Gimp vs Photoshop

stephras07 · Jun 13, 2010

I really want to get photoshop 7 (I found a copy on ebay for $80 new), can't afford the CS versions, and haven't heard the best things about Photoshop Elements (correct me if I'm wrong!)

My husband really wants me to just get Gimp, which is a free, Mac version of Photoshop (according to him).

I do use Mac, but I know that Photoshop makes mac editions as well.

I would love any thoughts about any of these programs!

AlexL · Jun 13, 2010

I think you should try out GIMP first if you haven't been using any photoshop anyways. I think GIMP has better features and tools then photoshop 7 (way too back and used mostly CS 2,4,5)

stephras07 · Jun 13, 2010

Have you used Gimp? I haven't really used anything other than iPhoto at this point so I'm not really sure what I'm doing lol.

AlexL · Jun 13, 2010

I have used GIMP before, and I'm no where near an experience user of it or familiar with the tools. But you can find a lot of examples of how to use it on this forum and there are many tutorials you can look at. Google it

stephras07 · Jun 13, 2010

Thanks! I was looking for people with experience to get some good feedback, not just "go with gimp because its free" or "go with photoshop because its not free" type of thing.

CW Jones · Jun 13, 2010

I have used GIMP. It is a nice "starter" type program. It has lots of the same features as Photoshop CS3, 4, and some of 5. BUT where they differ is how well those features work. I can clone in both programs however I feel Photoshop does a better job of blending to make it look more correct. Just a personal observation.

Like I said I have used both and would seriously recommend trying GIMP out for a while before you move on to something like CS5

stephras07 · Jun 13, 2010

Thanks for the details - that helps alot. I guess I will give Gimp a try, at least until I get better at editing and need something more.

I hate it when my husband is right.... LOL

CW Jones · Jun 13, 2010

ummmm well then just to spite him get CS5 and you won't be disappointed with it! haha

You can outgrow GIMP but I find CS5 hard to outgrow. You could learn with either of them.

alexrock23 · Jun 13, 2010

I use GIMP for much of my photo work. GIMP works fine for my purposes and delivers most of the features I would need in an image editing suite. It is also available on several platforms, which suits me better due to operating system diversity.

Garbz · Jun 14, 2010

GIMP suffers from a complete lack of 16bit colour support. That's the only issue. If you're doing RAW editing make sure you have your exposure nailed as close as possible in UFRAW before the file is opened in GIMP to make sure you don't end up losing too much quality as a result of your edits.

For minor editing there's no issue, but if you're a heavy wedding photographer type psycho editor then GIMP is not sufficient in my opinion.

lamar328 · Jun 14, 2010

I was using Photoshop for about 3 years before going traveling for a year and a bit, and because I use a computer which doesn't run on either Mac or Windows, I am using GIMP for editing.

GIMP is great because it's free and very similar to photoshop in quite a few ways.
I found it user friendly, and the tools served their purpose fairly well.

Photoshop has better logic behind their tools, so they tend to work a bit better, or more accurately at least, but just as everyone else has said, try GIMP out and see how you enjoy it.

If you want to do a good test, edit a few photo's in GIMP, and then download the free trial version of photoshop and edit the same photo's.
See how the editing process compares, and which program you enjoy more.

dak1b · Jun 14, 2010

photoshop all the way!

Mike_E · Jun 14, 2010

It's unlikely that you are going to find a "new" copy of Photoshop 7. It's most likely a counterfeit, just because you paid for it doesn't make it legal.

How deep do you want to go with this?

Unless you intend to do some serious pixel work, Lightroom should be fine and elements OK.