“Six honest servants taught me how much I know;
their names are how, when, where, what, who and why. "
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) British novelist
It has happened, quite often, that fans of free software supported by impressive illustrations try to demonstrate, in good faith without any doubt, that GIMP it is an excellent tool but for unknown reasons it is despised by the graphic design industry.
So far the point is interesting, because they are largely right: a large part of the graphic design community is unaware of the existence of GIMP and those who know him do not attribute sufficient merits to him to permanently replace Adobe Photoshop.
The problem begins when the radicals intervene to affirm with "Category and without a doubt" that graphic designers do not use GIMP because we are simple "Fotochoperos" and that our professional capacity does not go beyond applying the default filters of Photoshop. Affirming such a thing can only start from one thing: ignore what differences and similarities exist between one profession and another, and before I proceed to try to explain them I must make it very clear that GIMP It is an excellent tool that can serve an illustrator in its entirety and with certain reservations a graphic designer. Having said that, let's go on to try to explain what one does and what the other does.
The parable of the jazz player and the orchestra
The graphic illustrator is like the jazz guitarist whose interpretation of the theme Yesterday It depends largely on his technical ability, but his interpretive quality is reflected in his ability to improvise to feeling. What does this mean? What the public applauds and appreciates is the "Feeling" that the guitarist puts when interpreting the song and that is what gives it interpretive value. Here it is about reflecting a feeling.
On the other hand, the musicians of a symphony orchestra are also capable of interpreting Yesterday but, unlike the jazz player, individual virtuosity is at the service of a collective -the orchestra- and everyone must participate in exact moments, without allowing spaces for individual improvisations. Each and every one of them is governed by assigned guidelines, a single note out of place although not out of tune is considered a mistake. This is how a graphic designer works.
Speaking in silver
"Very well Tina... and what does that have to do with one being able to use GIMP 100% and not the other? " they will wonder. Well then let's take another example:
Suppose a client orders me a label for a children's soft drink, the job will be printed in eight inks in polypropylene through flexography and he wants me to carry the image of a happy-looking couple of children.
Let's put aside all the legal details that a label must contain to focus basically on the graphical aspect:
- The graphic illustrator can easily use GIMP to create one or more illustrations of the boys. GIMP has the necessary tools -brushes, layers and special effects- as to do an excellent job and, in this case, it does not matter that he does not handle the color system CMYK since up to this point the ideal is to work in RGB, which GIMP does very well. Like the jazz player, the illustrator will try to reflect a feeling or attitude, in this case of joy, and the illustration will be approved based on that.
- Once the illustration is approved, it passes into the hands of the graphic designer who, before positioning it in the label design, must ENSURE that the illustration will be printed correctly in eight inks in flexography, so edit the file in GIMP to separate the colors into eight channels -those to be used for printing- so that the printed illustration looks as good as the digital one. Here the problem begins ... GIMP do not drive indexed colors for spot inks so the work has to be done in software that is capable of doing it. Just like the symphony orchestra, the graphic designer does not think in terms of transmitting a feeling as the primary objective, but rather puts his knowledge to solve a problem in terms of everything: that the printed label looks good. And for that you must follow the guidelines that mark the way in which the job is going to be printed.
My conclusion
What you have to see, without passion, is that certainly GIMP It is a great tool for those who develop works whose purpose is to be digital reproduction, but for those who are going to be printed using analog systems, it does not always work.
Here the case is more of productivity because, at least I, I do not see the case using GIMP to do half the work and then migrate it to Photoshop to do things in the GIMP is limited or cannot do.
I hope this exhibition is not taken as a ruthless criticism of GIMPOn the contrary, it seems to me an excellent alternative that can be used to make any type of illustrations and can be used in the graphic design industry as long as we are aware of its limitations.
I agree with you, I am a graphic designer and only for my projects I use free software, in my work we use proprietary. I remember that once I designed a canvas in inkscape and happily sent it to printing (from core the png, since no format that inkscape exports the rip recognizes, only the tiff but it does not export it well inkscape) well the case is that the colors to to be printed, they looked horrible !! but what is said Horrible! a disaster, if someone is a designer, I know they understand me when a job doesn't turn out the way they want. In spite of that I did not give up and deactivate the color profiles both in the rip and in the corel and the tiff instead of sending it in cmyk I sent it to rgb, and that gave me a good result in printing.
In short, both gimp and inkscape are excellent in a digital and printed work unless it does not have color separations as in digital printing they are a good option, but if a job is sent to offset, if they did not work on the file, it is the worst ...
