# "Photoshop" Options **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016 "2012-09-17T22:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/21 "2012-09-18T04:22:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, I’m glad to hear that my opinion of GIMP apparently seems to be shared by others. Everything up to now has, to me, always been GIMP this and GIMP that when it comes to Photoshop alternatives. I thought I was the only idiot who didn’t quite understand it. You’re not. I’ve used it and I thought the problem was me. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/22 "2012-09-18T04:33:16Z")
Ugh, GIMP is a mess. Cough up the ~$70 for Photoshop Elements. Take it from me, you won’t regret it. And screw classes. YouTube has a megaton of decent tutorials for beginners. Just search for “photoshop beginner tutorials” or something. Many people post a sequence that walks you through the ABCs. Nothing to be intimidated by, really. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/23 "2012-09-18T04:58:54Z")
Also, keep in mind, GIMP isn’t really designed to be all that usable or intuitive, it gets in your way, and can be frustrating. So if you think PS seems daunting, I wouldn’t suggest GIMP as a starter photo/image editor. PS is as simple or as powerful as you need it to be, has been refined over decades by Adobe to be powerful, and artist/consumer friendly making its UI and tools much more approachable once you get the basic idea. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/24 "2012-09-18T11:11:53Z")
If you’re going to buy PSE, I want to point out some Wacom Bamboo tablets come with it, so you might want to get them - it’s a better deal. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/25 "2012-09-18T14:23:04Z")
I’ve purchased a desktop publishing package from a UK company called [Serif](http://www.serif.com/), who also produces a program called [PhotoPlus](http://www.serif.com/photoplus/). I have PhotoPlus but I got it for free (it’s complicated), but I also have Photoshop, so I never have used PhotoPlus. Based on what I’ve read about it, and my experience with the DTP program, it should be a flexible and above all, easy to use program. Just wanted to throw that out there. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/26 "2012-09-18T16:43:49Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > If you’re going to buy PSE, I want to point out some Wacom Bamboo tablets come with it, so you might want to get them - it’s a better deal. Wow! That is a deal–I never would have considered buying a piece of hardware to get the software at a discount. It is easy to find one of the tablets that includes Photoshop Elements for less than $100 and Amazon currently has one for [$55.99](http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-Pen-and-Touch/dp/B002OOWC3S). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/27 "2012-09-18T16:47:04Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Wow! That is a deal–I never would have considered buying a piece of hardware to get the software at a discount. It is easy to find one of the tablets that includes Photoshop Elements for less than $100 and Amazon currently has one for [$55.99](http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-Pen-and-Touch/dp/B002OOWC3S). Day-um! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/28 "2012-09-18T16:50:53Z")
Day-um, indeed. I just have the regular Wacom Bamboo tablet (not touch), and I paid more for it (I think $79.99) and it didn’t come with any Adobe software. By the way, that tablet rocks, especially for the price. I use it all the time in Lightroom. I don’t know how I’ve gotten through all these years of editing photos without using a tablet. I know there’s much better ones on the market, but that little guy works perfectly for making pressure sensitive localized corrections. It makes me feel like I’m back in the darkroom the way I can dodge and burn with it. Much better than using a mouse for those types of corrections. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/29 "2012-09-20T11:19:11Z")
It gets better. My tablet came with the Win and Mac versions of PSE, that’s TWO serial numbers. If you use both, that’s already the price of the tablet. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/30 "2012-09-20T13:29:34Z")
If you have a Mac, you might consider [Pixelmator](http://www.pixelmator.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/31 "2012-09-20T16:59:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Day-um, indeed. I just have the regular Wacom Bamboo tablet (not touch), and I paid more for it (I think $79.99) and it didn’t come with any Adobe software. By the way, that tablet rocks, especially for the price. I use it all the time in Lightroom. I don’t know how I’ve gotten through all these years of editing photos without using a tablet. I know there’s much better ones on the market, but that little guy works perfectly for making pressure sensitive localized corrections. It makes me feel like I’m back in the darkroom the way I can dodge and burn with it. Much better than using a mouse for those types of corrections. I’m sorta-kinda considering one of these (never knew they existed until this thread :rolleyes: ). I’ve already got PSE, so a basic model would do for me. As I understand it, it’s a USB interface, but how does it link to PSE on my computer? Also, do you have a model to recommend? If this is derailing the thread, please just PM me, if you don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/32 "2012-09-20T18:54:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Unless Photoshop has gotten much easier to understand, I don’t get it. The options are all the same. The tools are the same. Sure, you may have to hunt around in the menu for a bit, as the options aren’t in the same places, but they’re all there. > > Can someone explain to me what is hard to use about the GIMP, compared to Photoshop? I seriously don’t get it. None of your analogies fit at all. Have you even used the GIMP since, say, version 2.2? I agree. I am in no way a professional photographer or even a terribly knowledgable amateur, but I had little trouble figuring out how use GIMP. It just took a little bit of reading the documentation. The first time I ever had access to Photoshop, I found IT to be an incomprehensible mess. The functions were just similar enough to look like they should be “intuitive”\*, but different enough to be really frustrating. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Photoshop’s interface, I’m just used to the way GIMP works, so I like it better. ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/33 "2012-09-23T04:05:53Z")
You might want to give [GimpShop](http://gimpshop.com/) a try. It’s a variant of GIMP that has an interface that’s similar to Photoshop. Personally, I love GIMP and find Photoshop cumbersome, but that’s probably because I had been using GIMP for years before I ever tried Photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/34 "2012-09-23T04:33:35Z")
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**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/35 "2012-09-23T05:21:07Z")
It’s satisfying to see that most PC users on the board dislike GIMP as much as I do. I run an iMac, and GIMP’s ported, Windows-centric interface was off-putting when it wasn’t just plain ukfayed. GIMP’s latest version for Macs, 2.8, is hailed as having a Mac-friendly interface, but it’s still a turd of the first water. It takes over the Mac completely. Nothing else will run when it does (that hasn’t been the case since Macs ran System 5 — and the iPad), and it’s as buggy as ever. It crashes at the drop of a virtual hat. It’s a POS. I had the Mac platform’s Pixelator 1.6.7, and it sorta worked all right, but nothing to write home about. Older versions are are said on YouTube how-to’s as selling for $60, but it never cost more than $29 and change, as far as I know. Now there’s Pixelmator 2.1, selling at the Mac App store for $14.99. That’s not the upgrade price; it’s the full purchase price, probably because anyone who bought an earlier version can’t upgrade, now that it’s only at the Apple online store. Another Pixelmator version or two, say the pundits, and Photoshop will be an also-ran. (But I have run into a couple of bugs.) I tossed GIMP and the half-baked horse it rode in on into the trash. If it’s that bad on Windows, imagine it on a Mac. I’m happy to see it wasn’t just me. I’d advise anyone on any platform, especially photo-editing newbies, to avoid GIMP. It’ll just piss you off or give you an undeserved inferiority complex. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016/36 "2012-09-23T06:20:42Z")
To be fair, Photoshop’s interface isn’t peaches and roses either. I mean, if we’re on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being stellar user experience I’d place GIMP at a 2 or 3 and Photoshop at a 5, maybe 6 if I was generous. ETA: Though the Photoshop interface’s utility bombs dramatically if you’re USED to GIMP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-options/635016.md?page=1)