Photoshop Vs GIMP: An Authentic Comparison
In today’s internet world, images speak out the loudest. A perfect picture conveys messages more emphatically than words. Thanks to the photo editing software, that helps the designers making the photos meaningful and well-organized.
Anyway, among all those wonderful photo editor software’s Photoshop and GIMP both are well known. Photoshop does not need any introduction whereas GIMP also has something extra-ordinary. But which is better? And which is worth choosing?
Photoshop
Photoshop is a powerful photo editing and image retouching software application for graphic designers, web developers, photographers as well as for those users who edit as a hobby. It is from the Adobe. inc and compatible for both Windows and macOS. It is used for photo editing, image retouching, image manipulation, photo restoring, image masking, creative designing, and a lot more other services.
GIMP
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program which is an open-source and free photo editing and retouching software. It is available for Linux, Windows and macOS. Like Photoshop, it also provides photo editing services like retouching, restoring, photo clipping, masking, color correction, etc.
Features of GIMP and Photoshop:
Features are the items and facilities that any software provides for the users. Take a look at the features of Photoshop and GIMP.
Photoshop-
- Neural filters
- Automatic sky replacement
- 3D design
- Mobile and web design tools
- Automatic storage on cloud
- Multi shape and path selection tools
- Turns low resolution images into a printable one
- Many special effects
- Multiple undo option
- Photo restoring
- Easy color correction
- Flaw repairing (dust, red eye) is easy to do
- Pencil and pen tools
- Various fonts available
- Quick share option
- 360 panorama workflows
- Paste as plain text
GIMP-
- Customizable user interface
- Managing color efficiency
- Vector graphic features
- Photo quality enhancing
- Original artwork
- Tools for graphic designs
- Different hardware support like USB, MIDI controllers
- Converting images into different formats like PSG, JPEG, PNG, TIFF and GIF.
- Noise reduction tools
- Customizable brush tools
- Background removal
- Automatic photo enhancement
- Inkscape
- Scribus
- Multiple plugins
Tools:
Here, have a look at what are the tools used in Photoshop and GIMP
Photoshop
- Retouching and painting tools:
- Brush tools
- Transformation tools
- Crop and slice tools
- Move and selection tools
- Measurement tools
- Type and drawing tools
- Navigation tools
- Clone stamp tool
- Pattern stamp tools
- Liquify tools
GIMP
- Selection tools
- Brush tools
- Transform tools
- Color tools
- Color picker tool
- Measurement tools
- Magnifying tools
Basic Differences:
Now let’s see the basic differences between Adobe Photoshop and GIMP
| Adobe Photoshop | GIMP |
| Photoshop is a heavy weight photo editing software which is close source and paid | GIMP is a light weight photo editing software which is open source and free of cost |
| It requires approximately 1 GB from your hard disk | It does not take more than 25 MB from your hard disk |
| Photoshop may seem a bit hard for beginners | GIMP is easy to use for all users |
| Available on Windows and MacOS | Available on Linux, windows and MacOS |
| Suitable for profession use | Suitable for general use |
| Photoshop is not very flexible | GIMP is flexible and friendly |
| Can be used on Smartphone | Does not have a Smartphone version |
| Requires heavy duty hardware facilities to run | Does not require any heavy-duty hardware facility to run |
| Batch processing is not very satisfactory | Does batch processing very skillfully |
| Updates are important as it brings many major changes | Updates are not so important, can be ignored |
| It is industry standard software | Community centric software |
| Lots of in-built styles and free styles; even customization is possible | Does not have many different styles |
| Does not support the native XCF file format of GIMP | It supports PSD files so opening and editing the Photoshop files is possible |
When to choose Photoshop?
If you are a professional photo editor or graphic designer, Photoshop is the best option for you. As it contains numerous editing tools and advanced features, it serves the highest for bringing a professional touch to your works. You will never regret spending money on Photoshop. It even has a Smartphone version. So, choose it if budget is not an issue for you and you need professional standard features for editing and designing.
When to choose GIMP?
If you are someone who likes to edit photos for personal purposes, then GIMP is the best match. It also has many advanced features but unlike Photoshop, they are not of high- quality. You can get to know with many features but for using them in professional work is not recommended. Not to forget, it is a free software. Another thing to consider is- GIMP is very light and does not take a lot of space, so you can use it on your laptop. In a word, keep GIMP handy for quick editing and the sake of a hobby.
What is only in Photoshop?
- Photoshop offers RGB colors (Red, Green, and Blue) and CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key/Black).
- High- quality professional standard photo editing features are available.
- The company provides excellent customer support.
- You can learn using Photoshop from thousands of tutorials
- Easy photo transferring to Adobe Lightroom
- A mobile version is available
What is only in GIMP?
- Supports PSD files
- Supports multiple programming language
- Provides good amount of editing features on free of cost
- Provides full-screen preview option of having a final check
- Dorset effect (picture within a picture) available
- Best for batch processing
What are the Pros & Cons?
Photoshop
Pros:
- Turns ordinary images into a professional one
- Many editing tools and features
- Supports high quality graphic design
- can create passport size and stamp size photos
- Numerous ready to use templates
- Greeting cards, birthday cards can be made
- Photo retouching is easier and professional-quality
- mobile version available
- Can create social media-friendly photos with the advanced photo editing tools
Cons:
- Not beginner friendly
- Requires high quality hardware
- Not free of cost even expensive
- Does not support vector graphics
- Only an experienced one can take full advantage from Photoshop
- Takes a lot of space to run
GIMP
Pros:
- GIMP is free and open-source software
- Does not take much space
- Does not require heavy duty hard ware
- User friendly
- Contains a lot of advanced features
- Photoshop files are supported
- Available on Linux
Cons:
- Does not have mobile version
- It is not suitable for professional photo editing
- It has limited 3rd party plugins
- Not good for multiple layer image editing
Compare Pricing: which is free?
As we have said earlier, Photoshop is not free. You can choose different packs according to your requirement. For monthly single-use, it costs $20.99 per month. You can buy a yearly pack that costs $289.88 per year. You need to repurchase it every year. Without paying for it, you will lose your access to the software.
On the other hand, GIMP is entirely free of any cost. You can just download it and use it throughout the time you want. The upgrade also does not require any money.
There is no wonder that Photoshop wins over GIMP for its special features and advanced tools. But it is the only thing to consider? Certainly, not. As everyone’s requirement is different, it is not wise to tag something as “best”. If you need professional-quality features and advanced tools, choose Photoshop. If you don’t mind spending money for high-quality editing tools, go for Photoshop.
GIMP also has many special features and advanced tools for photo editing. As it is light-weight and comes free, it is worth choosing for small business runners or personal purposes.
So, there is no winner rather you must choose one according to your requirements.
