After Lyle's magnificent post about adobe I now have several Adobe products, including photoshop. I half halfheartedly fooled with a very very old version of it years ago so I don't know what it can and can do. I'm especially interested in what it can do that gimp can't and what gimp can do that photoshop can't.
Does anybody know of a site that lists these comparisons? Right now I'm sold on gimp and don't really need ps but I'd use both if I knew what each can and can't do.

My only reason that I use PS is to process my camera RAW files GMS. Camera Raw is, to put it bluntly, superior to any other program (that include open source) RAW handlers that I've worked with. Don't do this often since I rarely take captures (a retoucher; not a photographer. lol) so GIMP's still my main crutch. Handling 16/32 bit files could be a plust in general too, but my only motivation is Camera Raw. I had CS2 for quite a while before upgrading to CS5 (since I had no choice if I wanted to keep up with the upgrade path; won't go to CS6 since they changed their upgrade path specs requiring upgrades at every release which is idiotic). Not saying PS can do so much more and I do like a few of the filters that are unique to PS, but I don't even open PS to use them. lol

Bottom line, GIMP can do anything most people want it to.

Photoshop doesn't have the ability to fill with a "Shaped (Angular)" gradient, which I find to be very cool. And I don't see anything that can replace a selection with a feathered boarder like "Select menu [Boarder]". I use these all the time and could not do without them.

Alan

I usually shoot in raw too.

I had trouble downloading the who CS2, so I just downloaded photoshop and played with it for a few minutes. I couldn't do a whole lot as I am not familiar with how to use it. To me it didn't seem that different, I just wanted to have it, lol. I am used to Gimp and will stick with it.

the layers in photoshop are easier to use, none of that floating layer malarky, and dragging and dropping layers or selections into other images is exactly how you would expect and some of the filters are a lot better, liquify wipes the floor with iwarp. but then GIMP ahs blending modes that are just awesome, grain extract/merge is the best blending mode in the world for sharpening images, and it beats photoshop cs2s sharpening tools hands down! and then there are the plugins that being a community base software are freely available. you would have to pay a small fortune for a plugin in photoshop. having both programs available just means that i have more tools to play with

You're not a Canon user then, Lyle?
Canon's own "Digital Photo Professional" is miles better than Adobe's raw converter for Canon raw files. Adobe doesn't get reds right.

i downloaded the PS CS2 from lylejk's tip as well and tried to follow a few PS tutorials

the layerstyle option is amazing and lightyears ahead of what Gimp can do

you choose an effect and its there at once
everything is in realtime, no waiting, no processing

stuff like Bevel and Emboss look awesome and combining several layerstyles gives you amazing effects
in comparison, the Gimp Bevel and Emboss is kind of crude

on the other hand, when i did this tutorial it was nothing but typing in numbers and choosing options from dropdown menus, it was really dull, while trying to recreate PS stuff with Gimp is fun and exciting

obviously real professionals want quick and efficient results and for those people layerstyle is probably optimal

I'm a Canon guy and I agree Hatter, I think it's effective software.

As far as PS vs Gimp???



So many variables when you compare graphics software, the driver is important; It's like saying my F1 car is better than your F! car, see you at the finish line, unless I crash

Gimp gave me lot of experience using ps, I started making usable in a few minutes. I'll probably use Gimp the most though, like you, I feel comfortable with it. My gimp has been crashing every few minutes though, lately and has been a pain.

same here

Sadly I can't use my downloads because you have to be on the net to register them. I've toyed around a bit with demos of CS4 and Elements and I think with third party filters and scripts Gimp knocks socks off Elements. I didn't explore CS4 thoroughly but I couldn't do a lot with it that I can't do in Gimp.

These programs (GIMP and Photoshop) have a lot of versions (and various additives ...).
With so many versions of the comparison of the (lack of clear criteria) is irrational.
According to me, if we do a comparison - it's just statistically - which is more interesting for us ...
For me - always Gimp & G'MIC.

i think gms meant latest version of gimp and ps cs2 comparison, since the link was for free cs2 download.

so, definitely, we can compare the two specified versions, why not?

funny, cos i am totally opposite, having used Ps elements for a few years i found translating the stuff i'd learned to be a cinch, and the extra features like customisable colour palattes is pretty cool too