Sorry no, but in your dreams. GIMP is not a professional tool -- very far from it. It's has little more functionality than Elements. It lacks essential professional tools. It's worthless to a professional.
Perhaps the subtitle should be "From Novice to Enthusiastic Amateur".
Support for color modes other than greyscale and RGB, for one thing.
Those will come soon, and if you're not doing print or broadcast work, that isn't such a big deal.
Is that the same "come soon" as when 16 bit colour channels are "coming soon"? Ten years after 16 bit colour channels were offered GIMP still doesn't have it.
Support for Image Analysis that is as good as Photoshop (in the least)
That is not to say Photoshop is the best, IMHO, the best image analysis program is the free and open source ImageJ
1. Color-managed workflow - a must for even a serious amateur 2. Proper printing (see also 1) 3. No need to spend numerous hours learning a new UI and workflow 4. A massive library of plugins 5. Built-in stitching (used by landscape pros) 6. GIMP probably doesn't have Smart Filters and some other advanced doodads which have made later CS versions indispensable for those (admittedly few people) who know how to use them
I used GIMP when I really wanted to move entirely to Ubuntu. But points 1, 2 and 6 broke GIMP for me. I hate sticking to XP just so I can have PS, but that's the price I have to pay to have proper photo editing.
I have three machines running Ubuntu 8.04LTS + Virtualbox + Windows XP. This works pretty well for those cases where you prefer Linux but have to be able to run specific Windows applications. I have 4GB of RAM in each of these machines so as to be able to have adequate of RAM for the virtual machine(s).
1. Color-managed workflow - a must for even a serious amateur 2. Proper printing (see also 1) 3. No need to spend numerous hours learning a new UI and workflow 4. A massive library of plugins 5. Built-in stitching (used by landscape pros) 6. GIMP probably doesn't have Smart Filters and some other advanced doodads which have made later CS versions indispensable for those (admittedly few people) who know how to use them
1. I don't have work that requires rigorous color management so I don't use any such feature from GIMP, but I'll trust that you know what you're talking about.
Hey, wait a second! What's this [gimp.org], then! That was back in 2.4! Man, I'm going to have to be careful about trusting what you say.
2. You'll have to say specifically what's missing here.
3. That's a bogus complaint. I mean, the difficulty of learning a new interface, and even extra awkwardness because of being accustomed to another, is a legitimate issue, but it is not something unique or inherent to GIMP. But an already-learned interface is not something "a professional image editor [has] that GIMP doesn't" -- one still has to learn the interface of closed-source applications. It's a legitimate complaint outside the topic you're addressing.
4. Is there a specific plug-in capability that you think is lacking in GIMP's large provided-with-app plug-in library or is lacking in the available realm of plug-ins provided by third parties?
5. That's a pretty specific need. But at a glance I see four different plug-ins for stitching? Why is built-in critical here, especially on the heels of talking up the value of plug-ins?
6. As far as I can tell this is correct. I mean, Smart Filters. "Other indispensible advanced doodads" is vague, though, innit?
Any bets on when GIMP gets Smart Filters? Shortly before you start using it, perhaps?
1. I don't remember which version of GIMP it was, but it was... 3-4 years ago. But yeah, appears GIMP now has color management. How robust and reliable it is I'll have to find out myself - I need ProPhoto as that's what Lightroom spits out (I know you can export in other color spaces but why would I want to lose majority of the color info when it's there). Thanks for pointing this out!
2. Printing was just not done - no drivers for GIMP/Ubuntu for any serious photo printer (7+ inks) was the killer. Doubt tha
I used GIMP when I really wanted to move entirely to Ubuntu. But points 1, 2 and 6 broke GIMP for me. I hate sticking to XP just so I can have PS, but that's the price I have to pay to have proper photo editing.
If you're using Ubuntu have you tried CinePaint [cinepaint.org]? I don't know if it meets your requirements but it may.
