GIMP Sucks. It sucks, it sucks, it sucks.

[JechtShot]

No, I'm pretty sure it just sucks. Just like OpenOffice.

I have both Microsoft Office 2007 suite installed and OpenOffice and somehow I always end up using OpenOffice. I think the layout is more friendly in OO and i don't like the whole tabbing thing to find what I need in Microsoft Office. But that's just me.

 

[ultimatebob]

I used to love Paint Shop Pro before they tried turning it into "Photoshop Lite". I tried using the GIMP, but it's a pain in the ass to use. I'm not a fan of Paint.NET, either.

Honestly, I usually end up using Picasa for editing photos and Visio (or even good ol' Paint!) if I need to draw something.

 

[ShawnD1]

You fail at computing. OpenOffice rocks and works great.

The way it handles graphs and trend lines is terrible. I also think the way it sets up boarders in spreadsheets is needlessly unintuitive. All they had to do was blatantly rip off Microsoft Excel, but they couldn't do that. It's easy to do, but it feels like it takes twice as many steps as it should.

 

[Nintendesert]

Should also be noted that with a free, open source application, your right to complain is pretty much nonexistent. Don't like it? Grab the source and change it. Or use something else.

That's the problem with some open source projects, just because they are free doesn't mean they should be absolved of horrible design decisions. They are attempting to compete with paid programs so they will be measured on that same standard.

OpenOffice has to compete with Microsoft's version and offer me something compelling for me to choose it. Since I can get 2010 for $9.99 cost is out the window. Speed and functionality are not even close so the program loses.

Same with GIMP and any other open source program that pits itself directly against paid software because an end user isn't able to code and add to the project but they sure do know when it sucks to use.

 

[Tristicus]

But it is so cool to be using open source! FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT MAN!

 

[zCypher]

I used GIMP for some basic stuff on a simple website, and I was able to accomplish a lot that I was unable to do otherwise, and it's free. The interface frustrated me a number of times. I have used paint.net as well which is not bad too, the interface is not as bad.

Both are free, and I'm happy to have both as available options.

 

[Crusty]

The biggest flaw in Gimp is not having native support for images with a bit-depth greater than 8-bits per channel. That is probably the biggest reason why it's not used by professionals. It can do everything Photoshop can do, and the UI can be learned, but it still only has 8-bit color channels.

 

[Cogman]

Should also be noted that with a free, open source application, your right to complain is pretty much nonexistent. Don't like it? Grab the source and change it. Or use something else.

To some extent, this is part of the problem with opensource.

The, "Don't like it, change it" attitude STILL has to go through some sort of management system. Whats worse, the coding standards are often either too strict (thus discouraging development) or too flexible resulting in a random mishmash of code.

Open source software has just as much politicing as regular software does. The difference is that Open source can hobble on for as long as the author has interest whereas commercial software lives and dies by the consumer (making the decisions that go into it much more focused on the general usage experience).

That isn't saying some real gems can't come out of OS, it is just to say that just like all software development, it is easy to do something wrong.

 

[l0cke]

I've been using GIMP and Openoffice since I was 10, and to me they make more sense than photoshop and MS office, but that is just because I am used to them. It is the same thing the other way around, you can't just go from photoshop to gimp without a serious paradigm shift.

 

[foghorn67]

GIMP blows chunks. i tried using it a month without trying to touch photoshop. It is so bad.

 

[Howard]

I have no idea how to easily deselect the full selection of any image I open in GIMP.

 

[JMapleton]

I've been using GIMP and Openoffice since I was 10, and to me they make more sense than photoshop and MS office, but that is just because I am used to them. It is the same thing the other way around, you can't just go from photoshop to gimp without a serious paradigm shift.

Since you were 10????? Are you like 15?

I feel old. When I was 10 I had just gotten Super Nintendo.

 

[Zee]

gimp sucks

 

[Born2bwire]

I agree I can't stand that piece of crap. Same with OpenOffice.

God I hate OpenOffice. I used OO for years but I finally had enough of that shit and got Microsoft Office.

