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Does any one use GIMP?


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My recent try at removing the shadows from the road sign in another thread, and not having the PS tool used in Elements, got me wondering... ... ...

 

I keep reading that GIMP is about as powerful as the subscription model of Photoshop, but a bit more difficult to learn.

 

Since I haven't learned Photoshop and am just starting to learn Elements, I wonder if I might be better off downloading GIMP and going there.

 

I'll probably never want a Photoshop subscription because this is just a hobby with me. I make my living doing two other things (1) performing music live (2) writing aftermarket products for Band-in-a-Box. Since I make my own backing tracks for performing live, both of these are very, very time-consuming.

 

So if anyone has used GIMP I might have a few more questions to ask.

 

Thanks,

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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It's extremely powerful and capable. And certainly, the price is right. I used it some years ago, and it was powerful back then. It's multi-faceted and powerful at any price, but for free? It's nuts.

 

I don't like the way it goes about doing things. Some of this might have to do with Photoshop, and some of it has to do with my personal preferences. I just felt like it was harder to implement things. The last straw for me was how it handled text, which I really hated.

 

For free or reasonably inexpensive software many people like Elements, like you mentioned, Darktable (I know nothing about this), Luminar 4 or Luminar AI, or Affinity. I use Luminar 4 and AI routinely as part of my workflow and love their stuff, using it as a plug-in with Photoshop. However, they operate as stand-alone software as well.

 

If I had to do without Photoshop/Lightroom, I suppose I would probably continue using Luminar and look into Affinity if it brings anything to to the table as far as "stacking", using Layer Masks, or any of that kind of thing, which I love to do.

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I installed GIMP, opened it once and looked at it. I never opened it again and deleted it shortly thereafter.

 

Meaningless in context, if you want to give it a spin there are many who use it successfully. I am just not one of them...

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I haven't tried in years. As Ken mentioned, the price is right. I'm using Photoshop and honestly at whatever the price is for the Photography plan it is completely worth it to me. While there are Photoshop competitors, it is hard to replace Photoshop Actions, Photoshop Plug-ins and unlimited tutorials on every subject imaginable on Youtube.

-Mike Martin

 

Casio

Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook

The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network

 

The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for.

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I'm still not great at Photoshop, but I know how to do what I need to do well. I just don't use a lot of it. But I love Layer Masks. That speaks to my brain. I "get" Layer Masks. I like control, and I like non-destructive editing. And I've also been using Photoshop for twenty years, so when I went to use GIMP, Affinity, and the others, I missed Photoshop. There's a real value to building a rapport with something, so I decided to honor that and continue using it by getting the subscription, the first and only subscription I've ever had.

 

Like I said, I would probably look into Luminar and Affinity if I couldn't use the Adobe products.

 

Give GIMP a try. If you like it, great. It's a supremely powerful program and there's enough tutorials on YouTube and elsewhere that you can get pretty far with it.

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Thanks again.

 

I'll look into Luminar and Affinity too.

 

I can relate to knowing how a program works and working on it for years. That makes learning a new program a PITA, and slows your work flow down as you learn the new app. I still use Master Tracks Pro for my basic MIDI sequencing jobs.

 

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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I like having the muscle memory so I can get on to creating. Same with Pro Tools. I have an early version that I am still using. I don't really have to think about it. I just get on with recording and playing without having to think about the mechanics of doing so, and definitely without wondering where something is. This is for me far more so with Pro Tools than with Photoshop. I'm a novice at Photoshop, and decent with Pro Tools.
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