photoshop users should be encouraged to use GIMP, if only to remove the stress of a very high cost of a Photoshop purchase and any moves to make migration more comfortable for them should be a high priority for the GIMP team - well, that is if they would like to expand their user base. PS.......I refuse to discuss the name "GIMP"......as an acronym it works, but as a name that means something to a new user.......hmmmmmm. However, I won't discuss this because it creates too many emotions amongst the GIMP loving fraternity. |
| tuxchick Dec 25, 2010 9:59 PM EDT |
I like Gimp. Yes, the name is dumb, as so many geek-named apps are. It might have been a tiny bit funny, in a lowbrow way, for the first minute. The single-window presentation is my #1 wish. I suppose there are some advantages to the multiple windows, but for me they are lost when I have any other apps open in the same virtual desktop. Those multiple windows quickly get lost in the shuffle. Gimpshop is the version with the Photoshop-ish appearance. I've never tried it. |
| jdixon Dec 26, 2010 12:32 AM EDT |
> ...it remains a surprise to me as to just how remote GIMP remains from Photoshop in its general operations. I'm not at all sure that's not deliberate for legal reasons. If I had to guess, I'd say the Gnu folks fear a lawsuit from Adobe if they match the Adobe interface too closely. |
| Ridcully Dec 26, 2010 12:46 AM EDT |
Very probably/possibly Jdixon; though the single window is pretty standard and is coming. My copy of Corel Draw went out to a charity shop years ago.....I wonder how closely that software's menu commands approached Photoshop. |
| Sander_Marechal Dec 26, 2010 8:10 AM EDT |
The only thing that GIMP needs for me is layer groups (coming in early 2011 as well I believe) and support for importing layer styles from PSD files. I build websites and designers usually use Photoshop to create designs for them. I need to be able to open a PSD, select some elements and export them to PNG or JPEG. Designers often stuff multiple page designs in a single PSD. So I need layer groups support to be able to show a single page. Layer styles are most ofthen used for gradients, something that is used a *lot* in web 2.0-ish style designs. At the moment I'm forced to use an old PS copy running on a remote desktop. Ewwww. |
| hkwint Dec 27, 2010 5:55 AM EDT |
Ridcully: Never tried Photoshop (can't afford it anyway), but what I noted is this: GIMP is great for manipulating existing images, but it's pretty bad at 'creating images'. For creating images (or creating arrows / lines on top of existing images), there are far better tools for Linux. So, IMHO, to "do image editing on Linux" you're better of with more tools than just GIMP. IIRC I installed GIMPshop on Windows for my sister, and it worked. No usage experience though. |
| Ridcully Dec 27, 2010 6:45 AM EDT |
Thanks Hkwint.......at the moment, I'm not doing much image manipulation as the task I was involved in which required that work is now ended and it was all done in Photoshop. Usually, I don't need to create images ~ it's a matter of cropping, sharpening and otherwise modifying existing digital camera images. For that, Photoshop7 is excellent, and I am beginning to learn how to use GIMP to do the same effects. Tuxchick also suggested Gimpshop........I have explored the site and they only seem to have downloads for Debian Linux distributions, Solaris, Windows and Macs, but not rpms for other distros. Packman has some older rpms but they go back to 2007 or 2008 if I recall. I am hoping still for a breakthrough from Crossover which gets Photoshop7 back to normal on KDE4. |
| jimbauwens Dec 27, 2010 7:11 AM EDT |
Ridcully : You can try to convert the deb to rpm using alien (http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/alien/) |
| Ridcully Dec 27, 2010 8:07 AM EDT |
Thanks too Jimbauwens, it's an option to keep in mind. |
| Steven_Rosenber Dec 27, 2010 11:28 AM EDT |
I mostly use gThumb for my image-editing needs. When I need to do anything complicated, gThumb allows me to open the image in any number of external applications, usually GIMP in my case. If running Photoshop under Wine is important enough, It might be time to dump KDE. |
| hkwint Dec 27, 2010 5:29 PM EDT |
Recently, I had to make some 'schemes'; and I was pretty amazed by Gnome DIA. Also runs on Windows Vista, so guess what saved the day when a friend of mine had to made an organigram but MS Visio (which I never used anyway but it's Microsofts solution) was not available. |
| Ridcully Dec 27, 2010 6:13 PM EDT |
@Steven_Rosenberg......The problem as I understand it Steve, is not just KDE, it's also Crossover itself and additionally, the unbelievably sensitive display requirements of Photoshop. Each time there is a new version, of Crossover, it is likely that something will break. I am no longer surprised at this problem - it's just one I accept because of the incredible complexity of what the Wine and Crossover people are trying to achieve. Crossover knows about it because I have reported the problem as a user of their Professional package and I do know that they are working on it. Photoshop7 is still supposed to have silver status, but that is not the case at the moment. The other problem is that later versions of Photoshop are supplanting version 7; however I believe that version 7 is still extremely popular......try finding a copy for sale on eBay. Version 7 was, I think, the last version that was activated purely by a key rather than internet activation, and that says it all; people won't part with it because Version 7 is still very, very good. On a different track, one of the best ways of using Photoshop in the past was Win4Lin. It's how I used it for several years in earlier versions of SuSE and with Win98SE. If you have never used it, Win4Lin was a virtual machine but with some interesting variations because it also had absolutely full access to the entire Linux filing system. This meant that you could open Win98SE running on Win4Lin on one desktop and have Photoshop7 running while simultaneously working with the scanner and providing the images for Photoshop on another desktop. Marvellous. I have tried a virtual machine about a year ago using WinXP, but found that while I had it up and running and Photoshop going happily, it was sandboxed and had no contact whatsoever with the underlying system. And that is an essential requirement for me. Both the Wine/Crossover and Win4Lin versions gave me full access to the entire filing system at all times. |
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