Gimp pisses me off, is there something better?

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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I gave up doing anything graphical since I switched to Linux as gimp is just so annoying to use. Is there something better? I need to get back into it as I plan to redo some of my websites.

For example, I'm just doing a silly photoshop that would normally take 5 minutes in Photoshop, and every step in gimp is a true nightmare. There's no layer effects, so I had to do everything manually like text glow etc. Resize only works when it wants. Seems to work immediately on something that is pasted, but you can't go back to change it after. I wanted to stretch a part of an image and it does nothing, basically acting like the wrong layer is selected, when it's not. Overall, it's just a really irritating app to use. heck, the fact that it puts that grid is annoying, it's hard to see the result in real time (if it actually works). Good attempt at a graphics program, but it's just not polished enough.

Very worse case scenario I may even use Photoshop in Wine but I really want to try to stick to open source if I can.
 

smakme7757

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2010
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I've never come by any thing better than Gimp on Linux. Gimpshop was supposed to be more like Photoshop, but its dead as far as I know.

Although, are you positive you can't do what you want to do in Gimp? !maybe you just need to learn the software?

It took me a few weeks to get used to simple things in gimp due to the UI and workflow being so much different than Photoshop. There are also plugins that can extend the functionality of Gimp.

http://registry.gimp.org
 

ico

Junior Member
Jan 20, 2012
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GIMP is not bad. It's a very good software. But a nightmare for people coming from Photoshop.

It works differently and has a bit steep learning curve. Very powerful software nevertheless. Nothing better out there.
 

lxskllr

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Nov 30, 2004
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You only pointed to one magazine and it is only on issue 5. Nice exaggeration.

Right. Five is more than one, and adding the "s" to magazine makes it plural. I assume that people who are smart enough to push the power button on a computer, are smart enough to find additional resources on a site I directly link to. Additionally, the examples in those five magazines are made by numerous people. It isn't a single savant that somehow figured out how to use Gimp where the rest of the world failed. Finally, it's not my goal to link to every resource on the web. That single link is enough to know quality art can be made with Gimp. If one wishes to find more, they can look themselves.
 

Red Squirrel

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I'm sure it's powerful, there's actually some things I like more than photoshop such as brushes.

But the trival stuff like selecting/resize/rotate of a selection is very painful. In photoshop you can make a selection, and resize/modify only that selection. In gimp, it seems to only resize the actual selection, not its content. Stuff like that is what makes it really annoying to use. Also pasted layers often act really funny. But not all the time. Seems there's no consistency in how it acts. I guess I'll just have to be patient and try to figure out work arounds to these issues by using tutorials.

Is there any tutorials geared towards people who come from Photoshop? If it shows something that was doable in photoshop and shows a way of doing it in gimp, that would be great. Basically a reference guide so to speak.
 

lxskllr

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Nov 30, 2004
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I don't do image manipulation much. I usually look up specific things when the need arises. "resize selection gimp" might be a good search term for your resizing problem. I'm not sure what you mean about resizing problems though.
 

smakme7757

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2010
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I'm sure it's powerful, there's actually some things I like more than photoshop such as brushes.

But the trival stuff like selecting/resize/rotate of a selection is very painful. In photoshop you can make a selection, and resize/modify only that selection. In gimp, it seems to only resize the actual selection, not its content. Stuff like that is what makes it really annoying to use. Also pasted layers often act really funny. But not all the time. Seems there's no consistency in how it acts. I guess I'll just have to be patient and try to figure out work arounds to these issues by using tutorials.

Is there any tutorials geared towards people who come from Photoshop? If it shows something that was doable in photoshop and shows a way of doing it in gimp, that would be great. Basically a reference guide so to speak.
I've found the best way to learn gimp is just to use it. When you hit a hurdle just find out how to do what ever it is you want to do on the web. Most of the quality tutorials are on blog posts from people who have taken the time to make a nice guide. Most likely you will find good tips from a variety of different sources. I don't think there is one source that has everything you need.

With that being said, that's exactly how I learned to use Photoshop. To be honest Photoshop was a hell of a lot harder to learn than MS Paint at the time ;).

https://www.pinterest.com/alexstandiford/gimp-tutorials-for-beginners/
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
http://www.tankedup-imaging.com/gimp/layers.html

There are countless guides to do what ever you need to do. As long as you can describe your problem good enough to your search engine you should be able to find a decent tutorial.
 
