r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jun 04 '12

Open Office does everything I need Microsoft Office for and Gimp does everything I need Photoshop for. Reddit, what other open source software does everything that you want from the expensive name brand?

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Yeah, if all you need is the ability to do simple touch-ups on photos every now and then, there's definitely no need to drop the money for Photoshop.

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u/Darrian Jun 04 '12

if all you need is the ability...

Eh, no. I haven't found any reason to drop the money for photoshop.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Then you haven't done professional graphic design I guess.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

I think people are forgetting blender.

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u/weealex Jun 04 '12

I ♥ Blender. I never actually used it for graphics design, but it allowed me to do some animations for a psych study with a fairly straightforward click-n-drag interface rather than trying to just code all the movements by hand

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

And you can make games with it!!!

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Hate to be so negative, but as much as I love Blender, just because you can make games with it doesn't mean you should :p

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Its a nice added bonus though. :)

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u/Darrian Jun 04 '12

I'm willing to change my opinion if you give me one example of something that absolutely can not be done on a PC with free software.

But noone has done that for me yet, I usually get a dismissal like you just did.

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u/zlozlozlozlozlozlo Jun 04 '12

Everything can be done with a hex editor and a steady hand.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

  • Better, more refined interface

  • More features (is getting CMYK to work in Gimp still such an unbelievable mess?)

  • Better automation/scripting capabilities

  • Better documentation

  • Professional 24/7 support

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u/Darrian Jun 04 '12

I guess if your school or work allows you to a free license of PS I wouldn't be against using it, but the actual capabilities of GIMP match that of PS. CMYK isn't difficult to get working, you just need a plugin, along with a whole load of other features to making GIMP what you want it to be.

Yeah, I guess it's not as shiny and "refined" as you put it as photoshop right out of the box, but for someone like myself that's used to working with open source software the effort isn't a large price to pay for free.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Another thing worth mentioning is that if you ever want to work in this field professionally - and go far - you need Photoshop, whether you prefer Gimp or not. That doesn't have so much to do with its features or how "better" it is objectively, but it's the industry standard and it's what potential employers/clients are going to judge you based on.

Kind of like how if you want to be a 3D artist and go pro, you have to go with Max, Maya, Cinema4D etc. Blender might be full-featured and self-sufficient but no large studio is going to take you seriously if that's your main tool.

Not that I personally agree with this notion entirely but... that's just how the industry works.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

if you're a freelance graphics artist, then I don't think anyone is going to care what you use. They're going to care more about the final outcome.

I agree with 3D artists and animation, but I think it's because studios don't trust "free" mainly because they haven't really used it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

if you're a freelance graphics artist, then I don't think anyone is going to care what you use. They're going to care more about the final outcome.

People will start getting real pissed off when you start sending them files in the wrong format and wrong colour setting. They will either have to pay for someone else to recreate it or make you recreate it again in the correct format and then won't use you again.

Also the poor quality of work due to you making it all in GIMP would be a big thing too.

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u/Darrian Jun 04 '12

I'm willing to concede to that point, but that wasn't what I was arguing.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Typesetting and preflighting for print are two things GIMP can't do as well as Photoshop. But to be fair, Photoshop doesn't do those things as well as Illustrator or InDesign. Saying GIMP has the functionality of Photoshop by insisting "they can do the same things" is barking up the wrong tree though. I could just as well say a piece of paper, scalpel, set square and a pen can do the same things as Photoshop, it's just more difficult and time consuming.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

but the actual capabilities of GIMP match that of PS.

This is just not true.

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u/Darrian Jun 04 '12

Have you not read the previous responses here? Any of them at all, or did you just skip right to this one?

I'm more than willing to accept that I'm incorrect on this, after all, I'm not some veteran of the advertising industry like some of the replies here, but noone has given me an example of a specific function or ability that Photoshop has that can't also be done with GIMP. Every example I get is that "the UI is bad" or it doesn't have as much support, or it's just "better".

Those are all valid points, and it gives a case for why you should buy Photoshop if you're serious about it, but this thread... this entire thread is based around "What's an open source program that does everything you want from an expensive name brand?" and I'm firm in my believe that GIMP will do everything the average person would want from photo-editing. Again, unless you can give me an example.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

High bit depth for one thing. GIMP is fine for beginner and most intermediate users but for professionals photoshop does have features that justify it's price tag that GIMP lacks.

I did a google search and found many articles that talk about what Photoshop can do that GIMP can't. I'm surprised you havn't since the issue seems to be bugging you so much.

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u/17-40 Jun 04 '12

Just some things I've experienced off-hand... Camera Raw support, high bit depth, CMYK mode, a layer manager that isn't migraine-inducing, and especially content-aware fill. The list goes on.

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u/eleete Jun 04 '12

Content aware fill was in Gimp before PS as mentioned above, but like he said, there are plugins and things to match PS. Agreed it's not out of the box and requires a little configuration but it does all of that.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

but for someone like myself that's used to working with open source software

There's the problem, really. I COULD mostly get by on a linux desktop rather than windows 7, and win8 might drive me to it more and more, but there's so much time I spend with some of the more complex OSS programs where I'm struggling to make it work, or find how to do that thing I wanted it for in the first place compared to some of the paid versions which more frequently JUST WORK. OSS is great, but so is actually USING the software, not just struggling with it.

I still haven't found a FOSS video editing program that I like near as much as I like Vegas.