GIMP vs PhotoShop?

[Midgardsormr]

If you have some budget, I recommend paying for a nice Wacom tablet rather than Photoshop. The differences between Gimp and Photoshop are small enough not to be worth the price tag for a layman. The differences between a tablet and a mouse, though, are enormous.

[Larb]

I use Photoshop at work and for my personal projects so obviously that is what I prefer. I did install GIMP though and I have played around with it and it seems very capable (infact, for the price - that is FREE - it's pretty phenomenal). Also, I learned that if you want it to have a layout more like Photoshop, there is a mod that does that called GIMPShop.

But I totally second what Midgardsormr said. If you don't have access to Photoshop and you're on a budget, buy a tablet before anything else.

[Jaxilon]

You tablet talking guys are killing me....I can barely stand it because I'm holding out for a Cintiq. I know I could go get a much cheaper tablet but I don't want to settle. I'm afraid that if I get a lesser tablet my wife will see what I can do with it and say that I don't need a Cintiq. Obviously I need a Cintiq, right? LOL

Unfortunately it's that Tax time of year so my monies are all going to Uncle Sam. Sometimes I think he hates me, hehe.

Medical expenses ate up tablet money last year so I'm hopeful that 2012 will be the one and although I keep telling myself not to hold me breath I keep doing it.

[Larb]

I don't need a Cintiq. But I want one so bad. =P

OT (my apologies): Can you not just pick up a cheap non-wacom tablet? Anything is better than a mouse and the cheaper brands aren't all that bad. I picked up a cheap Trust tablet several months ago, and compared to my intuos4 medium, it's pretty good. And was 1/10th the price.

To me, any tablet is better than a mouse.

[Jaxilon]

Admittedly I have considered it.

I have been drawing whatever I really needed to on paper and scanning it in for pretty much everything I have done. I do some small amount of drawing with my mouse...almost always gives me a cramp after about an hour though, LOL.

I don't think I'm going to wait too much longer before I break down and get something but I'm going to push for what I want before I do. I don't really want to futz around with drawing in my lap while watching the screen and building up that skill anyway.

[Midgardsormr]

To be honest, I didn't much like either of the Cintiqs I used. My college had the big monitor replacement types and also the smaller sort. The big ones wore my shoulder out because I'm not accustomed to keeping my arm elevated to draw. I also had less accuracy with my lines. I suppose if you're a painter then they'd be ideal, though. The smaller ones were nice for some 3d sculpting, but the screen was so tiny that it was difficult to see the details of what I was working on, and I constantly had to slide my window back into the main monitor to quality check it.

Also, I actually found the disconnect between pen and screen to be somewhat worse on the Cintiq because of the thickness of the glass. I could see where my stylus was, so I expected the line to go there, but if your eyes are not 100% perpendicular with the screen, parallax will cause the line to go somewhere else. So you actually have to look at the cursor beneath the stylus tip instead of at the stylus itself. I'm sure that's something I would have eventually overcome if I'd kept using them, but I was much more comfortable with my Intuos, so I typically just hooked it up and treated the Cintiqs like an ordinary monitor. The animation students always looked at me funny when I did that, of course, but considering they were all wearing tails and ears to class I didn't let it bother me.

[Jaxilon]

Hmmm, now that is interesting. I wish there was a place I could go spend some time with one. Thanks for sharing your experience Midg. I was thinking it would be less to deal with by being able to see what you draw right at the pen tip as opposed to drawing in your lap and seeing it on the screen. I know I could get used to that because I'm already doing it all the time with my mouse. I'm going to try to find somewhere to test one out.

[RobA]

I love my intuos4 - which is wayyy better than the graphire3 it replaced. Once you get used to the disconnect it becomes second nature to draw "down on the table" and see the results "up on the screen" It is just a question of developing a new muscle memory - quite different than drawing on paper.

Regarding "what to choose on a mac"... I have heard there are issues with gimp on macs - especially the latest OS versions. I think it requires a comparability layer or something? Someone with a mac might be able to comment more, but I see quite a few "cries for help" on the gimp sites I hang out on...

-Rob A>

[jfrazierjr]

Hmmm, now that is interesting. I wish there was a place I could go spend some time with one. Thanks for sharing your experience Midg. I was thinking it would be less to deal with by being able to see what you draw right at the pen tip as opposed to drawing in your lap and seeing it on the screen. I know I could get used to that because I'm already doing it all the time with my mouse. I'm going to try to find somewhere to test one out.

Umm.. that first sentence really jumps out at me. I know I would REALLY hate dropping 1500+ on a Cintiq only to find that it's hard to work with and end up not using it...ouch!

[Jaxilon]

Yeah no doubt. My opinions have been based on what I have seen not what I have done. I know others have mentioned how it was better than doing the "draw in lap, watch on monitor" thing as far as how natural it felt. I hadn't thought about how it's still not spot on. I am sure I would adjust to that very quickly but it brings up another fear I have...

Does the dang thing lag? Can it keep up with my strokes? Sometimes I move pretty fast and lag would just drive me nuts.