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Aldon

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Nov 21, 2013
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Good luck achieving your goals in GIMP. I've been using it all the time before, but let me warn you: Smooth or sharp edges are going to be gone. You'll notice that later. If you want to make a complicated layout in GIMP, you better duplicate your damn layers a million times so you have a copy. In other words: It's a nightmare.
 

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
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Dec 11, 1999
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I'm sure it's powerful, there's actually some things I like more than photoshop such as brushes.

But the trival stuff like selecting/resize/rotate of a selection is very painful. In photoshop you can make a selection, and resize/modify only that selection. In gimp, it seems to only resize the actual selection, not its content. Stuff like that is what makes it really annoying to use. Also pasted layers often act really funny. But not all the time. Seems there's no consistency in how it acts. I guess I'll just have to be patient and try to figure out work arounds to these issues by using tutorials.

Is there any tutorials geared towards people who come from Photoshop? If it shows something that was doable in photoshop and shows a way of doing it in gimp, that would be great. Basically a reference guide so to speak.
I've barely used Photoshop, but I've used GIMP some. To scale/resize/rotate a selection, you would want to select the selection, move/copy it to a new layer, then manipulate the layer. How do you know if you're manipulating a layer vs. a selection? There's an option for that:

gimp_scale_layer.png


The other selected option there being "selection". I don't know what the third option - "path" - does, but maybe you know more about that kind of thing than I do.
 

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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I've barely used Photoshop, but I've used GIMP some. To scale/resize/rotate a selection, you would want to select the selection, move/copy it to a new layer, then manipulate the layer. How do you know if you're manipulating a layer vs. a selection? There's an option for that:

gimp_scale_layer.png


The other selected option there being "selection". I don't know what the third option - "path" - does, but maybe you know more about that kind of thing than I do.

Damn, so every time I want to make a change I have to copy to another layer? Seems like a pain in the ass. One of these days I need to look at the source code and fix all this stuff. Would be a nice learning experience too, I'm not really up to par with coding when it comes to GUI stuff. That's the nice thing about open source though, at least I can make it the way I want if I put enough work towards it.
 

Satyrist

Senior member
Dec 11, 2000
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It can be a pain if you need to edit in CMYK color...I am aware that there is at least one extension for doing color separations, though this was more than a ways back.

Not to say it couldn't be used for professional photo printing, but lack of four color printing/profile support is what's keeping it out of the publishing industry, for the most part. Sometimes you can't just blind convert an RGB to a CYMK when it comes to printing...The results can be dramatic in some cases...Mostly with Vibrant Blues/Magentas/Reds.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
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There's really nothing out there better than GIMP when it comes to free/low cost image editors. I like GIMP, but there's a reason that Adobe can get away with charging ridiculous sums of money: it's hard to make what they have.
 

nk215

Senior member
Dec 4, 2008
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Why not install photoshop under wine? For basic stuffs, you only need the old Photoshop cheaply. Adobe gives out Photoshop CS for free from their website, complete with serial number.
 

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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I hate to resort to hacks, but I might do it. Did not realize they were giving it away free now though, is this actually the full version or just a demo? My favorite is probably photoshop 6 or 7 though and I have both so probably will go with that if it works in Wine.
 

njdevilsfan87

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Apr 19, 2007
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I'm not sure what your selection problem is. I'm messing around with an image right in front of me and resizing/rotating selections. GIMP is creating a new floated layer that I have "to new layer" when I'm finished.

But I do agree with GIMP being a pita to use coming from PS. I did some time ago, and eventually I just got used to using both programs. I'm not sure why GIMP comes installed without any docks opened either. When you first open up the program, you get a "what now?" type of helpless feeling if you're used to using PS. :p
 
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Tristor

Senior member
Jul 25, 2007
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I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve, but I agree GIMP has a terrible interface, but the underlying libraries are amazing. There's another Open Source application no-one has mentioned yet shockingly that works really well called Krita http://krita.org/

The only downside is if you're not a KDE user you either have to let your distribution run wild installing huge dependencies or you have to do a bit of futzing about and compile from source. http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=96675 may be helpful to know.