I have been using GIMP for more years than I can count.
I used it when I was on Windows machines, and have been using it on a Mac for several years. But, apparently there is no support for X11 on OSX Lion. I just upgraded and GIMP no longer works. :bawling:
What can I do?
Let me explain that I am NOT A DESIGNER. I really only need to be able to adjust and modify existing photos, blur backgrounds, create gradient graphics (occasionally) and, most often, resize or convert images from one format to another. Far limited a set of capabilities to justify an expensive application like Photoshop.
Anyway, I am apparently too stupid to use Photoshop. As a matter of fact all of Adobe products frustrate me because their UI developers ‘think’ in a manner that is counter-intuitive for me. Their products are brilliant but I just can’t use them.
I have become so accustomed to GIMP. I can use it regardless of what machine I am working on. It does all the simple things I need in a straightforward way.
Does anyone have a suggestion for me? I am not opposed to paying a little money but FREE (Open Source) is always good.
I know you don’t like using Adobe products, but if you have been comfortable using GIMP then you should be able to find your way around Photoshop Elements in next to no time.
It has all the main bells and whistles of big brother Photoshop but is only a tiny fraction of the cost.
@kennard; PSE is a bit of a lame ‘lite’ version on PS that really doesn’t stand up to use. It’s more a precursor to get you buy the full version.
I would second Pixelmator for Mac use and it has a gorgeous interface to boot.
PSE is probably not what a professional photographer might use, but then neither are the freebies and other cheapies, but is definitely something a hobbyist or enthusiast could use with great results.
PSE has all the main photo editing bells and whistles and also includes very good stitching of photos to create a panorama, scene cleaner, adding special effects, making slide shows etc etc etc.
PSE10 (I think it was intoduced in pse9) allows adding layer masks to layers which means you don’t have to “borrow” them from other adjustment layers.
I can certainly recommend it to anyone to at least have a look at to see if it meets their needs. Unless they are a professional photographer, then it most probably will and it then boils down to if they want to spend the approx $149 to buy it or wait for the Photoshop Elements / Premiere Elements (video editing) bundle to come on special and get the bundle for $159 like I did a few months ago.
@kennard; Why do you personally advocate Photoshop elements instead of Photoshop CS? What is it about Photoshop elements that you like better than Photoshop CS?
Thanks, @kennard, I will take a look at that. I see it referenced often (in magazines and online) and have always dismissed it as “the little brother” to Photoshop (as you characterized it)
Thank you @ralph_m and @spikeZ for your recommendation of Pixelmator.
You are correct, @dresden_phoenix, I always approach an upgrade cautiously. In this case I ran Lion in a VM for several months and tested (what I thought was) every application I use on a regular basis. Somehow I missed GIMP! But, maybe it is time for a change.
It May be a bit pricey for you but if your a web developer of any level it comes in handy to have Parallels for Mac - Its a Windows 7 virtual machine. you should be able to install and run GIMP on the VM.
I’ve not tried it before but it must be possible with Flash drives these days to create a bootable version of a previous OS and use GIMP off of that? An 8GB flash drive costs next to nothing these days. It wouldn’t have to be an expensive exercise and would necessitate partitioning your main HD or running virtualisation software.
Aviary is a pretty good online tool that many people like the way they’ve done the UI.
Otherwise, you might consider Technobear’s recommendation of a free linux distro. This would involve:[/FONT][/SIZE]
creating a 30 - 40 gig partition on your system - easiest to get a separate drive so you don’t have to resize your OSX Lion partitions.
You would then you would then want to install Linux Mint using the Cinnamon theme (X Window).
On installation it would find your OSX Lion install and ask if you want to create a boot that includes your Mac boot.
After setting up the boot you can choose your OSX Lion to boot as default and when needing to work with graphics (on GIMP) you boot in Mint.
You might also want to partition the new drive (where you install Mint) to create a FAT data partition (or a partition type readable in your OSX Lion); this partition would be used to share files between the two OSes.
Slackr’s suggestion of using a bootable Flash drive would certainly work with Linux. Or you could even run it from a Live CD/DVD (assuming it includes GIMP) and save the files to your hard drive. I think the Ubuntu Live CD has it, but I can check if you like.
GIMP is included in Mint’s, Debian’s, OpenSuse’s, and Ubuntu’s Live DVD’s and USB versions. The problem with these delivery options are access to the permissions of any local drives; even public shares. This is why I suggested doing it in a separate partition with a dedicated ‘sharing’ partition so the permissions are not as difficult. Not impossible with the Live or USB versions but more challenging.
