Do you have a minute to talk about GIMP

[Generic Eric]

It sure has been nice to see everyone helping out lately.  Is there any chance there are some graphic artists that use gimp that can chime in?  Or does gimp suck eggs?  It sure is cheaper than illustrator.

Secondary question:
Gimp seems to lock up pretty tight on me on 3 different PCs that use 4G of ram.  Is that just too low for this sort of thing?

[HaRuMaN]

Install linux

[matt4949]

Install linux

Gimp is great. Listen to HaRuMaN. I like Ubuntu 12.4 myself. Another real good one on the cheap is Chasys IE.

[yotsuya]

I dunno anything about GIMP, I use Illustrator and <3 it.

[JDFan]

Personally have never used it but have heard it is a pretty good free alternative and does have a fairly large user base that works on bringing features to it. Though I do seem to remember it having some limitations when dealing with transparency and layers. Quite a few people on the Bethesda Game studios forum used it when modding their games since they used .dds format and GIMP was one of the few free alternatives that could handle the format but many ran into problems when dealing with transparency as the format used the Alpha channel to represent transparency level and GIMP was a bit difficult to figure out adding the alpha layer.

But that was a few years ago and things may have changed by now.

[Vigo]

GIMP is more of a Photoshop substitute (Raster image). Inkscape is what you want for an Illustrator substitute (Vector Image). Both programs are good, I personally find them annoying, but I am able to complete most of what I would do in Adobe in GIMP or Inkscape. Most of my grievance is that I have been using adobe products since the early 90's, and simply cannot adapt.

Many people prefer GIMP and Inkscape. There is actually a interesting video where vector image manipulation is done side by side in both Illustrator and Inkscape, and continually Inkscape proved to be the faster tool. I am sure the video is biased to a degree though, as I noticed a couple shortcuts in Illustrator that were not taken.

[Vigo]

Secondary question:
Gimp seems to lock up pretty tight on me on 3 different PCs that use 4G of ram.  Is that just too low for this sort of thing?

I used to run a portable version of GIMP on a low grade dell laptop before I was able to purchase Adobe Suite for my job. Never had a problem that was not rooted in user error

[Generic Eric]

Inkscape is what you want for an Illustrator substitute (Vector Image).

Maybe that is my problem.  It would seem I'm trying to go sledding on a surfboard.

[jennifer]

    Depends on what your working on and how perfect sizing has to be I tried that inkscape, but when it went to the plotter/cutter the flex8 didn't like it, the holes were off about 1/8in... The problem went away by using illustrator for the vector, Jennifer does prefer her PS (6 ext) however, it is an awesome program and worth every penny.

[404]

Inkscape is what you want for an Illustrator substitute (Vector Image).

Maybe that is my problem.  It would seem I'm trying to go sledding on a surfboard.

yes, if you are just trying to modify vector images, the last thing you want to use is GIMP. their GS paths implementation is piss poor to say the least.

[DarakuTenshi]

I wouldn't bother with Ubuntu unless you want to learn a new OS. I like it, but there is no sense in getting it just for GIMP. GIMP on the other hand is a great program... I've been using it for over a decade now. No you can not make vector file (per say) on GIMP. You can import vector files into GIMP to do editing and can use paths to create vector art. There is just no way of resizing the vector file within GIMP unless it was already saved as a vector. (Hope I didn't confuse you with the wording). Bottom line... Yes GIMP is an amazing program here is some of the stuff that I've done over the years with it:



Here are the lowres completed cards for CardFighterProject.com




Here are some lowres posters that I reproduced. The art was sampled, but the logos had to be completely redrawn and obviously the layout was also done on GIMP.



And these posters were done completely by scratch (with exception to the brick wall in the background on the Pao Pao Cafe poster)

[TopJimmyCooks]

Nice job on the neon Daraku.  I'm no great artist but I finally switched away from coreldraw to Inkscape and Gimp.  No issues with transparency in Gimp anymore.  I can do the same things and there's a lot of information out there along the lines of if you do X in PS/AI, do it this way in Gimp/inkscape.  the selection tools in gimp are very good.  Tracing a bitmap in Inkscape I haven't been able to do very well.  Can't speak to the speed of getting work done, because I'm not fast at all. 

[DarakuTenshi]

I've not done much in Inkscape, but I think I need to considering how much I do use GIMP. I was trained using Photoshop and Illustrator, but did not want to pay the crazy fee for the programs so I moved to GIMP.

[roknrol]

I've also seen Microsoft Expression Design 4 listed as a free alternative to Illustrator. I've watched several tutorial videos on Expression Design, and it appears functionally similar to Illustrator. I haven't used AI too much, so I'm sure there are variations which are lost on me. Can't speak directly to the outputs either.

Would be interested in hearing from someone who has used both Expression Design and Illustrator to see what the limitations are if one is only interested in performing vector image manipulations targeted toward arcade cabinet print outputs.

