GIMP alternative (Page 2 of 2)

a little note about keyboard shortcuts.   

i find that the most important keyboard shortcut to set is:
a shortcut to bring up the keyboard shortcuts window,
so anytime you press something you're used to, but it doesnt happen,
you can make sure it always happens from then on with a quick ctrl-K (or whatever you set), and setting it up.

i've found there really are only a tiny handful of keyboard shortcuts i got ingrained with the photoshop way, and this lets me stick with gimp, rather than use gimpshop or gimphoto (which are great, but,) which are usually built from versions a little older, or sometimes cause issues with other plugins... and i like to pimp my gimp.  ;D

certainly not worthy to "replace" gimp, but i do find myself using them from time to time:
Krita
KolourPaint

and of course, one simply must also have inkscape (+plugins), imagemagic, blender, pencil, etc etc
i'm still looking into cad and special effects editing (after effects equivalent).

Personally, I remain in favor of the GIMP as an installation default, but I do feel the need to play the voice of dissent for a moment, while everyone rails against Ubuntu for 'losing the plot'.

To the contrary, anyone who's been following Ubuntu's development for a while will see that this falls right in the line with the direction Ubuntu's been heading since the beginning. Ubuntu's aim has always been market-share, and i don't mean that in a greedy, corporate sense. Ubuntu has, to my mind at least, always been the 'missionary linux', bringing the 'truth' of free and open source software to the masses.

Just like a missionary in the real world, Ubuntu has appraised their target market, the crossover linux user, having only recently left the windows-only 'heathen' lifestyle. So in what way will Ubuntu encounter the most success in this goal? by presenting familiar, simple-to-understand options, and the added benefits of a vast array of free software and enhanced security and stability.

On the other hand, GIMP's aim has always been to provide a FOS alternative to the power-house image editing softwares (and i'll say they're doing a damn fine job.) but imagine if every version of windows dropped Paint in favor of Photoshop. To the artistically inclined and the power-users, i know this sounds great, a dream come true, but imagine the untrained user, dear Oma and Opa wanting to rotate, resize, or crop  an image and being confounded by such a dazzling array of options, most of which are meaningless to them. (Layers? I thought only ogres had layers!)

The decision to drop GIMP from the default install has raised a lot of hubbub with fans of the GIMP and Ubuntu nay-sayers, but in reality this decision is inevitable as the 2 projects progress, and is, rather than an affront, a measure of the success of both.

A major strength of linux is having multiple desktops and add openbox you've got scrolling between them super quick. The beloved GIMP maximises this incredibly productive power whereby you can place GIMP windows between desktops. Now add a twin screen setup, which openbox handles like a dream come true, the full productive potential of the GIMP is realised. Run out 12 desktops on a twin screen with openbox, get the GIMP powering. MAN! That's the cream.

OMG, leave GIMP alone...

Yup, as long as you have a high speed internet connection.

Of course there is the $19 a year version that you can run locally.  Sounds like you're renting it.

But yea, that "looks" interesting, however I'm not into renting software thank you.

Have a nice day.
Bruce

Last edited by Bruce (2009-12-05 13:58:16)

GIMP does the job for me, I'm not a photoshop master but I got used to GIMP for some basic editing tasks.

I use gtumb for basic photo editing, cropping change colors, hue etc. . And ristretto for nice and lightweight image viewing.
http://gthumb.sourceforge.net/features.html
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/ristretto
Both are not an gimp alternative but a solution for some basic tasks.

If you don't mind using wine you can use the freeware but not open source Fast Stone Image Viewer which was my fav in my windays.
It has some more image editing tools than gtumb and has a easy interface offering  loads of features.

Last edited by pablokal (2009-12-23 20:26:39)

Work in progress, which imho slowly starts to get usable now: Nathive.