[Cialug] Gimp/Photoshop challenge

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 9:04 PM, Matt Stanton
<inflatablesoulmate at brothersofchaos.com> wrote:
> So I didn't really have the same amount of 'time' as Josh did.  You could
> argue that this points towards the benefits of lower CPU/memory usage of
> open-source software, though, because I would be willing to bet that Gimp
> runs twice as fast on Linux as Photoshop does on Vista Ultimate on similar
> hardware.  I can open Gimp up with no speed issues on the nettop (outside of
> the VM, anyway).  Also, it seems that the Gimp is capable of the same image
> quality that you would expect from Photoshop.

Being very comfortable in both, I'd say that once Photoshop is started
it is about as fast as the Gimp. Gimp definitely loads quicker. Also,
for a one-off job the performance difference may be equal. However, if
you spend 2 hours working in each program you'll quickly find that
Photoshop allows you to work more quickly. The way it deals with text
layers is far more efficient. Adjustment layers and layer filters,
including the ability to go back and change them are incomparable (in
Photoshop's favor). When you export from Photoshop it remembers where
your project is so that you often just hit the save button in the
file-browser for the save dialog. However the Gimp reverts to your
home directory every time (because it's web export is a plugin that
has no saved state).

Something I often do that is easy in Photoshop but almost impossible
in the Gimp is add a shape to a layer. For example, if I want to
annotate an image with arrows. Gimp has no concept of vector layers
(and I've tried very hard by creating python scripts that allow
importing from Inkscape).

That said, if you want to create high quality graphics, Gimp has
nothing to be ashamed of. When it comes to the quality of the finished
product, they are both phenomenal tools.

> My verdict would be that if you are just starting out, and deciding to learn
> how to use these graphics programs, just start learning Gimp and Inkscape.
> You are going to have to invest a lot of time and effort into learning the
> OSS programs, just as you would with the Adobe products, but if you start
> with the OSS ones, you don't have to worry about trying to 'figure out how
> to do this thing I know how to do in Photoshop in Gimp'.

I totally agree with this statement. I hate using Illustrator after
learning Inkscape and only do so to get access to uncommon (for
editing) formats.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter

"Never stop learning" –Robert Nuzum (My dad)