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06-15-2021, 02:28 PM   #1
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Debating Software choices

It's looking like my cameras will be film, but after film processing the rest of the darkroom will be digital. I'm debating between GIMP (free) and the Adobe suite (definitely NOT free).

A question for those who've trodden this path before - - is there anything that I can't do in GIMP ????

06-15-2021, 02:38 PM   #2
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There are other alternatives as well. You might want to consider what exactly it is you want to do the images. GIMP is full featured but IMHO, not easy to use. YMMV.


Adobe is industry standard but as you say, not free. Well worth it if you are doing photography for work or extensively. The catalog system from Lightroom is quite useful for tracking images if you have a large collection. Photo Suite (LR and PS) is $10 / month

Also look at Darktable, Luminar, Adobe Elements, Capture One Pro, Affinity Photo
06-15-2021, 03:00 PM   #3
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Also free are Irfanview, FastStone and XnView Classic, all of which I find easy to get to grips with to produce results I find acceptable. As ever, YMMV.
06-15-2021, 03:10 PM - 1 Like   #4
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Affinity Photo is much better than Gimp (I've used both). Right now there's a 90-day free trial and it's 50% off to buy, which means it's in the $25 range. The main advantage is its non-destructive layers which (in case you're not familiar) means you can go back and adjust a layer after you've applied the effect. Those layers also have blending ranges, so you can apply the effect to a certain luminescence range without having to resort to creating luminance masks. Gimp doesn't do those things, and I find them very useful. And if you have interest in these features, it can also stitch panoramas and focus stack among many other things that I don't use.

06-15-2021, 03:10 PM   #5
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Krita is another free and open source option that many prefer over GIMP. It's less meant for photo editing than GIMP, and I haven't used it personally but I know it gets recommended a lot for those who can't get around GIMPs interface quirks. Just wanted to toss that out as another option.

Personally I've used GIMP a lot and never found it to be limiting, but I haven't used Photoshop since the Photoshop 7 days.
06-15-2021, 04:11 PM   #6
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Nothing like more choices to make the decision harder! I'm perfectly happy with Lightroom, but if you are only doing film your volume will be lower. I would check out the free alternatives.
06-15-2021, 05:13 PM   #7
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Capture one and Affinity= forget about Adobe.

06-15-2021, 05:46 PM   #8
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Second Affinity Photo.
06-15-2021, 06:06 PM - 1 Like   #9
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ON1 Photo Raw - just to give you another choice....
06-15-2021, 06:09 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by rvandenbrink Quote
is there anything that I can't do in GIMP ????
The short answer is that users will say that their needs are met by the GIMP along with any number of free or nearly free tools. The larger question might be "how high does one need to jump" to do a required task as well what tasks they use it for.

I use Affinity Photo for my raster editing. It is an amazing tool with editing that is sufficiently similar to Photoshop to make it very attractive. I don't use it for digital RAW processing or for content management. I also don't use it for its gee-whiz features.

I use Adobe Lightroom for the bulk of my photo work flow, including film scans. The selling points for me are the content management, RAW processing, virtual copy features, edit-in, soft-proofing, edit-in, printing, and publish (export) to target features. I will add that I have a legacy desktop version of Lightroom 6.x and am not paying subscription.

On the side are HDRMerge for HDR and Microsoft ICE (sadly, no longer available) for panos and other composites. I also maintain an up-to-date copy of Pentax DCU for the odd task.


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06-15-2021, 08:28 PM - 1 Like   #11
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Adobe Monthly subscription at $10 per month get you Photoshop and Lightroom on two computers with painless software updates. That's 3 gallon of gas or lunch at Burger King, not a big purchase decision. Tons of free instructional videos plus online storage, , etc, etc, etc.. Keep originals, JPEG or RAW and you're not committed to anything.
06-15-2021, 09:28 PM   #12
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If the final products will be commercially used or sent / shared with people for future used and or edit, I would go with industry's standard which is Adobe.
If it is for personal use only, I think for as long as the workflow is fit you and your style of editing, it doesn't matter what you select.
06-15-2021, 10:26 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by rvandenbrink Quote
It's looking like my cameras will be film, but after film processing the rest of the darkroom will be digital. I'm debating between GIMP (free) and the Adobe suite (definitely NOT free).

A question for those who've trodden this path before - - is there anything that I can't do in GIMP ????
As a Gimp user I am not aware of any critical function that is not available.
Of course there won't be a glitzy slider to match every glitzy adobe slider.
Whether it is the choice for you depends on your personality
Gimp is like a manual car and adobe is the automatic.
06-15-2021, 10:34 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by Michaelina2 Quote
OTOH: If you wish to piddle around, run the risk of developing bad habits and waste your and everyone else's time, pick your poison, there are tons of "other" candidates.
I am sorry but that is harsh, offensive and outright wrong advice.
The best thing for the OP to do is go in with an entry level editor and get themselves some basic understanding of what they require and how they prefer to work then make some educated choices for themselves.
06-15-2021, 10:45 PM   #15
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As per GUB above: try a bunch of software and go with whichever you are most at ease with. My poison is currently ART (Another Raw Therapee), after having used ACDSee quite happily for several years.
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