[Tools and Resources] GIMP vs Adobe Photoshop

[The Roman Republic]

Legend

All Spoilers display an image.

GIMP

Name

GIMP, it stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

What is GIMP

GIMP is an image creation and editing tool. It allows you to use a variety of image formats for import and export ranging from Gifs, MPEG, PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, etc. You can also export MNG layer images and HTML, C code and ASCII art.

Company

GIMP is developed by volunteers that form the GNU project, which was first founded by Peter Mattis and Spencer Kimball in 1995. They focus entirely on making free software, software that is designed to fulfill its purpose just as well as a similar software that also aims for the same result which requires you to pay for.

Price

GIMP is and always will be Free.

Intro

I came across GIMP around 4 years ago, when I wanted a more technical and advanced image creation software I went ahead and downloaded it. At first I was very lost, from being an avid user of paint to then suddenly being thrown into these new tools and various amounts of editing techniques, I just couldn't wait to learn and understand it.

Pros

-over 16 image manipulation filter sections with around 3 or more in each one.

-create Gifs easily.

-Great for basic and starter software for enveloping in higher skilled imagery.

-It's free

-You can create your website graphics

-Compatible with most OS, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and OpenSolaris.

-very strong community for advice, guides, and it's a lot quicker to get a response instead of waiting for contact from a company.

-large range of plugins

-GIMP needs very minimal amount of free space, normally around 20MB.

-You can run it from USB sticks which helps with portability

-customizable GUI

-fast software loading time

Cons

-Hard to grasp for new beginners

-doesn't have auto-save

-can't view multiple items in a single-window mode

-not that many automated features

-Developers can't use proprietary code so major updates take longer

-sometimes can be buggy and result in crashes, if no save has been made then your work is then lost

How's it helped with day-to-day life

I use GIMP for editing and changing images quickly and effectively, also adding effects to make certain sections stand out more.

PhotoShop

Name

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

What is Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a graphic editing program like GIMP it also allows you to use a variety of image formats for import and export ranging from Gifs, MPEG, PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, etc.

Company

Adobe Photoshop was originally programmed by Thomas Knoll in 1987, then He joined with his brother, John Knoll, who then both collaborated on the program. After the software was demonstrated to Apple and Adobe, Adobe then decided to purchase the license to distribute in late 1988. Then ever since it has grown to what it is today.

Price

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Standard cost's around £200 at this moment in time.

Intro

I got Photoshop about 2 years ago, simply because I wanted a professional image editing software that would allow me to do what I needed.

Pros

-vector capabilities

-many various filter effects

-Powerful editing tools

-industry standard program

-great animation features

-background auto-save

-Auto-recovery

-create Gifs well

-range of plugins

Cons

-Pricey

-Bad optimization on the Mac OS

-have to pay for some plugins

-very steep learning curve

-not every feature is on the photoshop paid extended version

-A fast graphics card is required to get good performance

-requires 1 GB of RAM (considering all of the files that will be created from photoshop it does take up the a lot of space.

-slow software load time.

How's it helped with day-to-day life

I use Adobe Photoshop for heavy image creations and editing.

Comparision

User Interface.

GIMP

GIMP has a very simplistic UI but still attains to show the most important tools. It displays everything you need into a simple layout to which you can personalize to suite your own needs. The moveable tool bar column allows you to get to certain tools quickly instead of going through the various tabs.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop has a different approuch in UI, it's main toolbar is locked onto the right, also you have some tools at the top as well as the conventional tabs. The column on the right only focuses on colour, patterns, textures, layers.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

features

GIMP

GIMP has loads of great features and tools to help you get the best result for your image or idea.

Like every image editing software the generic tools like Rubber, paintbush, text, ect are in both softwares.

GIMP's main features:
-customizable UI
-color correction
-customize print size
-Histogram
-Lens correction
-plug-in support
-scripting
-high dynamic range
-retouching
-open photoshop files
-GIMP is portable

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop had various features of its own.

Photoshop main features:
-Content-aware patch
-smart object support for blur gallery
-import colors from web files
-auto-recovery
-auto background save
-keep track of the editing history from when you start editing
-photomerge
-share photo to social networks
-sketching

Conclusion

There is no definite answer to which one is better, as it truly depends on what user you are. For example if you were a professional image editor then you would be opted to go with Photoshop, simply because of the different professional features. However thats where GIMP comes into play. GIMP being a free software already gives it a huge advantage over which one to get, simply because of the features you get, which are less professional, however that doesn't affect the way that you can still get the job done just as well.

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

A great comparison mate, thanks a lot. Although the UI picture of Adobe isn't showing..

I first learnt how to sue GIMp from Goofy, and since then it has always been there. I downloaded the trial of CS6 but it was a lot different in terms of where everything was.

[The Roman Republic]

Thanks.

Although the UI picture of Adobe isn't showing..

found another.

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

Ah yes, I can see it now.

[Heiro de Bodemloze]

Really great comparison, skimmed through it, but will read more thoroughly when I have more time!

[The Roman Republic]

Thanks, much appreciated.

[AqD]

hmm, I actually found GIMP easier to start with because everything you can do is right in the context menu. There is no need to look anywhere else for any functions. My only compliant is its lack of smart filtering layer and layer effects that may be turned on or off.

[The Roman Republic]

hmm, I actually found GIMP easier to start with because everything you can do is right in the context menu. There is no need to look anywhere else for any functions. My only compliant is its lack of smart filtering layer and layer effects that may be turned on or off.

thats where the extra plugins come in,

[AqD]

thats where the extra plugins come in,

They don't have a solution to that. They only add more effects but all these effects make permanent changes on layers, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid.