Miscellaneous Free Editing Software Recommendations/Photoshop Alternatives

[Jak Shadwin]

I'm not sure if anyone here has heard of this but there is a freeware program that is pretty much identical in application to Photoshop called GIMP. Its avalible for download at www.gimp.org. I just thought you might like to know!

(Of course I'm not a Photoshop guru but I'm told it can do pretty much anything Photoshop can do.)

I changed the title to reflect the direction this thread is going in and stickied the topic. ~ Alla

 

[eni]

Re: Free Software

Note: The biggest problem when you're used to photoshop is that Gimp has a completely different desktop. If you woul like to have it similiar to photoshop, then try GimpShop. It's a modificated version that let it look like PS.

Also you can work with Brushes and PS-like stuff in Gimp as well, try out the Gimp Brushes and Gimp Actions section at deviantART.

A very good Tutorial collection and Gimp community with lots of plugins, howtos, forums and so on is Gimp Talk. Check it out, they have amazing Howtos there. Also Gimp Tutorials is pretty good.

You can also use PS tutorials and brushes. You just have to rethink a little bit and convert the PS Brushes into Gimp brushes.

(Of course I'm not a Photoshop guru but I'm told it can do pretty much anything Photoshop can do.)

Actually, there's nothing you can't do with Gimp what you can do with Photoshop, but the way is maybe different (and more complicated looking if you're used to PS).

If you feel like missing something you can write a script for it or ask the Gimp community to help you. Everyone can help to add new features and you will probably find what your searching for on one of the countless Gimp script- and pluginpages. Gimptalk is a good ressource to start.

Gimp is free but powerful when you're just willing to put some work in the beginning. Give it a try.

 

[Jak Shadwin]

Re: Free Software

Thanks for the info. Like I said I'm no guru but I've messed about with both a little and GIMP looked just as good to me, thanks for the confirmation. I only metioned it so that people would be aware there is a free alt to PS that works just as well. It would be a shame to miss out on talent that couldn't afford the PS price tag!

I tried out one the exersises and it was pretty easy. The explination was rather clear and even with poking about to find the right tools it only took me about an hour to do. I'm sure thats not very good but I thought it was pretty quick. ;P

I think I'm going t o try a few more. See ya around.

 

[Ayah]

Re: Free Software

I have both GIMP and Photoshop installed in my laptop, but I got GIMP first. It wasn't easy for me to adjust to PS so I sometimes fall back to GIMP. Thanks for all those links, eni

 

[eni]

Re: Free Software

I use Graphic Tablets on my PC and my Laptop (Lifetec, not Wacom but good enough for me). It works fine with Gimp on Linux, but Gimp on WinXP gives me some troubles (the cursor is 1-2cm away from where I draw @___@, but I was told there isn't any prob with Wacom), so I'm using Photoshop there - and because I own some nice Filters (AutoFX and so on xD).

Basicly i like to combinate both and switch between PS and Gimp. You can convert *.psd into *.xcp and back in no time, so that's no problem at all.

My first Graphic prog on Win 3.1 was a precursor of Ulead's Photo Impact (called Ulead ImagePals). I was so excited by this magic wand feature

I got it for free on two floppys with my first scanner (PI is not free, but even the current version costs less then $90) and i still like to use the newest PI version including the Gif animator.
I think price and features are both more then acceptable for the common user at home. No need to buy such expensive stuff as PS or Corel unless you want to do high professional graphics.

 

[ibra87]

Re: Free Software

Is there any way someone could edit this or make a thread with a list over the free image editing programs out there? I am sure it could be useful to people.

There is one program that I would recommend to all: Paint.Net

It's a powerful tool, that almost has everything as photoshop (except for text editing stuff like "stroke" or a humongous amount of filters) but is easier to use. Believe me, just try it and see what I am talking about.

 

[manu]

I know this is about photoshop alternatives but would it be so bad and wrong if I posted a key generator for photoshop? Sure it illegal but so's half the stuff done here...

 

[Allashandra]

I know this is about photoshop alternatives but would it be so bad and wrong if I posted a key generator for photoshop? Sure it illegal but so's half the stuff done here...

I fairly sure that posting that would not be allowed but I will check it out.

 

[WinterLion]

Actually keygen posting would be a big no-no.

While it's true that technically Edited Mangas are illegal, it's an activity that benefits all parties involved, which is why it's tolerated for the most part. But even then if it's been licensed and published in your country, it's off limits.

Posting keygen on the other hand could get our site in a lot of trouble with adobe, so please don't post that anywhere on the site. If we find anyone posting any of that, we will delete it immediately and you'll be hearing from us. ^^

 

[manu]

Got it ^^; not gonnna even dare bring it up ever again...[br]Posted on: December 25, 2006, 12:14:09 PM_________________________________________________Well here's a program thats completely legal i know of called seashore

Seashore is an open source image editor for Cocoa. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP's technology and uses the same native file format.

heres a link to the site http://seashore.sourceforge.net/

 

[check0r]

i prefer PS i tested gimp but i didnt like it.
and the most tuts are made forps although i think there a lots of tuts for gimp too.

 

[Orosuke]

I have GIMP, Photoshop Cs2, Photoshop Cs3 Beta, and Project Dogwaffle. Gimp is pretty good, and there are some things where I actually use gimp instead of photoshop. Cs3 is amazing though despite all the ram it eats. Dogwaffle is interesting , an old program that is totally free but VERY useful for absolute beginners. Not a photoshop replacement, but a good recommendation.

Links ::

Dogwaffle : http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm

 

[C4animax]

I used the following :

FireWorks up to version 8 - 80 Mo (Payable)
Utilisation : Basic edditing (cut, resize, coloring...) , create simple to elaborate elements for the web (buttons, menu).
Effect : No much effect element (three if i remember)
Interface/user : basic / Starts at begginers .
Positive point : Simple and light.
Link to dll : Go to google.com OR your favorite search engine with one of thoses tags : Fireworks, fireworks + downloads
Price : 299 $ - Trial 30 days.

Photoshop up to version CS 2 440 Mo (payable)
Utilisation : From basic usage (cut, resize, coloring...) create simple to higly elaborate elements for the web (buttons, backgrounds etc), powerfull "andvanced" imagery creation, used a lot in combinaison with flash for games.
Effect : TONS, you can create your owns.
Interface/user : advanced / Starts at moderate.
Positive point : Very usefull items
Link to dll : Go to google.com OR your favorite search engine with one of thoses tags : Photoshop, Photoshop cs, Photoshop cs 2, adobe.
Price : 649 $ - Trial 30 days.

Paint shop pro up to version 7 ~197 Mo(payable)
Utilisation : (closest alternative to photoshop) From basic usage (cut, resize, coloring...), powerfull advanced imagery creation, create simple to higly elaborate elements for the web (buttons, backgrounds etc). (Might be as good/optimisez as photoshop for flash games)
Interface / user : Advanced / Starts at moderate.
Positive Point : The price? (the price because it seems to be like photoshop for XXX $ less)
Link to dll : Go to google.com OR your favorite search engine with one of thoses tags : Paint shop pro, Paint shop pro + download, corel.
Price : 79 $ - Trial 60 days.

Gimp shop last version known on 1st feburay 2007 7, 35 Mo (Free of use)
Utilisation : Basic edditing, advanced edditing including coloring.
Interface / user type : Basic / Starts at beginners. (the display is kind of weird...will depend on who uses it)
Positive point : Quick start (doesn't load XXX composants before you can use the software,
Link to dll : Go to google.com OR your favorite search engine with one of thoses tags : Gimp shop, gimp, gimp + shop + download.
note : Gimp shop looks in some ways at photoshop, the display is different.

Paint .net last version known on 1st feburay 2007 50 Mo (Free of use)
Utilisation : basic edditing.
Effect : Most usefull effect (blur, take red eyes off, noise etc.)
Interface/ user type : basic / Starts at beginners.
Positive point : Windows are semi transparents allowing better visibility...Doesn't need to load tons of files to start the software, Good replacement of "paint".
Link to dll : Go to google.com OR your favorite search engine with one of thoses tags : paint.net.

