I will no longer be able to assist with development nor debugging actual issues with the software… Quite juvenile behavior from the devs. It stemmed from this issue where the devs continuously argued in public by opening and closing an issue. Anyway, thought I would keep y’all apprised of the situation, since these are the people maintaining the software you are currently using.
By all means, if you prefer GIMP to Ps, that’s on you.
But this tool is not viable for any kind of commercial work. Forcing rasterization before applying adjustments or effects means you can’t remove or rearrange adjustments and effects if it isn’t what was intended. And the GIMP approach of just copying a layer and reverting back is completely b0rked, because adjustments are applied in stacks. Meaning, one doesn’t just apply one adjustment, one must apply several. And the order of those adjustments, along with their blending modes, affects the outcome. Therefore, compositing quickly becomes a task with vast potential orderings in the stack. Never mind each change to an adjustment when tweaking an image. A nondestructive workflow makes this possible. GIMP’s rasterization “workstoppage” means it’s literally impossible to properly composite in that tool.
I don’t know how you use GIMP. If it works for you, by all means, enjoy. But for serious work, GIMP cannot be relied upon.
I edit photography and for serious work, I agree with you. The FOSS lover in me really, really wanted to like GIMP but I find myself just having it there, taking space most of the time. For light work and simple touch up work GIMP is fine, but if I already have Ps or hell, even Lightroom fired up, then I might as well used those for quick fixes as they exist closer or are part of my regular workflow. Guess the issue seems to come down to if you are willing to pay for the software. If one wants to spend $0, or one has light-use needs, then the use case for GIMP increases. But if you need more professional software, then you are likely to just pay for the industry standard for the extra features.
That is not to say that GIMP is useless, which is what I think some people may be thinking. I have been meaning to look at Krita, if only due to curiosity for a while. So thanks for reminding me.
I love the Adobe suite. I just hate Adobe, the company. Lol
I’m running Linux now and there’s no choice but the free tools. My workaround is to do cutouts and background recreation in GIMP. I prefer how it handles transparency masks and clipping over Krita. And the ability to use a saved path as a guideline with snapping is useful. Then all layers are exported and imported to Krita for composite with adjustment layers. Any text is done there for layer styles. Or, stuff from GIMP goes straight into Blender or Resolve.
But if a client demands Adobe, and they’re willing to pay, no worries. I’ll fire up win and run Adobe. But I have completely moved off Maya to Blender for a variety of reasons. Mostly because none of my clients require it anymore. Corporate clients tend to prefer Adobe still. The mom and pops tend to like the entire tool chain being free.
But without a doubt Ps blows away GIMP and Krita together, never mind separately. Frankly, I’d prefer Ae to Fusion too. But Blender has made up for most of the limitations of Fusion. And the rest of Resolve is fantastic.