I’m one of those 95%, and I can tell you that the problem isn’t its lack of features as much as its overly complicated UI. Last time I gave it a try, basic tasks that take me a few clicks to do in Photoshop becomes weirdly difficult in GIMP.
You want to draw a circle? Use the ellipse select tool and 7 more steps I don’t remember. You want to adjust your stroked text a little bit? You need to do the path thing from the start again.
People also love to defend it saying that I’m just “too used to Photoshop” but no, when I started using Photoshop, it wasn’t anywhere as complicated as GIMP. It’s a good thing we have Krita and Photopea (although the latter is not FOSS, only free as in free beer).
If you like using GIMP, then good for you. For me though, it just isn’t a viable alternative if I want to get things done, even if all the features are there. :)
I’ve been using GIMP for around twenty years and I agree that it’s still hard to use, but I will say, they’ve improved a ton in the last few years. It’s important to know that it’s not for drawing, it’s for image manipulation. I have no idea why they’ve never just added a suite of drawing tools though.
In a professional setting, GIMP is shit compared to Photoshop. For 95% of normal users, it’s more powerful and full featured than you’ll ever need.
I’m one of those 95%, and I can tell you that the problem isn’t its lack of features as much as its overly complicated UI. Last time I gave it a try, basic tasks that take me a few clicks to do in Photoshop becomes weirdly difficult in GIMP.
You want to draw a circle? Use the ellipse select tool and 7 more steps I don’t remember. You want to adjust your stroked text a little bit? You need to do the path thing from the start again.
People also love to defend it saying that I’m just “too used to Photoshop” but no, when I started using Photoshop, it wasn’t anywhere as complicated as GIMP. It’s a good thing we have Krita and Photopea (although the latter is not FOSS, only free as in free beer).
If you like using GIMP, then good for you. For me though, it just isn’t a viable alternative if I want to get things done, even if all the features are there. :)
I’ve been using GIMP for around twenty years and I agree that it’s still hard to use, but I will say, they’ve improved a ton in the last few years. It’s important to know that it’s not for drawing, it’s for image manipulation. I have no idea why they’ve never just added a suite of drawing tools though.