 

[l0cke]

Since you were 10????? Are you like 15?

I feel old. When I was 10 I had just gotten Super Nintendo.

Close, 18.

 

[ShawnD1]

God I hate OpenOffice. I used OO for years but I finally had enough of that shit and got Microsoft Office.

#1 reason to install open office -> export word document to PDF. I always send out resumes and cover letters in PDF.
Outside of that.... umm... I don't even know.

 

[JMapleton]

#1 reason to install open office -> export word document to PDF. I always send out resumes and cover letters in PDF.
Outside of that.... umm... I don't even know.

I didn't know you could do that. That makes Open Office all the more cooler.

 

[Born2bwire]

#1 reason to install open office -> export word document to PDF. I always send out resumes and cover letters in PDF.
Outside of that.... umm... I don't even know.

Hahaha. Exactly what I would do for my resumes too. Though you should be able to do this with any word processor by choosing an EPS printer. That is one thing that I prefer for open source is the conversion of images and documents to eps and pdf. For a long time the only reason why I kept my dual boot of Ubuntu was solely for the epstopdf converter utility. Now I've figured out how to do that properly in Ghostscript so I don't need Ubuntu anymore.

EDIT: Just reminds me of all the time I've spent trying to use opensource. Openoffice, Ubuntu, Eclipse, etc. In the end, I've always gone back to the commercial software because I have found it faster and easier to use. It's rarely ever the feature set that bothers me (except for Eclipse, I need to do multilanguage programs using the Intel compilers and that was not fully integrated but it is in Visual Studio). It's just that the user interface is not as intuitive and I end up spending too much time trying to do what I want to do. Christ, I remember the work I had to do to get my USB soundcard be the default soundcard when I booted into Red Hat. Took me about an hour to get it all figured out. In Windows, I just go to the Control Panel and choose which one I want as a default.

 

[FeuerFrei]

In the spirit of complaining ...

I'm really looking forward to the coming improvements in GIMP's text tool because I mostly use it to make page titles. Non-destructive on-canvas editing (like other software) sure would be nice. I hate having to start over if I decide the font isn't large enough or the letters need more spacing. And I'd really like to be able to bold/italicize text without having a bold/italic version of the font installed. Also I'm glad they're implementing rotatable brushes.

I tried and abandoned Inkscape and Paint.NET. MS Expression Design was pretty easy to use but it was only part of a pricey bundle so when the trial expired I was SOL. NEver touched Photoshop.

 

[erikistired]

gimp is for people who have brains and can think, therefore excluding a large portion of people who post on ATOT. it's understood.

 

[foghorn67]

gimp is for people who have brains and can think, therefore excluding a large portion of people who post on ATOT. it's understood.

You can sit around and think about how the hell you are supposed to use GIMP.
Meanwhile, I'll be doing real Photoshop work while you dick around, just thinking.

 

[Fayd]

I have no idea how to easily deselect the full selection of any image I open in GIMP.

grab a selector, click somewhere.

 

[Fayd]

#1 reason to install open office -> export word document to PDF. I always send out resumes and cover letters in PDF.
Outside of that.... umm... I don't even know.

office 2007, office 2010 both natively have the ability to save in .pdf form.

beyond that, there are free pdf writers available that emulate a printer, and output a pdf. any program that can print can save as a pdf.

 

[Fayd]

FWIW, gimp's interface sucks. but it's okay. it's massively powerful for being a free program, and i use it all the time.

i use paint.net as well when i just want to do simple image manipulation. i use gimp for more complex stuff.

 

[Gooberlx2]

The biggest flaw in Gimp is not having native support for images with a bit-depth greater than 8-bits per channel. That is probably the biggest reason why it's not used by professionals. It can do everything Photoshop can do, and the UI can be learned, but it still only has 8-bit color channels

I think that's supposed to be addressed in the next major release. I'm pretty sure Gimp can currently support certain 16 bit operations through its GEGL menu...but it's certainly not application-wide support (like plugins).