Photoshop is one of the best image editing tools you can use, but this adobe subscription will burn a hole in your pocket quickly. Gimp helps you save that money, but this is not the only advantage.
1
Adaptable interface
When you open the Gimp for the first time, you probably won’t like the interface very much. It puts a ton ton tools front and center, many of which you are using for GIMP. And if you are migrating from Photoshop, it is going to be a bumpy ride.
Thankfully, the interface adaptation is one of the main powers of GIMP. Wherever you want, panels, toolbar and dialogues can move, group, hide or rearrowly. This allows you to customize the interface as per your choice, freeing the canvas space and, clearly, makes the tool less intimidating.
GIMP also supports the theme and icon set, so it is possible if you are the issue of readability or the editor to change the way to look perfectly, it is possible. There are plugins and scripts that you can find that provide additional equipment and automate repetitive functions, meaning that you can get rid of even more buttons.
To be clear, Photoshop also supports moving around the panels and optimizing the toolbar. However, Photoshop’s interface optimization is almost not as powerful as gimps. You may have completely different layouts that vary from person to other or also between tasks.
2
Midi controller support
The image editing tool contains a lot of sliders, and I am sure you have moved a little too much when you accidentally adjust. This is an incredibly disappointing phenomenon, and it happens many times, at least for me.
Thankfully, GIMP MIDi supports controllers, which means that you can map physical sliders, buttons and knobs for different editing parameters. The brush shape, color adjustment, and touch on other filter settings, real -time control, which are often controlled with a slider, makes life much easier and your changes are much more accurate.
This functionality is mainly controlled by ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) or OSS (Open Sound System) drivers on Linux. However, you can run it on any OS until you can reach the raw midi stream from your special device.
GIMP requires enabling the underlying MIDI module to install MIDI devices and edit configuration files, so it is not really the easiest facility to set up. But once it is working, it is worth striving, especially if you have experience working with midi devices in music production or video editing.
The Cage Transform tool of the GIMP lets you pull the “cage” around any part of your image and taunt it by pulling the cage points. For example, if you are working on an image with many objects and want to enlarge a specific thing, it is the tool you will use.
It has many benefits. For the beginning, all your adjustments occur in a single, integrated scene without the need to tolerate between many devices. You also get complete control over the deformation area without dealing with complex Aries grid.
The Cage Transform Tool also provides better control than its photoshop counterpart, puppet rap. The implementation of Photoshop uses a certain grid with pin which can create unexpected results on time -time.
4
Symmetry painting
The symmetry painting features are made in the brush engine of the GIMP and supporting mirrors, rotational and tiling symmetry types with options to customize axes and gaps. These features clones your brush stroke to an axis, allowing you to paint or attract symmetric design or patterns relatively quickly and easily.
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You can also add horizontal, vertical and central symmetry and adjust the axis position for more control. GIMP can also preview symmetry effects in real time. Photoshop also has a symmetry tool, but it actually exceeds an overlay. It also provides low symmetry type and low adaptation compared to the implementation of GIMP.
5
Non-destructive filter preview
GIMP uses non-destructive filter preview. This means that you can see how a filter will actually look on your image without implementing it and tune. You can also compare side-by-side before and after.
You can accommodate multiple filters, settings, or make the undone changes without affecting the underlying image data. Starting from GIMP 3.0, you can apply the filter in more layer types, including lessons with similar non-destructive capabilities.
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Photoshop provides similar capabilities with its smart filter, but GIMP implementation is easy to use and gives you more control over how your filters are applied. It is much lighter and responsible than the smart filter of Photoshop, especially if you do not have more powerful hardware.
The perspective clone tool in GIMP allows you to fix areas in your image according to a specific perspective. You can also define the disappearance points and clone areas or objects in your images. Photoshop’s clone stamps and healing brush tools are limited to fix the spot in your image, and if you try to clone an area from another part of your image, not necessarily align with the image’s approach.
If you do a lot of architectural or product photography, these devices are ideal for you. You will find spontaneous perspective control for both cloning and healing, something that will take many tools and a lot of steps in Photoshop.
7
Portable establishment
One of the most limited aspects of using Photoshop is the fact that it is tied to your machine. This means that if you want to edit while walking, then you have to take your primary device with you, because you cannot access the program anywhere else. And even if you can, the installation will be completely different, which means that any custom brush, equipment and scripts that you have used will not be available.
On the other hand can run GIMP, USB drive, external storage drive or even a cloud folder. You can take your entire editing environment with you, including any custom brushes, settings and plugins. When you are ready, just copy your GIMP installation on the computer you want to use and you are away from the race. If you are a student, freelancer, or otherwise work out of many places, this portable approach opens more options.
Gimp is also relatively lighter than Photoshop, which means that even if you manage your photoshop installation to another computer, there is a possibility that GIMP will perform better with different hardware. This is not to say that you can run GIMP on any PC, and it takes powerful hardware to spread your feet for the program – but it will perform better than Photoshop on weak hardware.
8
Multi-language scripting support
You will get more external plugins and scripts for GIMP than Photoshop. This is because Photoshop scripting is limited to Windows and VBSCript on MACOS, GIMP supports automation and scripting in many languages ​​including Pythan, Pearl, Lua, C, and Scheme (Script-Fu). It opens GIMP for a comprehensive programming community and more people can develop custom automation or plugins.
It also improves your possibilities of finding a more powerful feature addition or automation script. The option to choose between different programming languages ​​allows for more creative or technical solutions that may exceed the vanilla abilities of the program. GIMP did not top our list of top -free editing tools for nothing.
Gimp has long been thought of as an inferior tool for Photoshop, but it has been changing quickly, especially with Gimp 3.0 updates. If you are paying Adobe or feel stuck with Photoshop, it is a viable option to try. The best part? This will not spend you a penny!
