TheSoloAct
Junior Member
- May 12, 2019
- 159
- 154
It's Sunday and I have a lot of free time. My qualification: I was interested in graphic design since school and now I have a bachelor's in design and a few years of freelancing experience. I've used both extensively. My usage (although not a universal usage pattern in any way): Photoshop for complicated stuff where fine details are very important and GIMP when I loaded my Linux and wanted to get something done quickly.
BRIEF OVERVIEW
GIMP stands for "GNU Image Manipulation Program". Adobe Photoshop is a very old (but frequently-updated) software that actually started the graphic design revolution back when Macs were all the rage. GIMP is free, open-source, and customizable. Photoshop is commercial. Both are "photo editors" at their very core. They work with raster or bitmap images, as compared to vector/scalable graphics (that would be Illustrator vs Inkscape).
Photoshop is the most popular image editing software on the planet. It's a household name. No matter where you edit your photos, you can call it "Photoshopping." You know something is popular when it works as a verb.
WHY CHOOSE GIMP?
Are you going to do image editing every once a while? Are you going to only edit images and do little bit of compositing and digital painting? Do you have a slower or older machine? Go for GIMP.
Do you need image editing almost daily? Are you going to use many other features from artboards and typographic manipulation to advanced filters, presets, and bulkier effects? Do you have a decent machine to run and decent times to purchase a CC subscription? Go for Photoshop.
IF YOU'RE A POWER GRAPHICS USER
Power users with graphics need surely need Photoshop. Its integration with other Creative Cloud apps is the reason. A graphics power user needs
BRIEF OVERVIEW
GIMP stands for "GNU Image Manipulation Program". Adobe Photoshop is a very old (but frequently-updated) software that actually started the graphic design revolution back when Macs were all the rage. GIMP is free, open-source, and customizable. Photoshop is commercial. Both are "photo editors" at their very core. They work with raster or bitmap images, as compared to vector/scalable graphics (that would be Illustrator vs Inkscape).
Photoshop is the most popular image editing software on the planet. It's a household name. No matter where you edit your photos, you can call it "Photoshopping." You know something is popular when it works as a verb.
WHY CHOOSE GIMP?
- GIMP is free and easy to use for people using Linux distributions like Ubuntu. It is, however, available on all major operating systems including Windows, for free. But if the cost of an Adobe subscription is your only point for choosing GIMP, it might give you some relief to know that Photoshop is the most seeded software on most of the popular torrent directories.
- Linux users can't use Photoshop even if they want to buy it. Creative Cloud subscription is only for Mac and Windows. The argument of how much Adobe is missing out on by ignoring the Linux user base aside, Photoshop is not going to be very popular as a commercial software on Linux anyway. Using Wine (or another emulator) is the only workaround right now.
- Windows users also choose GIMP when they get bored with Photoshop. Can we call it software fatigue? Perhaps.
- GIMP comes with a low disk and RAM usage. You get a free image editor for under 30MB. It's a lifesaver. It's a very lightweight program when compared to Photoshop, or any other Adobe application for that matter except the Reader. So, older computers benefit from GIMP over Photoshop. GIMP uses fewer resources to download, to install, and while running.
- GIMP is highly customizable. From the user interface to the very core capabilities, everything can be tweaked. Automation becomes a breeze if you know how to do it.
- Photoshop is versatile. It's not just for photo editing, although that is the most popular usage among graphic designers closely followed by other uses. It's good for: compositing; interface design (UI, web mockups); digital painting; large-scale publication design; typography; animations; asset production in a pipeline; etc.
- You get increased power and performance with Photoshop. Amazingly powerful tools, ability to work on multiple mediums, stronger processing tools, more flexibility with brushes, better text processing and conversions, precise pixel manipulation, ability to smoothly render complex artwork, advanced masking ability, and on and on. Photoshop is truly the god and it's improving each day.
- With Photoshop, you have precision and stability. Four separate healing tools, infinite number of downloadable brushstrokes, many filters and actions, etc.: all these ensure you achieve accurate results. And this is all very stable, although running Photoshop on older machines can cause it to crash more often than your breakdown point where you just throw your computer.
- Working with cameras is faster and easier in Photoshop. Photoshop processes RAW images better and as soon as you connect a camera, the RAW importer will pop up. Conversions are easy and swift. GIMP doesn't come with this functionality without a plugin, and the plugin isn't as powerful as Photoshop anyway. Also, the Photoshop-Lightroom combination is a great software combination for photographers.
- Working with CMYK is obviously better in Photoshop. CMYK is the color space used for print.
Are you going to do image editing every once a while? Are you going to only edit images and do little bit of compositing and digital painting? Do you have a slower or older machine? Go for GIMP.
Do you need image editing almost daily? Are you going to use many other features from artboards and typographic manipulation to advanced filters, presets, and bulkier effects? Do you have a decent machine to run and decent times to purchase a CC subscription? Go for Photoshop.
IF YOU'RE A POWER GRAPHICS USER
Power users with graphics need surely need Photoshop. Its integration with other Creative Cloud apps is the reason. A graphics power user needs
- formatted text bodies (InDesign),
- vector graphics (Illustrator),
- assets for motion graphics, video production, and animation (AfterEffects, Premiere Pro), etc.
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