[Generic Eric]

Ok. If you use gimp, give me an impression on HW requirements.  What is the point of diminishing returns?  8g of ram or 16?  How about video cards?

Could I get some input on what I need to spend and where I should focus my (limited) buying power?

[jennifer]

      Your 4Gs should push it through just fine, I would look at problems with your platform, Something running in the background maybe?

[Generic Eric]

      Your 4Gs should push it through just fine, I would look at problems with your platform, Something running in the background maybe?

Actually, someone said that before.  I got Kapersky 2014 during holiday discount season.  I'll install it now.

[Generic Eric]

Install linux

I haven't had luck with linux.  I haven't built a real PC since 1997.  I've only upgraded compaqs, emachines, and hps.  My experience is that linux doesn't run on those.  I tried downloading isos, live cds, usb keys. 

I'd like use linux for its freeness.  I just need to build another pc to do it.

[matt4949]

Install linux

I haven't had luck with linux.  I haven't built a real PC since 1997.  I've only upgraded compaqs, emachines, and hps.  My experience is that linux doesn't run on those.  I tried downloading isos, live cds, usb keys. 

I'd like use linux for its freeness.  I just need to build another pc to do it.

Maybe this is off topic but I've put linux on 2 E-Machines and a Dell Laptop wthout any hassle.

[HaRuMaN]

Install linux

I haven't had luck with linux.  I haven't built a real PC since 1997.  I've only upgraded compaqs, emachines, and hps.  My experience is that linux doesn't run on those.  I tried downloading isos, live cds, usb keys. 

I'd like use linux for its freeness.  I just need to build another pc to do it.

Ubuntu installs on pretty much anything.  It's super painless, really really easy to do.

[Generic Eric]

Install linux

I haven't had luck with linux.  I haven't built a real PC since 1997.  I've only upgraded compaqs, emachines, and hps.  My experience is that linux doesn't run on those.  I tried downloading isos, live cds, usb keys. 

I'd like use linux for its freeness.  I just need to build another pc to do it.

Huh
Maybe I didn't do it right. 
 Maybe this is off topic but I've put linux on 2 E-Machines and a Dell Laptop wthout any hassle.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Generic Eric]

Toss it on a spare usb drive and run it live to see if you like it.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/


Download this program
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/downloads/Universal-USB-Installer/Universal-USB-Installer-1.9.5.2.exe



And whatever Linux iso you want to try, follow the steps in the program and you'll be up and running in a few minutes. The buntu flavor is pretty decent to start with. But there are lots of different kinds out there. I've been quite happy with Crunchbang for a good while now. It's a light OS. GIMP comes installed already with it too.

I'll give this a try.  Maybe it was operator error.

[404]

Not sure why anyone would actually want to run another Os just to get gimp working. There are windows binaries of GIMP.

Now, if your current rig is having issues running gimp, let us know your current specs so we can help you troubleshoot.

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

[Generic Eric]

Not sure why anyone would actually want to run another Os just to get gimp working. There are windows binaries of GIMP.

Now, if your current rig is having issues running gimp, let us know your current specs so we can help you troubleshoot.

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

I'm running Kapersky right now.  Why do I still have coinops4?  I should stop the scan and delete it. 

Thanks for the offer.  I will get back to you on that.

[UncleArgyle]

One thing I would suggest is checking your video/graphics settings. Make sure the color depth is set to 32 bit. Somehow mine was set to 16 bit and I kept experiencing crashes with GIMP. Once I set it to 32 bit, the crashes went away.

[Le Chuck]

I've used gimp in the past - I prefer photoshop personally.  On my office computers neither one is allowed (govt) so I find myself using pixlr.com all the time.  I use powerpoint a ton at work and am always having to delete the backgrounds on images so I can work in clean layers.  Pixlr is really versatile and runs in the browser.  Its not ps or gimp by any stretch of the imagination but you can do a lot with it in a pinch and if you're half decent in either program you can use this right off the bat. 

[DarakuTenshi]

Ok. If you use gimp, give me an impression on HW requirements.  What is the point of diminishing returns?  8g of ram or 16?  How about video cards?

Could I get some input on what I need to spend and where I should focus my (limited) buying power?

It depends on how elaborate you want to get on your designs, and how large of a canvas you want to work on. Ive done things that worked just fine on a 8 GB system and I've also done things that push the limits on my 16GB system. My side art for my cab was the one that did that... Then again the canvas was a 300dpi 6'x3' with many large layers.

If you are just beginning on image manipulation you will be fine with what ever amounts of ram you have in your current computer. Again as for Linux... Don't bother putting that on your system unless you are running WIn XP and you need an upgrade because Microsoft no longer updates it. Then I would suggest checking out the Mint distro of Linux... Other than that just keep your OS.