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GIMP is a popular open-source graphics editing program that is often used as a free replacement to Adobe Photoshop. Short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP is licensed under a GNU General Public License and is available for all major operating systems including Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. GIMP is a raster graphics editor, as opposed to a vector graphics editor like Adobe Illustrator, or OpenOffice.org Draw (also open-source), and thus useful for manipulating digital images such as photographs. Common tasks include cropping, resizing, adjusting color, creating composite images, removing artifacts and other unwanted image features. GIMP is including as the default graphics editor in many popular Linux distros including Ubuntu, SUSE, and Debian. Originally released in 1995, the current release version is 2.6.0 as of 2008-10-05.

GIMP logo
MSRP $0.00
Release date January, 1995
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Pros & Cons12
Reviews15
Details
Buy It
Competitors3
Comments3
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
15 reviews
75
negative
mixed
positive
14 positive
0 mixed
1 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
+13agreedisagree

•
Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
+13agreedisagree

•
Open source application
+12agreedisagree

•
Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
+11agreedisagree

•
Extensive file format support
+11agreedisagree

•
Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop
+6agreedisagree

•
Many plugins and scripting interfaces available
+3agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
+10agreedisagree

•
No Pantone colors because of legal issues
+6agreedisagree

•
Limited color management/color space/HDR support
+5agreedisagree

•
crappy re-sampling algorithm and/or user interface - often adds artifacts to resizes
+1agreedisagree

•
poorly designed interface
-1agreedisagree


15 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

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This report was started April 20, 2008 at 5:16 pm by dialupinternetuser
with the last edit occurring October 29, 2009 at 5:13 pm by Erik
This page has been viewed 1833 times, with 135 edits by 17 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

GIMP is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Other Software »
Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop

MSRP  $649.00    Released  January, 2001
Pros
  • Consistently upgraded and improved upon regardless of competition
  • Integrates well with other Adobe products
  • Industry leader in image manipulation software
  • Current version runs very stable
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Giant workhorse of software isn't easy for all to learn; not meant for simple useage.
ProSCORE
7 reviews
64
Vote! (6 votes)
vote GIMP 50% vs. vote Adobe Photoshop 50%
Paint.NET

Paint.NET

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --
Pros
  • free
  • fast
  • small download
  • More features then the program it was intended to clone, Paint.
Cons
  • different and somewhat limiting compared to larger applications such as GIMP and Photoshop
  • Requires the .net framework to install
ProSCORE
3 reviews
75
Vote! (2 votes)
vote GIMP 50% vs. vote Paint.NET 50%
Picnik

Picnik

MSRP  --    Released  --
Pros
  • easy to use
  • doesn't require any software installation
  • free
  • no registration required
ProSCORE
1 review
100
Vote! (0 votes)
vote GIMP   vs. vote Picnik  

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
If the product hasn't yet been added to ProductWiki, submitting it here will also start the product report.

Comments

13 taps
show more
1.  avatar GT-D said:

Great free app - though for serious image editing for work I'd say it doesn't quite cut it on a few fronts compared to photoshop - you could say GIMP is a bit gimped - lol.
Apr 30, 2008 10:10am
2.  avatar Howlsthunder said:

I agree - free applications, including GIMP, have come a long way and hopefully will keep the big players (Adobe, in this instance) on their toes. GIMP is fabulous for dabblers or folks who simply want to do more with their digital photos and art but don't want to spend a hunk of dough. However, when it comes to professional work, Photoshop is a must-have tool and as a graphic designer I would recommend nothing less.
Apr 30, 2008 6:39pm
3.  avatar GT-D said:

yeah I have photoshop on my main PC for work - then my laptop sports GIMP for a bit of image editing on the go when needed.

Actually, right now my secondary work computer is running CS2 - my main work computer had CS3 until I (stupidly) thought it might be interesting to try the windows file and folder compression... CS3 no longer runs, none of the apps will open any file, I cleared it out repeatedly and installed again to no avail.

Gonna have to reformat this weekend :/
May 01, 2008 11:25am
Some HTML is allowed. Your comments remain editable after you post..

Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Erik

avatar
October 29, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues
  • crappy re-sampling algorithm and/or user interface - often adds artifacts to resizes

Competitors

Erik prefers Adobe Photoshop, Paint.NET over GIMP
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

fractalhorizon

avatar
January 4, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues
  • Limited color management/color space/HDR support

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

lonehunter

avatar
January 4, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Many plugins and scripting interfaces available

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues
  • Limited color management/color space/HDR support

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Howlsthunder

avatar
April 3, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
62
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues
  • poorly designed interface

Comments

"I agree - free applications, including GIMP, have come a long way and hopefully will keep the big players (Adobe, in this instance) on their toes. GIMP is fabulous for dabblers or folks who simply want to do more with their digital photos and art but don't want to spend a hunk of dough. However, when it comes to professional work, Photoshop is a must-have tool and as a graphic designer I would recommend nothing less."

Competitors

Howlsthunder prefers Adobe Photoshop over GIMP
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

stuuf

avatar
October 2, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
88
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop
  • Many plugins and scripting interfaces available

Cons

  • Limited color management/color space/HDR support

Competitors

stuuf prefers GIMP over Adobe Photoshop
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

yaminb

avatar
May 17, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
2 cons

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Manzabar

avatar
October 6, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
0 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop
  • Many plugins and scripting interfaces available

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

Manzabar prefers GIMP over Adobe Photoshop
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Ueberu

avatar
September 13, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
86
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop

Cons

  • No Pantone colors because of legal issues

Competitors

Ueberu prefers GIMP over Paint.NET, Adobe Photoshop
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

theojepsen

avatar
August 2, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
86
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format
  • Extensive file format support
  • Extensive featureset, comparable to Photoshop

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

GT-D

avatar
September 19, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
2 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Free alternative to Adobe Photoshop
  • Available for UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
  • Open source application
  • Supports read and write of PhotoShop .PSD file format

Cons

  • Missing some advanced productivity features found in Photoshop with layer management and history
  • poorly designed interface

Comments

"Great free app - though for serious image editing for work I'd say it doesn't quite cut it on a few fronts compared to photoshop - you could say GIMP is a bit gimped - lol."
"yeah I have photoshop on my main PC for work - then my laptop sports GIMP for a bit of image editing on the go when needed.

Actually, right now my secondary work computer is running CS2 - my main work computer had CS3 until I (stupidly) thought it might be interesting to try the windows file and folder compression... CS3 no longer runs, none of the apps will open any file, I cleared it out repeatedly and installed again to no avail.

Gonna have to reformat this weekend :/"
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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