Photoshop doesn't run on my OS of choice so it didn't even enter consideration at any point.

Nice Lyle!

Gimp can open PSD's but PS can't open XCF's.

Wallace, PS is rich in resources; which is why GIMP needs to import PSDs.

Not quite Wallace. It depends on what's in the PSD file. If all layers are flattened, then definitely GIMP can properly open PSD files. If the PSD files have embedded adjustment layers and such, then the result that you see in GIMP won't represent what PS sees. Still, for simple layer PSD files and such, GIMP can definitely open these type PSD files. PS will never support XCF; just a fact.

Maybe some day PS will have to support XCF's, but I don't see this happening any time soon.

It will never happen Wallace.
If I need to open PSD that has layer styles, will use old good v7. When PS really was the thing for me was in late 90s.
Used it for editing scans for vectorization in Freehand. Still got v2 for PowerPC G3 lying somewhere.

Would not buy new PS even if I had the money. They bought Freehand off and killed it. Because it was, and still is the best vector App.

i've used gimp for a long time now, but i had a break for some years. i went to crafts and design school and had to use photoshop for a while and when i got back to gimp i found i didn't remember how to work it and didn't really recognise the newer versions of it that i found (i used gimp while it was on 1.something and got back at 2.4), so i complained that gimp was too hard to learn and not as good as photoshop. it only took a couple of months' use to get back, though, and a little while ago i tried using photoshop - and couldn't get anywhere with it! i simply hated it. i'll never use it again.
the main reason i use gimp today is because i really like it. i like open source too - there is something about code that anyone is allowed to play with. it gets creative processes starting and makes the whole community of users more creative, i think . i love how new scripts and filters pop up all the time.

I don't know why you don't see, but just compare Shape tool. In GIMP it is impossible to make a smooth corners. It's sad that GIMP possible to produce only Amateur work.

I'd played around with graphics back in the early 90's using D'Paint on an Atari 520st then when I decided to start learning again I began using Microsoft Publisher, eventually I discover Gimp and went for it. As a hobbyist who was just starting to learn graphic's I couldn't justify the cost of Photoshop, I might not have enjoyed it and then it would have been money thrown away, so Gimp was an ideal choice.

Gimp might not be as professional in its approach but I don't need to create graphics quickly to meet deadlines, so having to maybe use a longer method to create and effect doesn't overly bother me, plus I think it means I'm learning more than I might do with Ps.

I'm intrigued - which shape tool are you referring to? I'm sure there are ways to make smooth corners, I have been working with Gimp for years and have never come across such a problem.

What´s more sad is a professional using pixel editor for vector work.

I use Linux as my primary OS, so Photoshop is not much of an option. Plus, Gimp, along with Krita, InkScape, Scribus and MyPaint, covers most of what I need for 2D graphics. If I really felt I needed Photoshop, I would buy it, but I don't.

I know a lot of hobby users pirate Photoshop, which I think hurts Gimp more than it does Photoshop and Adobe. Many of the users who pirate Photoshop, wouldn't pay for it in the first place. If piracy was not an option, they would be looking for other alternatives, which would mean Gimp would have a larger user base, which would lead to more feedback and bug reports for the developers, hopefully more donations and likely more developers working on improving Gimp. And they would likely stick with Gimp, if they later began doing professional work.

The argument you generally hear against Gimp is that it is difficult to use, and that it lacks CMYK, 16-bit and 32-bit support. The first point stems in large part from people being used to Photoshop, and when they move to Gimp everything is different. The same would apply to a Gimp user, moving to Photoshop. The second point is only really relevant if you do professional offset printing, and know what you're doing. Half the people screaming about CMYK support, don't really know how to handle CMYK correctly in the frist place, but if you do really need CMYK maybe Photoshop is a good option for you. As for 16/32-bit support, it's on it's way, so will be in future versions of Gimp. For now Krita is a great alternative for both, even handling it better than Photoshop, where half the tools get disabled once you switch to 32-bit mode.

That said, I've bought a number of 2D graphics programs through the years, and two of them still have their uses in my tool chest. These are MangaStudio EX and FrameToon.

MangaStudio EX is kind of unique, in that it's focused on 1-bit drawing. That is black and white pixels only, with no anti-aliasing og grays. This is great when doing b&w print comics, as you can easily work at very high resolutions without a super computer and get sharp lines at 600, 1200 or even 2400dpi, as each pixel is 1/24th the size of a normal color pixel so uses 1/24th as much RAM.

The other one is FrameToon, which is a Japanese 2D animation program from the developers of openCanvas. I actually don't think it's being developed any more, and there is no English version of it, but it works great. It's likely the work being done no animation features in Krita will make it a good replacement for this at some point. TVPaint is actually a great alternative here, which has a Linux version, but the price is a bit steep and since I rarely do 2D animation it's now really worth it.



gbarkovalev: If I understand your post correctly, you're looking for a way to create a selection and round of the corners. There are two ways to do this in Gimp that I know of. Select and are using the lassoo tool, making sharp corners. Then choose Select>Distort... from the menu and set Spread to 0, Granularity to 1 and Smooth to how much rounding you want. The other alternative is to use paths, which have bezier handles you can accurately adjust the curvature with, and then turning it into a selection.

obs...didn't intend to write a whole essay here.

What do you call the shape tool?

Sorry, I wanted to write the Path Tool. Try to guess where GIMP where PS

OK, I'm blind. Where is PS doing better than Gimp?

I'm with ofnuts on this, where is PS doing better than Gimp?

To me the 1st reason was cost, i started to use Gimp simply because it was free.

Then despite the CS2 easily available, why did i stayed with Gimp ?

After trying CS2, i found myself having to make more clicks and mouse movement through menus to do the same thing i could do in Gimp with less clicks/mouse movement, (without mentionning my surprise at noticing CS2 didn't even had anything ressembling the smooth stroke function that i was finding so useful for some work in Gimp) so i simply went back to Gimp, because i'm now too used to it now to change.

gbarkovalev: The first one is Photoshop, it says so in the meta data of the image. Then again, I'm starting to wonder if you're just taking the **** (pardon the expression). Both are shapes with curved and straight outlines, and there is really no discernable difference between them.

Admitedly path manipulation is not Gimp's strongest feature, as it's primarily a raster editor and not a vector program, but it's good enough for most things. I primarily use them for speech bubbles and panel borders in comics. If you need more control, you can always use InkScape, and import the resulting .svg file as a path (right click in Path panel, and choose Import Path...).

I started using gimp as a raster editor for creating height map images for import into the Designer software for the Carvewright carving machine because I could show people how to use it on their forum. And as I used it, I found that it was a very good program. I can remember the software locking up on me only two times since I began using it about three years ago. It's very stable.

Gimp has a few features that you won't find in Photoshop. It has [Select] [Boarder] with the feather check box which after performing on a selection you can Fill with a Foreground or Background color to create a gradient around the area selected. It also has the Blend tool which can be used to fill a selection with a Shaped (Angular) gradient. Both of these features are not even available in Photoshop and work very well for the creation of height maps.

And all the shortcuts that you can assign in Gimp make the workflow much faster than Photoshop.

Pegleg44