And as Tina says, my comment is not a merciless criticism, rather they are points in which these free programs should improve.
Exactly, one of the problems of InkScape it is precisely its incompatibility with the RIPYes, this is because it only emulates the postcrip language since it is proprietary technology and you cannot use it. The same happens with the handling of formats PDF.
The serious thing about the matter is that both postcrip as PDF are property of Adobe so I see the case somewhat complicated.
Very good article, I was always curious about this topic and you have clarified many doubts.
Question: Do you use Photoshop on Linux from Wine or virtual machine, or do you have Windows on another partition and switch to it when it's time to photoshop? I'm also curious to know about this because I imagine Photoshop performance on Linux must be poor and it may not retain all its features.
Hello Manuel
For graphic design processes we do everything from MacOSX, we have never used Photoshop from Wine to carry out professional work, however I have done some tests ... I ended up despairing because of the slowness of the processes.
regards
Thanks a lot. GIMP is usually enough for me, but when I have needed Photoshop I prefer to use it from Windows, I had doubts about whether it would be better for me to use it from Wine but I see that not. Thanks again. 🙂
I've only read 3 paragraphs and I think I fell in love ...
Prepare for strong depressions HAHAHA
hahahaha I say that I fell in love with its writing.
I've already gone through all the love pains that must be passed, after that you just have to have a good time.
Love is the worst bomb after the atomic bomb ahahaha
For me it is the most horrible thing that exists, and in order not to follow the offtopic I leave this link in which there are two more in which my point of view is explained
http://foro.desdelinux.net/viewtopic.php?pid=1313#p1313
Are you going to tell me you've never had a good experience?
Well, I the only one has been the worst thing that has happened to me in my life, honestly. The reasons are exposed in one of the posts
What a relaxation you are bringing! Let's see if tomorrow that I apply the exam, can you tell me what the indexed colors are, child Courage. 😀 😀 😀
«Courage child»…. JUAZ JUAZ JUAZ !!!!! There you have given it !!!! LOL!!!!!
that was a hook to the jaw
All that I have given in school regarding graphic design was a subject called "Digital Image Editing", which I did not attend the entire course because the teacher had a mania for me so you can see my knowledge ...
And I am not a child, what happens is that you are old with more than 20 years
Clearly Tina's good article opened 2 interesting fronts of discussion, one the graphical tools of GNU / Linux and its applications and on the other hand love, the complexities of couple relationships and Courage's age.
I understand the situation and sincerely since I am not a graphic designer, I have never even liked it and in high school I always failed everything that had to do with design, I would not be able to express a correct opinion on the subject ehehe
I really like it !!! I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to graphic design, but I loved the objective and practical way you developed the subject. I honestly had not found anywhere such a clear and unbeatable answer for the "Gimp VS Photoshop" theme (so to speak).
The way I see it, of course these types of projects have a lot to improve on what has already been achieved, but the great merit of Gimp is to give a great fight to a great one like Photoshop, based solely on its own community.
The world of SL is really wonderful and amazing 😉
Thanks a thousand perseus, I agree with you; GIMP must be improved in several points although as it is of course it gives battle to Photoshop.
Very good note, and very informative too.
Hopefully GIMP keeps improving in this regard, if your goal is to aim for a total alternative to Photoshop.
Now I would like to know what Krita is capable of
Hello I wanted to ask the designers about Krita, I have always read that the main limitations of gimp at a professional level are that it does not support cmyk and the issue of the number of bits per channel, however from what I understand it does comply in these aspects.
I wanted to know what you designers think, if you know him and could he fulfill or not on a professional level. Same with Karbon for vector graphics, thanks and regards!
The first thing to know is that graphic design programs are divided into three large groups:
1.-Vector illustration:
Ink scape
carbon fibre
Adobe Illustrator
Corel Draw
2.-Layout:
Scribus
Adobe Indesign
3.-Handling of raster images (based on pixels):
Chalk
Adobe Photoshop
carbon fibre It is a good program to illustrate, many use it also for layout since it has the property of being multipage and can be perfectly used to create digital brochures or magazines to be distributed in PDF format. I do not recommend it as a reliable software for generating prepress archives.
Chalk It is a program for illustrating, not for retouching images, and it has the advantage that most digital drawing tablets recognize, which is a great advantage. I have used it to make some illustrations, such as this cartoon of some friends and a servant: http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1804/cartoon7nc.jpg
First I have a question:
What group does Adobe Fireworks belong to?