Subtitle is misleading. (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry no, but in your dreams. GIMP is not a professional tool -- very far from it. It's has little more functionality than Elements. It lacks essential professional tools. It's worthless to a professional.
Perhaps the subtitle should be "From Novice to Enthusiastic Amateur".
Re:Subtitle is misleading. (Score:1)
OK, so what does a professional image editor have to have that GIMP doesn't?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
what is missing from GIMP? (Score:2)
Support for color modes other than greyscale and RGB, for one thing.
Those will come soon, and if you're not doing print or broadcast work, that isn't such a big deal.
Is that the same "come soon" as when 16 bit colour channels are "coming soon"? Ten years after 16 bit colour channels were offered GIMP still doesn't have it.
Falcon
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Tell you what, I'll be a nice guy and sell you this copy of GIMP here for a very reasonable $1,800.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Subtitle is misleading. (Score:4, Informative)
1. Color-managed workflow - a must for even a serious amateur
2. Proper printing (see also 1)
3. No need to spend numerous hours learning a new UI and workflow
4. A massive library of plugins
5. Built-in stitching (used by landscape pros)
6. GIMP probably doesn't have Smart Filters and some other advanced doodads which have made later CS versions indispensable for those (admittedly few people) who know how to use them
I used GIMP when I really wanted to move entirely to Ubuntu. But points 1, 2 and 6 broke GIMP for me. I hate sticking to XP just so I can have PS, but that's the price I have to pay to have proper photo editing.
Re: (Score:1)
I have three machines running Ubuntu 8.04LTS + Virtualbox + Windows XP. This works pretty well
for those cases where you prefer Linux but have to be able to run specific Windows applications.
I have 4GB of RAM in each of these machines so as to be able to have adequate of RAM for the virtual
machine(s).
Re:Subtitle is misleading. (Score:5, Insightful)
1. I don't have work that requires rigorous color management so I don't use any such feature from GIMP, but I'll trust that you know what you're talking about.
Hey, wait a second! What's this [gimp.org], then! That was back in 2.4! Man, I'm going to have to be careful about trusting what you say.
2. You'll have to say specifically what's missing here.
3. That's a bogus complaint. I mean, the difficulty of learning a new interface, and even extra awkwardness because of being accustomed to another, is a legitimate issue, but it is not something unique or inherent to GIMP. But an already-learned interface is not something "a professional image editor [has] that GIMP doesn't" -- one still has to learn the interface of closed-source applications. It's a legitimate complaint outside the topic you're addressing.
4. Is there a specific plug-in capability that you think is lacking in GIMP's large provided-with-app plug-in library or is lacking in the available realm of plug-ins provided by third parties?
5. That's a pretty specific need. But at a glance I see four different plug-ins for stitching? Why is built-in critical here, especially on the heels of talking up the value of plug-ins?
6. As far as I can tell this is correct. I mean, Smart Filters. "Other indispensible advanced doodads" is vague, though, innit?
Any bets on when GIMP gets Smart Filters? Shortly before you start using it, perhaps?
Re: (Score:2)
1. I don't remember which version of GIMP it was, but it was... 3-4 years ago. But yeah, appears GIMP now has color management. How robust and reliable it is I'll have to find out myself - I need ProPhoto as that's what Lightroom spits out (I know you can export in other color spaces but why would I want to lose majority of the color info when it's there). Thanks for pointing this out!
2. Printing was just not done - no drivers for GIMP/Ubuntu for any serious photo printer (7+ inks) was the killer. Doubt tha
Ubuntu (Score:2)
I used GIMP when I really wanted to move entirely to Ubuntu. But points 1, 2 and 6 broke GIMP for me. I hate sticking to XP just so I can have PS, but that's the price I have to pay to have proper photo editing.
If you're using Ubuntu have you tried CinePaint [cinepaint.org]? I don't know if it meets your requirements but it may.
Falcon
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
OK, so what does a professional image editor have to have that GIMP doesn't?
To name two, 16 bit colour channels if not 24 or 32 and CYMK output.
Falcon