GNU Image Manipulation Program has been around for sometime, as an open source alternative to propriety software such as Photoshop. Wait.... what? Adobe Photoshop? There is something like Adobe Photoshop for Linux? And it's free?! Too good to be true, right?
As it turns out, it's too good to be true. My experience with GIMP has been sordid and not the best Linux experience I had. But instead of wasting time to complain about GIMP and discourage new users from even trying, I thought I would go ahead and do my thing... review.
GIMP is a raster image editing program, similar to Adobe Photoshop but not sharing every aspect of Photoshop. To fairly judge GIMP, one has to forget about Photoshop and than you will be presented with a truly creative and awesome software. To forget about Photoshop means to forget the ease with which you did things in Photoshop, not a small sacrifice.
As with Photoshop, you will need to get down and dirty, follow some tutorials and learn the tools before you can really make anything creative. And GIMP has a slightly higher learning curve as opposed to Photoshop. A GIMPer (a GIMP user) would also have to get used to the multiple window layout that the program has been much criticised about.
I used to do a lot of design work on GIMP. Yes, that's past tense. Since I discovered Inkscape and my work in designing is more suitable for Inkscape, I rarely use GIMP these days. But for editting photos and images, its an indispensable tool. Comes in handy when you want a transparent png image from a jpeg, non-transparent png or gif. Extra handy when you want to add a mustache to your friends face and make him look like the hulk before sharing it on Facebook.
GIMP, with it's many problems still dominates the raster image manipulation industry of the Linux world, after so many years of being around. There is no better alternative for Linux in raster image manipulation (counting out Photoshop on Wine), nothing coming close to what GIMP has achieved over the years (though Paint.net is somewhat of an alternative). A lot of distros come with GIMP installed out of the box, though in Ubuntu 11.04, it has been dropped due to size restrictions. So after a clean installation of Natty, this is a must install software in your Linux box. It's popularity in the Linux world is due to the fact that it's lightweight and can mimic Photoshop in a round-about way to an appreciable level once you know the tricks and techniques. Till than, you might be stuck pulling your hair and staring at the screen in search for answers to what you should do next.
Pros
It's open source and multi platform (GNU, Linux, MAC, Windows)
Packed with plugins (called filters) and easy to find external plugins and load up in GIMP
Gave way to the GTK library (GIMP Tool Kit) which led to GTK+ (an OOP version of the library) which gave way to Gnome.
Ability to open Photoshop files (.psd) with some limitations
Able to save in a multitude of formats, including Photoshop's native psd format.
A great software to have in conjunction with Blender and Inkscape to satisfy your graphics design needs
Cons
The user interface... the multiple windows for the interface... doesn't really work out for me (and a lot of other people). It has been the main focus of a lot of criticism towards GIMP. There are hacks and varieties(such as GimPhoto) that sees that the interface is in one window. The next release of GIMP (version 2.8) has a default interface of one window, with option to keep it as multiple windows. Till then GIMPers are officially stuck with the unintuitive multiple windows interface.
Even if it wasn't for the interface, using GIMP sometimes seems like a hassle. In ability to select objects across layers, unavailability of layer effects, the list goes on.
For Photoshop users, the first thing to notice after a few hours of fiddling with GIMP is that its not Photoshop for Linux. It's just a Raster image manipulation program made for Linux and one of the best... and still miles behind Photoshop
Support for psd files is limited. Your amazing psd file in Photoshop may look like crap when opened in GIMP, as illustrated in one of the screenshots.
distro (the stable release is indicated when the second number of the release is even, eg. 2.4, 2.6). For that reason, we have been stuck with GIMP 2.6 for the last three or four release of Ubuntu.
The problematic psd file in GIMP. Notice the green area where transparency was added.
Conclusion With my cons list, one would think I am not doing justice to GIMP and just comparing it with Adobe Photoshop. It is after all those cons, still the best raster image editing program. In conjunction with Inkscape and Blender, it's a graphic designers dream combo in Linux and a must have. For some types of work, such as making layouts, fonts, icons, logos and business cards, Inkscape is a much better alternative to GIMP. And for editing images, GIMP is the better option. I use both GIMP and Inkscape a lot and find them invaluable to have around all the time.
Cant wait for the release of GIMP 2.8, which brings about a lot of changes to the interface, specially the much needed and appreciated one window interface.
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