Second, in my opinion:
I think that what GIMP lacks is that graphic designers develop it together with programmers. Most of us programmers don't really understand that about color profiles and some other things related to design. With the simple fact that we can print, it is enough for us. Although I agree that there are components, such as filters that are proprietary and that it is difficult to have them in a free application. Without a doubt an interesting point of view and more because it is seen from the other side.
Hello Arthur:
Fireworks it does not fall into any of the three groups that I mentioned before since, although it can be used by graphic designers, it is software for developing web pages.
As for your opinion, well, I'll tell you that I already sent the developers of GIMP a series of suggestions, however the problem is that the development of GIMP is very slow and seems more visually focused -floating tool windows to be integrated into a single window with the workspace- than functional.
Also if it would be good if they created their ICC profiling engines -http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfil_ICC#Est.C3.A1ndares_de_facto- since as you will see the matter is monopolized by Adobe.
The bad thing about free projects is that programmers take it as a hobby. For this reason, the slow development, although sometimes it seems that it does not exist.
From what I see Apple and Adobe share the cake with standards. You have to see the push from AMD to GIMP, as nvidia does with Adobe. But that is another story.
Greetings and good that you leave suggestions to the GIMP team. Hopefully there were more and they would focus on the weak points you mention.
Very good your article. I share some of your opinions and several of the arguments you put forward seem very reasonable and well raised. But all analysis always supposes (in addition to objectives) categories and criteria that define the way of posing the question.
What I am going to is that there is another way, of approaching this issue, which I find interesting; and is the following:
In the case of visual communication (for professional purposes or not), applications or programs for creating and editing digital visual content (such as Gimp or Photoshop, among many others) are instruments or technical means available, as well as a camera, scissors, pigments, an X-ray plate, a brush, etc. That is to say, they are tools that can be used, not only but also, for the elaboration and re-creation of works or visual products.
In that sense, each tool can be relevant (or even necessary), dispensable (or unnecessary) depending on the objectives to be achieved.
On the other hand, there is the scope of realization, that is, the identity conditions of the user and the context in which he uses the tools (a graphic designer, a visual artist, a person who wants to retouch an image, etc.) .
In order not to make this comment longer, I say that, from this point of view, it would be meaningless to think that Gimp or Photoshop are "more professional" or "more suitable for graphic designers" than the other. Well, like scissors or a brush, they are a tool and what matters is to take advantage of each one at the right time.
Let's think about an advertising poster or a digital image that we consider great. Let's think about many of them that are paradigms of visual digital communication, let's think about the best graphic designs that we have seen, where does their genius, professionalism or efficiency lie? I think it does not depend on photoshop or Gimp, and I think that for most of them, either of the two are abundant tools.
So you don't have to compare them? Of course. but not because of the type of user who can use them, but because of their own capabilities and limitations according to technical and functional criteria.
Greetings.
- Your work is delicious. It has quality.
I think there are still some notes left over.
Only that. Removing them will be perfect.
Emperor of Austria Joseph II
- And how many notes do you think are left over, Your Majesty?
W. Amadeus Mozart
Hello Thirteen:
First of all, I want to thank you for your comment, of which I can understand that we agree on some things and not on others.
A paragraph of yours has caught my attention:
“Let's think of a billboard or a digital image that we consider great. Let's think about many of them that are paradigms of visual digital communication, let's think about the best graphic designs that we have seen, where does their genius, professionalism or efficiency lie? I don't think it depends on photoshop or Gimp, and I think for most of them, any of the two are tools left over. "
First of all I want to clarify two things: the first is that the criticism that I am going to make is part of my ignorance about your experience as a graphic designer. The second is that I have put in "bold" the part that I find most interesting and with which I do not agree.
Why do I clarify those two things? On the one hand, because only someone with years of experience -And I'm talking about looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many years- in the use of GIMP y Photoshop you can venture a phrase like that, so the required question is: based on your experience -not what you have been told or what you have read elsewhere- What are left over GIMP y Photoshop?
Now we are going to emphasize some points:
1.-Despite the example I gave, the creative process of illustrating (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilustraci%C3%B3n_%28arte%29) with that of designing graphics (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dise%C3%B1o_gr%C3%A1fico).
2.-The tools used for the two cases may well be the same and, I repeat, valid for both cases if, and only if, the final presentation will be a digital reproduction, but for those that are going to be printed using analog systems it doesn't always work.
