Why is there no real competition for Adobe? GIMP?
GIMP is way more capable than you’d expect. But the UI, honestly, one of the worst, & it’s been like that forever.
They pushed some major updates recently, like non-destructive editing & proper layering, & much more, some pretty fundamental stuff, a genuine milestones. But the UX barely changed.
It’s a perfect example of how bad design ruining great open-source software.
Blender managed to avoid this fate, I still don’t understand exactly how they did it
Replies (15)
UI designed by programmers. Until that changes, Adobr will remain king.
I've used GIMP for 20 years and the UI works fine. I've learned it and I've never become used to Photoshop. I think it's more familiarity, and difficulty in learning something new & unlearning ingrained ways of doing things.
When I'm forced to use Photoshop I feel the same as a PS user forced to use GIMP.
If you already know your way around, you can basically do all the core things you’d do in Photoshop, way more than people expect.
But it’s not just that GIMP is different from Photoshop, it’s also not the most optimal design. I get why they chose this layout back then, probably to avoid an Adobe lawsuit, which was a real risk. But now, with so many apps openly copying Photoshop, GIMP should really give us better "layout & more" options.
We definitely can’t wait another 20 years for that update. GIMP is seriously needed, especially with adobe holding users hostage over subscription cancellations.
i dont really understand what is bad about gimps UI, and funny that you mention blender is good because it confused the hell out of me.
takeaway is: no UI is bad. it's learned behavior from end users is the largest technological moat there is.
☝️this 💯
Graphite Editor in development...
#Photoshop has a great ecosystem of paid templates and assets that creators can sell and others can easily use.
We need a template marketplace for #FOSS apps like #GIMP, #Shotcut, #Kdenlive, #Natron, #Penpot, #LibreOffice, etc.
Gimp needs a Pimp
Not open source, but a one off fee for a licence - Affinity has been great IME.
Kinda insane users need to download and install a third-party patch to fix the horrendous ui/ux issues of Gimp tho.
As a long time user I see no issues, it works fine. This is for people who have trouble unlearning Photoshop. I find PS to be a confusing mess because I'm not used to it 🤷♂️
It's no different than Linux UI that mimic Windows due to familiarity, or Nostr clients mimicking legacy social media UI. People want what they are used to, not learning something new.
The nice thing about being open source is that this is possible.
I use gimp, I can do more with it than with adobe because I can mess with more parameters on the transforms I care about.. adobe is too watered down. Sadly, I doubt nerds expert in image processing have the right mind/skill sets to design UX.
and it is not a simple UX... some concepts are difficult, some tasks are complex... laymen and experts have different needs... and somebody must bridge the gab between image guys and UX guys...
Kinda easier for a company with millions to spend.
It always felt too clunky, if I remember right, it even had those old iPhone 3 style icons and some missing core features. It’s way better now, though still a bit raw & clunky.
Today, I gave it a proper try and read the manual too. I managed to finish all my personal work, & honestly, it covers most of what you’d need as a casual user.
What it really needs is just some polish & a more thought-out interface. Feels like it could have Blender-level potential, imo.
Any program is like any other. With time you become proficient in all. Gimp is perfect.
