Comments on: A real open-source, usable, photoshop replacement? http://momo.brauchtman.net/2009/01/a-real-open-source-usable-photoshop-replacement/ for the sake of completeness! Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:03:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: max http://momo.brauchtman.net/2009/01/a-real-open-source-usable-photoshop-replacement/comment-page-1/#comment-43 max Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:47:15 +0000 http://momo.brauchtman.net/?p=261#comment-43 I just had to use Illustrator (mostly) and Photoshop for the last two hours for a new web design project and it was a horrible experience. It is funny how you tend to forget this experience if you don't use the Creative Suite for a couple of weeks and just keep coming back to the same tools because there simply isn't anything better. The user interface and the number of steps required to accomplish common tasks is nothing short of painful. Just to give an example: export the selected layer/object in Illustrator to a fully cropped PNG with transparent background. This is something you need to do all the time when transforming a finished design to XHTML/CSS and should be a one-step process. However you need to create cropping masks, hide/unhide Layers etc. Time needed for something that shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds: >2 minutes/Layer. Yes you CAN automate this with JavaScript, but then you will still have to crop your generated images by hand in Photoshop. I don't think the user interface of the Gimp is half as bad as you describe it. It's just a matter of habits. Kind of like switching from vi to Emacs after having used the former as your primary editor for the last 6+ years. You feel a lot less productive, having to search for the commands you need at places you don't expect them to be. Disclaimer: I don't think I qualify as a newbie Photoshop/Illustrator user, having paid the student price (>350€) for CS3 and also bought (!) the trial of CS4. I just had to use Illustrator (mostly) and Photoshop for the last two hours for a new web design project and it was a horrible experience. It is funny how you tend to forget this experience if you don’t use the Creative Suite for a couple of weeks and just keep coming back to the same tools because there simply isn’t anything better.

The user interface and the number of steps required to accomplish common tasks is nothing short of painful. Just to give an example: export the selected layer/object in Illustrator to a fully cropped PNG with transparent background. This is something you need to do all the time when transforming a finished design to XHTML/CSS and should be a one-step process. However you need to create cropping masks, hide/unhide Layers etc. Time needed for something that shouldn’t take more than a couple of seconds: >2 minutes/Layer. Yes you CAN automate this with JavaScript, but then you will still have to crop your generated images by hand in Photoshop.

I don’t think the user interface of the Gimp is half as bad as you describe it. It’s just a matter of habits. Kind of like switching from vi to Emacs after having used the former as your primary editor for the last 6+ years. You feel a lot less productive, having to search for the commands you need at places you don’t expect them to be.

Disclaimer: I don’t think I qualify as a newbie Photoshop/Illustrator user, having paid the student price (>350€) for CS3 and also bought (!) the trial of CS4.

]]> By: Tommy http://momo.brauchtman.net/2009/01/a-real-open-source-usable-photoshop-replacement/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Tommy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:51:25 +0000 http://momo.brauchtman.net/?p=261#comment-42 Sure! Not the authoring tool, but actually you don't need that anymore. I described how you set up a Flesh or Flex development environment with the free compiler mxmlc from the Flex SDK in my blog: http://southdesign.de/?p=125. But as you see, the "native" Flash thingie either doesn't work on linux. I don't get why, is it just Adobe or in general software developers? Sure! Not the authoring tool, but actually you don’t need that anymore. I described how you set up a Flesh or Flex development environment with the free compiler mxmlc from the Flex SDK in my blog: http://southdesign.de/?p=125.

But as you see, the “native” Flash thingie either doesn’t work on linux. I don’t get why, is it just Adobe or in general software developers?

]]> By: momo http://momo.brauchtman.net/2009/01/a-real-open-source-usable-photoshop-replacement/comment-page-1/#comment-41 momo Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:59:09 +0000 http://momo.brauchtman.net/?p=261#comment-41 hey tommy, is there any system on linux working for flash-editing? hey tommy, is there any system on linux working for flash-editing?

]]> By: Tommy http://momo.brauchtman.net/2009/01/a-real-open-source-usable-photoshop-replacement/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Tommy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:37:00 +0000 http://momo.brauchtman.net/?p=261#comment-40 Oh yes, to me this is one of the major disadvantages of linux if not THE reason not to switch over completely. I wonder if adobe is willing to lock the linux guys out. Choose between OS X and Windows for good design, and to implement back to linux, that's no future, that's got to change! Oh yes, to me this is one of the major disadvantages of linux if not THE reason not to switch over completely. I wonder if adobe is willing to lock the linux guys out.

Choose between OS X and Windows for good design, and to implement back to linux, that’s no future, that’s got to change!

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