Hello Tina. I appreciate the response to my comment. I would like to clarify by analogy that, unlike José II, I do not consider that there is any "note" to the analysis that you have done, since it seems to me that it is very well done and is consistent with the criteria of reflection that you propose. My comment had the intention of outlining another possible way of posing the question, and that I do not consider better or worse in itself, much less exclusive, just different. In fact, it is possible that I am wrong or that, as you point out, my judgments are risky.
I am not a graphic designer, my professional activity is linked to psychology and philosophy (on issues of rationality, ethics and aesthetics), but for many years I have dedicated part of my life, for pleasure and conviction, to the creation and appreciation of the visual arts; and it is, for that reason, that I became interested in learning how to use digital graphic tools such as photoshop, corel, gimp, etc.
You may think that since I am not a graphic designer, I do not have sufficient grounds to make an adequate judgment on the subject, and perhaps so. But I insist, all analysis is defined by criteria and the one that I have used is the professional, artistic or practical value does not lie in the tool itself, but in the fulfillment of the objectives. If we want to compare two scissors, we must do so because of their edge, size, or ease of handling, etc. But professionalization is in the process, in the conceptualization and in the result of the work or the product.
And now I answer your question. According to my experience, the best digital image works that I have done and that I have seen (due to their functionality or aesthetic character) both Gimp and Photoshop have the necessary functions to achieve it without having to make use of all the possibilities that those offer two programs, and it is, in that sense, that he said they were left over. The tools are comparable, from many points of view, but the genius lies in the proper use of the tools available to obtain the desired result. It is not the tool that makes the job, if not the technique to use them. And it is not only the job that makes the teacher, but the meaning and direction that is given to the job.
regards
LOL! But what a hesitation, we both bring a candle!
Thanks a thousand Thirteen for your comments.
I will quote you again and I will put in bold what I consider relevant:
«According to my experience, the best works of digital images that I have done and that I have seen (due to its functionality or aesthetic character) both Gimp and Photoshop have the necessary functions to achieve it without having to make use of all the possibilities that these two programs offer, and that is, in that sense, that said they were left over. "
Totally agree, it is more in fact it is exactly the same as I argue in the conclusion of the main article:
"…certainly GIMP is a great tool for those who develop work whose purpose is going to be digital reproduction, but for those who are going to be printed using analog systems it doesn't always work. "
Despite the different approaches, our premises are the same in the background and very similar in form and our conclusion is the same in the sense that the two programs are perfectly suited to create digital images and even be printed by means whose output is digital. , an inkjet printer, for example.
On the other hand, I am often faced with a "genius" illustration is not feasible to print using analog systems -offset, flexo or rotogravure-Not because of creativity problems, but because GIMP doesn't have the necessary tools. It is in this case, no matter how professional you may be, you cannot meet the objectives.
Taking advantage of your analogy is like trying to do a manicure with a very good cutting and sewing scissors.
regards
Hello Tina. Well, I can only thank you, again, for sharing your knowledge in the article and for the feedback you have given to my comments.
My opinion was never contrary to yours, but rather the criteria of each one emphasized different aspects of the same object of reflection. You focused on the importance of the possibilities of the tools according to specific purposes, and I just wanted to highlight the importance of the agent that uses them and the value (aesthetic or functional) of the result. That is to say, “dressmaking” scissors are certainly not appropriate for a manicure, but in the hands of a good manicurist, they might have a better result than that obtained by less skilled or creative hands using manual scissors.
I hope you continue to share your knowledge, your reflections and your dialogical attitude (as respectful as it is ironic) in future articles.
Greetings.
Hello Tina. At first, I really liked reading your comments in the articles that you write here. But now, reading your article, I must say that… I loved it! Good thing Elav and the others allowed you to join the Desdellinux team. Your writing is neat, orderly, your ideas are well connected, and the entire text remains coherent. I hope to continue reading more of your articles. !! Congratulations!! Greetings and until next time.
Thank you very much for your words, I am very glad that you liked it and I hope to be here for a long time.
regards
I will become a FanBoy to you if you tackle more GIMP topics. Greetings and happy new year!
Thanks a thousand, well, for me it would be a pleasure ... if those who cut the cod in this blog authorize me, I will create some tutorials to use GIMP.
Do you agree with one on how to adjust color correctly?
Those who cut the cod ... ok wait, let me ask them ... LOL !!!
OF COURSE you can do them, there was more ... any contribution you make will be VERY well received, your posts are undoubtedly excellent 🙂
Good idea if you get approved for a section on GIMP and it would be great to start with such "simple" topics colors . Greetings and good luck 😉
I'm creating a new category right now ~ » GIMP
Subcategory of Graphics / Editing / Images