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theolein · Oct 9, 2003, 05:06 PM

Here is a screenshot of the latest developer release of the GIMP (1.3.2.1) running on OSX. It has a completely new interface which includes being able to dock palettes, access functions through a normal menu (don't have to right click all the time) and even has rudimentary CMYK functionality.

It's definitely on the way to becoming an alternative for web designers (and perhaps even print in the future), and the new interface is fantastic.

moki · Oct 9, 2003, 05:28 PM

Originally posted by theolein:
It's definitely on the way to becoming an alternative for web designers (and perhaps even print in the future), and the new interface is fantastic.

Just a question -- have you used Photoshop 7/8? Granted, The GIMP is free, but if you do any amount of graphical work, you owe it to yourself to give Photoshop a shot.

In terms of interface, performance, and features, I'm afraid The GIMP still has a long way to go to become a serious rival to Photoshop.

I guess "fantastic" is relative; I agree the new interface is much nicer than the old GIMP interface.

clarkgoble · Oct 9, 2003, 05:44 PM

It looks much better. (If you used an Aqua theme with Gnome it'd probably look better -- doesn't Gimp use the Gnome toolkits?)

Here's the big problem with Gimp. X11 doesn't support cut and paste of anything but text. Both Gnome and KDE have their own cut and paste routines that work with more data. But there's no program to link Gnome or KDE features with OSX.

This means that there is no drag and drop between X11 and Macintosh windows and no cut and paste of anything but graphics. i.e. you must save all graphics to use them. This rather limits its convenience for web designers. Especially when there are plenty of other applications out there that are native for OSX.

Don't get me wrong, Gimp is improving. This UI seems (in appearance at least) almost ready for prime time -- unlike previous versions. Were I using Linux I'd be very excited. On OSX though it is much more difficult to be excited.

King Bob On The Cob · Oct 9, 2003, 11:31 PM

Originally posted by clarkgoble:
doesn't Gimp use the Gnome toolkits?

Gimp uses gtk+ (GIMP Toolkit)

Eug Wanker · Oct 9, 2003, 11:34 PM

I'm afraid The GIMP still has a long way to go to become a serious rival to Photoshop.

Quite frankly, as a light user, I'd probably pay to use Photoshop Elements before I'd use GIMP. (Fortunately, I can get the full Photoshop cheap thru work.)

And for the pro user, I'd be surprised if more than 1% of the pro photo editing population would even consider GIMP at all.

GIMP is great for the price, and I applaud its developers, but it's not in even the same universe as Photoshop.

Adam Betts · Oct 10, 2003, 01:23 AM

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
GIMP is great for the price, and I applaud its developers, but it's not in even the same universe as Photoshop.

Photoshop's worth over 15 years of works so it would be virtually impossible for its competitors to catch up anytime soon. There's plenty of attention to details such as Shift-Click on different layers to lock them together.

GIMP is good but it's better off for geeks with good graphic design skills.

mitchell_pgh · Oct 10, 2003, 02:11 PM

GIMP is an amazing program and the sheer magnitude of the project amazes me. That being said, it's like comparing TextEdit to M$ Word and saying that they both are word processors. One is free, and the other is arguably overpriced (but feature complete).

I look forward to seeing a native version of GIMP on OS X.

MacGorilla · Oct 10, 2003, 10:06 PM

I love The GIMP, its hands down my favorite X Windows app. I use it all the time but not a graphical nut so I don't need Photoshop.

Sven G · Oct 11, 2003, 05:31 AM

The new interface looks much better, indeed: the previous one was a huge mess of windows and palettes (and their positions aren't even remembered!).

Photoshop is much more evolved, naturally.

Anyway, one thing that I rather like in the Gimp is the contextual menu approach: quite convenient to be able to do anything with the mouse directly on your document. Of course, there really should be more options, on this front...

Lordx_ · Oct 11, 2003, 11:55 AM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
GIMP is an amazing program and the sheer magnitude of the project amazes me. That being said, it's like comparing TextEdit to M$ Word and saying that they both are word processors. One is free, and the other is arguably overpriced (but feature complete).

I look forward to seeing a native version of GIMP on OS X.

Sure, it is easy to say that something is overpriced when you are comparing it to software that is free..

theolein · Oct 11, 2003, 03:38 PM

Originally posted by Adam Betts:

Photoshop's worth over 15 years of works so it would be virtually impossible for its competitors to catch up anytime soon. There's plenty of attention to details such as Shift-Click on different layers to lock them together.

GIMP is good but it's better off for geeks with good graphic design skills.

The GIMP has been around since the middle 90's, which makes it only a little younger than Photoshop.

theolein · Oct 11, 2003, 03:53 PM

Originally posted by moki:
Just a question -- have you used Photoshop 7/8? Granted, The GIMP is free, but if you do any amount of graphical work, you owe it to yourself to give Photoshop a shot.

In terms of interface, performance, and features, I'm afraid The GIMP still has a long way to go to become a serious rival to Photoshop.

I guess "fantastic" is relative; I agree the new interface is much nicer than the old GIMP interface.

I've used Photoshop 7 on Windows and Mac quite a lot, and while it's performance on Windows is good, it's poor on the Mac. I'm quite conservative with respect to Photoshop (and Illustrator btw) and still regard version 5.5 as the best balance of features and usability. Compared to version 5.5, the new GIMP is quite close as regards usability, perfomrance and features. I hated the old GIMP's interface, but the new one is a major step forward. I don't need all the features of the latest Photoshop for web work, and appreciate the fact that I can save some money.

Compared to Photoshop elements, the GIMP has some features that I really can't do without, such as layer masks.

godzookie2k · Oct 11, 2003, 04:47 PM

As a designer, I only know one designer on the entire planet who would even consider the gimp, and that guys a little weird anyway. That being said, I'm glad the project is coming along well, but it'll never replace the big beast.

sushiism · Oct 11, 2003, 05:10 PM

Originally posted by Sven G:

Anyway, one thing that I rather like in the Gimp is the contextual menu approach: quite convenient to be able to do anything with the mouse directly on your document. Of course, there really should be more options, on this front...

although personally i consider that to be the biggest UI tumor of the whole shitty experience