From all the software i've used photoshop is the best i've ever tested (i got photoshop CS on this computer) and it's because of the numerous tools they offer, paint shop pro used to be an alternative when my photoshop were at its end of trial, i wasn't using any effect at that time but i remember them to be quite similar.

The free softwares are a good alternative but it will depend of the purpose of the utilisation, they will do all basic edditing. In my opinion anyway

 

[FuguTabetai]

I use Gimp.app (a Mac OSX Gimp port) http://gimp-app.sourceforge.net/
and
Great Manga Application Onidzuka. http://FuguTabetai.com/software/GMAO/
GMAO is a simple program for translators that want to automatically edit their translations into text bubbles on a page. It is an easy way for me to type in my translations, and make different versions of the translation for the web. It saves everything in XML so it can be used with XSLT and other tools easily. The most useful thing is probably the pop-up translations: http://mangatranslation.com/HellsAngels/images/HellsAngels_v01/contents.html and the single file HTML scripts are nice: http://mangatranslation.com/HellsAngels/HellsAngels_v01_Trans.html and I also like the character-lists:
http://tjtg.mangatranslation.com/characters/tjtg_characters.html

They help when you have lots of characters and keep forgetting who has what powers.

 

[Revilenigma]

I tried Gimp once cause I had mac broke so I sent all the files to my new one and PS CS3 and other Adobe stuff wouldn't work anymore cause it thinks it was stolen (and it wasn't! ARGH!) I just downloaded PS CS4 and found a serial number that worked hehehe.

Anyways I didn't understand anything in the Gimp so I gave up and never touched it again.

 

[SuzetteFarlington]

My favourite has to be Paint.NET. I've tried both Photoshop and GIMP and although they could both do more, the interfaces were harder to use. Paint.NET can do all the things you really need to do for Edited Manga. I use it for typesetting in the group I work for I and I get by just fine.

 

[blai]

I have a question.

For lineart and colouring, is it okay to use CorelDraw x4 instead of Photoshop?
As in - will I get the same quality on my results and is it easier or more difficult to handle?

 

[[Ju-Ni]Vicissitude]

I was actually dicking around with something I got linked to from another forum. It's part of the Aviary suite (www.aviary.com), called Phoenix. It's quite like Photoshop, but doesn't quite have all the same functions. At the time I used it, it was limited to 800% zoom and some other almost trivial things like that. But it seems to have everything that the basic scanslator needs. It can do what you need and it's all web-based. You can save your work to your computer when you're done, too.

 

[Lolita Trap]

I feel like nowadays, especially because it's 2020. Photoshop is definitely the best software to use regarding Edited Mangas. Sure GIMP is almost as good, and it does the job, but it's still lacking in some ways. I'm not an expert on either of them but since CAF was introduced, Photoshop definitely surpassed it all.

 

[Gradonil_Ral]

11y/o necro on a 14y/o thread, nice xD

I feel like nowadays, especially because it's 2020. Photoshop is definitely the best software to use regarding Edited Mangas. Sure GIMP is almost as good, and it does the job, but it's still lacking in some ways. I'm not an expert on either of them but since CAF was introduced, Photoshop definitely surpassed it all.

Photoshop has always been the leader in image editing, but I feel like the first step to really help out in Editing was adding the source preview into brushes (which I believe happened in CS3). Before that aligning patterns while closing was quite bothersome - pretty much what it still is on Gimp (unless they changed that recently).
To match the patterns perfectly you needed to make a separate layer for each source so that even if you slightly misaligned them, you could just move the layer about to make the correction.
Sure, CAF is great, but it's not perfect. You need to learn how to use it correctly first and it won't always get you the best results. Especially if we're talking about patterns without much source material around. The best use I've found for it was normal (non-patterned) gradients, e.g. in webtoons. Though, for best results, you'd still need some touch-ups.

Anyway, I think it's been possible to use Topaz Labs with Gimp for some time now, which was the biggest element it lacked (if you're working with magazine raws) compared to PS previously.

Also, I think Krita is starting to become a nice contender. While it didn't yet have the source preview within a brush last time I used it, I heard it's being developed.