Who here uses the GIMP?

freemonkey · #1 10-30-2006, 01:44 AM

I'm a Photoshop girl, but I'm curious about the GIMP. Does it really do everything Photoshop does (and what version of Photoshop.... 3.5 or CS2?)?

Does anyone use both and have opinions? Is it buggy? Are there plug-ins, actions, brushes, etc..... available for it?

livius drusus · #2 10-30-2006, 02:07 AM

I tried to use it on Skeptoid's (miss you, brother) recommedation way back when, but I couldn't really figure out how to get from point A to point B. It wasn't intuitive for me.

viscousmemories · #3 10-30-2006, 02:29 AM

I use it, but I never really do anything more than resize and crop images. For that it's every bit as good as Photoshop. :shrug:

lisarea · #4 10-30-2006, 03:17 AM

I use it. I'm not so much with graphics, especially lately. BUT in my limited experience, yes, it does pretty much anything Photoshop does, or at least everything I've tried.

It does take some getting used to, though.

It's not so much that it isn't intuitive as that it's just very different from Photoshop. (I wouldn't call either one intuitive in any real sense.) But when it comes down to it, the differences are pretty superficial. The menus are a little different, and the separate windows are frustrating at first.

I think it's worth spending a little time getting familiar with at least. At least skim through Grokking the Gimp, then take two or three of your standard tricks (airbrush someone's face flawless, stick them in front of a field of obscenely hued roses, then add a single glistening tear rolling down their cheek, for example), and see if you can make it do what you need it to do.

Joshua Adams · #5 10-30-2006, 03:21 AM

I use a gimp, Deadwood style. I thought that was what this thread would be about, but no.

As for the graphics program, yeah, I have it installed, but I've never actually used it for anything. I'm a graphics nub. I looked at it for a few minutes and couldn't figure anything out, so I just closed it.

Praetorian · #6 10-30-2006, 06:24 AM

I've been using it to edit HL2 images and have been very impressed thus far. Image layering is a huge plus.

freemonkey · #7 10-30-2006, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

airbrush someone's face flawless, stick them in front of a field of obscenely hued roses, then add a single glistening tear rolling down their cheek,

will you put that finished masterpiece in your museum of bad art?

freemonkey · #8 10-30-2006, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Praetorian

I've been using it to edit HL2 images and have been very impressed thus far. Image layering is a huge plus.

HL2?

OK, I've got it downloaded, I'll install it on this here computer and try it out.

If its better than Photoshop 7, it might be worth switching. Dare I hope it compares to later versions??

Praetorian · #9 10-30-2006, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freemonkey

HL2?

Sorry. Half-Life 2. There is a very large community of comic creators who use a mod called "Garry's Mod" to put characters in poses and take pictures in-game. Photoshop is the main program for making comics, but plenty of people use GIMP.

lisarea · #10 10-30-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freemonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

airbrush someone's face flawless, stick them in front of a field of obscenely hued roses, then add a single glistening tear rolling down their cheek,

will you put that finished masterpiece in your museum of bad art?

I have some like that of the LM hanging on my living room wall. It was supposed to be a really good joke on him, but he didn't care.

curses · #11 10-30-2006, 10:02 PM

I use it as well, and I have to say I like PS better. I guess I've just logged so many hours in Photoshop that it'll take some getting used to the rearrangements.

freemonkey · #12 10-30-2006, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minus

I use it as well, and I have to say I like PS better. I guess I've just logged so many hours in Photoshop that it'll take some getting used to the rearrangements.

I played around with it a little bit, and one of the big deal breakers for me is that I couldn't see how to do adjustment layers like I can in Photoshop, unless I was looking in the wrong place. It also seemed a little heavy handed in its color corrections, but that's probably just from being different than I'm used to. I'll play with it some more, though, and probably keep it, it worked fine for some basic stuff.

Petra · #13 10-31-2006, 05:22 AM

I say just bite the bullet and get Photoshop CS2 - it totally rawks!

lisarea · #14 10-31-2006, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freemonkey

I played around with it a little bit, and one of the big deal breakers for me is that I couldn't see how to do adjustment layers like I can in Photoshop, unless I was looking in the wrong place. It also seemed a little heavy handed in its color corrections, but that's probably just from being different than I'm used to. I'll play with it some more, though, and probably keep it, it worked fine for some basic stuff.

Oh, see, now you're just talking fancy and stuff. I don't know from the adjustment layers, but I looked, and it doesn't have adjustment layers.

In my day, we were happy to paste people into pornography and make it look like they were riding around in cars with Hitler. We LIKED our color corrections heavy handed, and we sure didn't need any "adjustment layers."

(If you Google - "adjustment layers" GIMP -, though, you'll find lots of people complaining and a few wispy promises of adjustment layers in unnamed future releases, though.)

Petra · #15 10-31-2006, 06:25 AM

Well, there's none of this "where are the adjustment layers" with Photoshop CS2. More like, "yowza! those adjustment layers are sexier than Charles Atlas in speedos!"

Y'all don't know what yer missing.

curses · #16 10-31-2006, 04:37 PM

* curses has CS2 as well, but it\'s on the Mac and I haven\'t had a chance to use it.

What's the major differences between CS and CS2?

cappuccino · #17 10-31-2006, 04:49 PM

I understand the basic idea behind adjustment layers but what's so special about them? I'm no 2D graphics whiz but I'm sick of having only Paint every time I want to do more than minor photo adjustments.

Javaman · #18 10-31-2006, 09:34 PM

I thought the big difference between the GIMP and Photoshop CS2 was that one is free and the other is over $600. :pumpkin:

freemonkey · #19 11-01-2006, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cappuccino

I understand the basic idea behind adjustment layers but what's so special about them? I'm no 2D graphics whiz but I'm sick of having only Paint every time I want to do more than minor photo adjustments.

For one, it gives you the ability to do color changes (and un-changes) without messing with the original. Very helpful for any number of reasons. You can also erase parts of the adjustment layer(s), use different blending modes, double up on adjustments, to name a few. There are all kinds of great tricks.

Petra · #20 11-01-2006, 12:01 PM

Yup, and they work well with layer masks, which makes selective editing even easier. All of which, as freemonkey has said, is non-destructive. They're genius. Like, totally.

Petra · #21 11-01-2006, 12:03 PM

Oh, oh, and adjustment layers have slightly different properties depending on where you add one from (the little icon thingy at the bottom of the layers palette, the edit menu, or the layers menu). Brilliant!

nvexio · #22 11-02-2006, 12:07 AM

I'll never switch from Photoshop, I'm afraid.