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March 28, 2024, 01:29:11 PM

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The GIMP.

Started by Des Nilsen, March 20, 2004, 04:38:37 PM

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Des Nilsen

I've just seen VorpalSword's post about 'how to photoshop/mong'.
I actually don't have photoshop, but I do have my very own GIMP - a free alternative to adobe photoshop.

You can get it (or links to sources) here.
You have to download a setup file and the main body of the software and it's very good indeed. Very useful and easy to navigate, and it's put together by people who're just trying to be helpful - no 30 day trials etc.

I've made a few mongs with it and it's been a piece of piss, perhaps not as good or advanced as photoshop, but it's capable.

Edit: Oh, and do the sensible thing while installing it - don't associate any files with it, because when you uninstall they have to be opened by imaging software and can't be opened by explorer via simple double-clicking.
It's the same with a lot of software though.


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ccab

The gimp's not a terrible piece of software - I think I remember TOCFMIC raving about it. I think I also remember reading somewhere it doesn't have layers. In that respect it's inferior to Paint Shop Poo.

I think it was originally intended for Linux users for whom photoshop isn't available & you can perhaps understand them being grateful for scraps. Still it's free & well-intentioned & like other 'simple' software packages, if all you want to make is basic mongs & semi-convincing images are good enough for you, you'll probably love it.

The idea that any one package is easier than another to use is a fallacy. Photoshop's a piece of piss - unless you give in straight away or get flustered at the sheer scope of its possibilties. The gimp is probably as tough (or as easy) to learn as photoshop - but once you've taken the trouble to learn & you start feeling ambitious - you're limited by the programme's deficiencies & narrowness like a pie-chomp in a ladyvest.

The bottom line is, if you're going to bother learning a graphics app at all, either make it photoshop, or shove your imagination in a dwarf machine & leave it there for 6 days.

Still Not George

ccab, have you been taking the Really Cool Metaphor Pills again?

MarmiteCarpenter

Heads up for any Mac users in here - the Mac version of Gimp has been updated and comes in a nice installer too so you don't need to grow a beard and move into your mums basement to use it etc etc

Get it here!

I've never used it til now, but it aint too shabby!

Edit: you need X11,  but that comes installed with 10.3 so chances are you already have it

terminallyrelaxed

Yes I saw this at work yesterday (we were playing with it) briefly) - it looks very simple and easy to use, and if I didnt already have MX and CS I'd probably go with it. Free too.

MarmiteCarpenter

Quote from: "terminallyrelaxed"Yes I saw this at work yesterday (we were playing with it) briefly) - it looks very simple and easy to use, and if I didnt already have MX and CS I'd probably go with it. Free too.

Do you know how the latest Paint Shop Pro compares to GIMP? I have to use PSP 6.something at work and it's caused the loss of much enamel on my molars, is 8 loads better?

terminallyrelaxed

No, sorry, what the hell is Paint Shop Pro? is that like Paint with plugins? Just kidding. I don't really have any clue about graphics apps (and I know more about fixing Photoshop than using it). I haven't played with one of them since Coreldraw7....

Jon

Paint Shop Pro can be found at http://www.jasc.com.  It's a graphics editing package that for years was derided as the poor man's Photoshop.  Recent versions have seen a big improvement in functionality however, and personally I think version 8 is leaps and bounds over any of the previous editions.  It costs about £70, which is a lot less than the £500 or so you'd pay for photoshop.  For that you still get a very extensive feature set, with layering, vector and raster modes, python scripting and shitloads of filters.

Now if you wanted to do professional image/design work, you probably wouldn't get far using Paint Shop Pro, but for amateur stuff like mongs and the like, it's a very good choice.  It's certainly got an easier learning curve and a more straightforward interface than Photoshop.  As for The Gimp, I've tried some of the older versions and thought they were pretty dire.  Version 2.0 has just been released and is supposedly a big improvement, but I haven't tried it yet.

MarmiteCarpenter

Quote from: "Jon"...Version 2.0 has just been released and is supposedly a big improvement, but I haven't tried it yet.
I toyed for a little while but ultimately threw it away. Its nice and quick, but its got annoying quirks, like very few of the filters give previews (guassian blur for example, and its basically useless without preview) and the file dialog is the worst thing I've ever seen, I'd rather retrieve my images from the dank cavernous depths of Anne Widdecombe's vagina. Using my tongue. After its been dusted with Monosodium Glutamate.

Crosma

Quote from: "ccab"I think I also remember reading somewhere it doesn't have layers.
The Gimp has support for layers.

I think you've been a little eager to knock it down (considering you don't seem to have used it very much). The interface is more typical of older Unix style applications than Photoshop. It's floating windows vs. multiple windows locked in a single window. As a Windows application it is a little out of place, but it fits Linux (for example) like a glove (or a condom if you're into the gratuitous). I'd even go so far as to say that The Gimp's interface (and by extension, everything else it does) is fantastic (so there).

As for the "'simple' software package" derision, The Gimp is missing nothing except CMYK colour model support (due to patent lock).

Jaffa The Cake

The GIMP is Linux's Paint. While it's much much better than paint, it ain't no photoshop. However, you get a lot for your money, especially since it's free.