Authored by Pug Smelters in Computer Software
Published on 12-19-2008
One of the biggest and best photo editing and graphic design software is Photoshop. But with a price tag of $699, most people can not afford it. Thankfully a dedicated few have created The Gimp.
Gimp is a graphic design software just as efficient and reliable as Photoshop, but with a much better price tag: free! Just a few of its features include:
- Customizable interface
- Photo enhancement
- Color palette
- Stock and custom brushes
- Digital and photo retouching
- An array of tools like stamp, shapes, brushes and more
- Support of hardware including pressure sensitive drawing tablets
- Wide support for most file formats
- Support on most operating systems such as Linux, Windows XP and Vista, Mac, FreeBSD and Sun
Some limitations are: it is not quite up to par with the new Photoshop CS4, but it’s only a matter of time that the dedicated folks at GIMP include all the features. I would compare GIMP to somewhere between CS2 and CS3. Still very, very powerful. Will do more than expected for most casual users, most professionals agree it is a good software choice.
The only other drawback are that things are slightly different than Photoshop as far as controls go. It may take the user some time to adjust to doing things a little different if they are migrating from Photoshop. But! BUT! Another user has created the GIMPshop, which has all the features of The GIMP, but all the features you are familiar with in Photoshop.
Final conclusion: If you are a casual graphic or photo editing user, GIMP is the way to go. It will save you time and money. Most professionals can also use GIMP with no lack in productivity and quality. The only ones that should go to Photoshop CS4 are those that require the “latest and greatest” or are required to use it for work.
