[lavascript]

In my youth, I pirated Photoshop. But there was a time around v7.0 that I decided that I could technically afford the $700 price tag, and then it became more like stealing to me. I made the decision to learn the GIMP, and it's been great.

But now that Photoshop is no longer $700 and is available with Lightroom for $10/mo via Creative Cloud, it seems a lot more reasonable. And while I love the open-source nature of the GIMP, Photoshop seems to have left it in the dust long ago. Some of my GIMP knowledge will be useless, and I'll need to learn new things about the tools, but would this be a good move?

Surely others have made this move. Any thoughts or caveats?

[MikePerham]

In my youth, I pirated Photoshop. But there was a time around v7.0 that I decided that I could technically afford the $700 price tag, and then it became more like stealing to me. I made the decision to learn the GIMP, and it's been great.

But now that Photoshop is no longer $700 and is available with Lightroom for $10/mo via Creative Cloud, it seems a lot more reasonable. And while I love the open-source nature of the GIMP, Photoshop seems to have left it in the dust long ago. Some of my GIMP knowledge will be useless, and I'll need to learn new things about the tools, but would this be a good move?

Surely others have made this move. Any thoughts or caveats?

Well, for your $10 you also get Lightroom, not sure what you are using now but I think the combination of LR and PS are just great and you can move seamlessly between them.

[rfaucher]

My recommendation is to get the $10 per month Creative Cloud subscription. Not only do you get Photoshop CC, you will also get Lightroom CC. Both programs can be installed in as many computer systems as you like and the subscription is transferable to any of those machines. I think it allows for concurrent use on two machines as well. This is great if you have a desktop and and notebook.

For nearly all my photo editing tasks, Photoshop has taken a back seat to Lightroom. For the cost of a fast food lunch, getting both programs each month legitimately is well worth it. Also, you get some extra perks with the CC subscription, such as a mobile version and cloud synchronization not available in the standalone version.

It's good to be legit with these two terrific image editing programs

[lavascript]

Thanks for the advice, guys. It definitely seemed like a no-brainer, and you've confirmed it. I'll get started tonight!

[romeck]

Some of my GIMP knowledge will be useless, and I'll need to learn new things about the tools, but would this be a good move?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

after 7 years I quick GIMP
6 months I was angry, annoyed and confused
now, sometimes I use gimp, because of lack of logic (!) few Photoshop's tools, but then I am looking for solution via internet/forums

I have Lr+Ps CC

good luck!
=

po siedmiu latach rzuciłem GIMP-a
przez 6 miesięcy się złościłem, byłem poirytowany i skonfudowany
teraz, czasem użyję GIMP-a z powodu braku logiki paru fotoszopowych narzędzi, ale wtedy szukam rozwiązania w internecie/ na forach

[Qwntm]

Thanks for the advice, guys. It definitely seemed like a no-brainer, and you've confirmed it. I'll get started tonight!

I've been using PS for years, actually have taught photoshop college classes...


When they went to the cloud I went to Corel Paint Shop Pro. Does everything I need with a slight learning curve, does some things better, and cost $70. Coming from GIMP Corel Paint Shop Pro will feel like Photoshop.


Just stop drinking the Adobe Koolaid.

[reeftool]

I have the CC subscription and consider it well worth the $10 monthly charge. I mostly use Lightroom and the price is about what you would pay for the stand alone version LR plus you get Photoshop. I previously used Elements to do the stuff LR didn't. I never liked Gimp. I tried it way back and found it difficult. I'll freely admit to being a total noob at that point and after a few years of learning to use PP software, I would probably do better with Gimp today but at $10 a month to have constantly updated, state of the art PP software is a hard deal to pass. I know there are people who hate Adobe, hate the whole idea of the software subscription model and they'll likely chime in with their "it's just as good as..." alternatives.

While the subject of LBA has been a running joke for years, a lot of us have a ton of editing software we have accumulated over time. Besides Photoshop and Lightroom CC, and Elemnets, I have several plug ins, Perfect Effects, Noiseware, Portrait Professional, a couple of Silkypix versions, Picasa, all on my computer. I have other software on my iPad and phone. I know I've probably left out something. I cleaned up my hard drive and removed some stuff I don't use any more. Lightroom gets the most use, probably 98% of the time. I also have a Wacom tablet, the Spyder 4 calibration system, and a wide carriage Canon printer, a Canon film and slide scanner and the software and drivers for all that stuff. Start adding it all up and the $10 subscription looks even better.

[UncleVanya]

As a chromebook user I am left out of the Adobe love fest. They have an "experimental beta program" limited to just educational users that allows Google App Engine to run the CC software and stream to a chromebook but that solution is not generally available. Most of the time I have to make do with Pixlr or Polarr or similar. However GIMP is available via a product called "rollAPP". So I could be talked into going upstream and swimming into the waters you are departing...

[amoringello]

If you're used to GIMP and it does everything you want stick with it.

But my opinion is that CC + LR does so much more it is worth $10 a month.
How many months would it take to spend that $700 ($149 for LR).... then add in the upgrade costs that used to come out every one to two years.
$10 a month is not a bad price...... as long as you always have an income.

Additionally, if it matters, look at all the compatibility with plug-ins and the tons & tons of readily available tutorials you may find on the Internet for CC/LR vs GIMP.
I could not really recommend GIMP for a beginner, but if you're good to go with all it has to offer there is likely nothing wrong with it.