Marianne Little

Hi, I have installed GIMP but I have difficulties to learn it. I've had a test version of PS too, and the same problems with it. I can use simpler stuff like Photoimpression, but I can't figure out how to use layers properly.

A lot of the problems are probably because the tutorials and videos I find are in English, and I'm not good on tech English. I miss so many things when I have a video open, and then go to the program.

GIMP tutorials in Norwegian? It's hardly anything to find. I've searched for it, and what I find isn't what I need. So I am going to buy a book from Amazon, that I can have next to the screen. Can you recommend me a newer book that focuses on layers and artistic photomanipulation?

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Adam Zaius

> Who uses GIMP?

Sadomasochists, and people contemplating brain suicide.

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Marianne Little

And ppl who can't afford PS? lol

Joshua Nightshade

There's lots of other free alternatives to Paintshop if you can't afford it or don't torrent it.

GIMP is really ineffectual and frustrating, even Paint.NET is better.

Govi

I use GIMP a tiny bit, mostly I find its interface confusing. I use PSP (Paint Shop Pro) all the time, though for a long time I found it confusing also. Layers and all the things that can be done with them are, for me, the real magic of creating. Amazon has some good books on PSP, one of which I have but can't find or remember its title. You will want to find a book that has step by step instructions for the software you're using. Once you follow the steps for a few things, you learn the UI logic of the software you're using and can begin to really have fun with exploring all that it can do.

The SL texturing forum has a wonderful stickie on alpha channels that goes a long way towards being clear and complete.

I use both PSP 8 and PSP XI. I stick with PSP 8 sometimes, because PSP XI dropped one of my favorite PSP 8 features: automatic color matching. From all that I've seen, it's quite common for people to have multiple versions of the same graphics software for reasons like mine.

Eloh Elliot has made 512sq versions of her skins available for free. They are clear examples of what you can do with layers, though they don't tell you how to make the layers she uses, but still they are very educational. Free full perm female skin textures | VintFalken.com

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Marianne Little

Thank you! Yes, I find GIMP confusing too. I couldn't understand PS so much more. Maybe because I don't have so much time to spend on it, and when I sit down in the evening, I'm already tired and not in the mood to learn something.

Is it free versions of PSP too? Maybe I should try a test version of it. I guess it's much cheaper than PS.

Lewis Luminos

I've been using Paintshop Pro since about version 4, and I'm now on v 10, so - for a lot of years. I tried to learn GIMP recently but I hate the interface and I always end up getting frustrated and going back to PSP.

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Lewis Luminos

I think you get a 30 day trial or something with PSP. The full version is not free but it's still much cheaper than photoshop and definitely worth it, IMO. My only disappointment is that no-one has written SL-related tutorials for it.

Maybe I should do that.

FlipperPA Peregrine

Yeah, The GIMP suffers from open-source disease: horrible user interface, and horrible name trying to be cute but ends up being stupid.

I use it in a pinch, but that's about it.

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Ingrid N

I don't think PSP 10 is Vista-compatible, Corel/Lexar were offering it for free as part of some sort of combo offer or something two months ago, and that was one of the main complaints. The page is here, but I don't know if the offer is still good.

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Govi

There's a link for a trial version of PSP here: Free Trials - Home

If you decide to buy PSP XI or X2, Corel also gives you free access to Lynda.com's PSP online video courses, which can be a big help to get you going. As far as I know, they are in English, but your facility with English and Lynda.com's video-with-demonstrations should move you along quickly through whatever you want to know.

What is apparent, though, is that SL's use of all these graphics things is specialized. You won't find something that teaches you how to do stuff for SL unless you stick to SL based forums and sites. The PS (Adobe Photoshop) focused tutorials in the SL texturing forum are very useful and can be loosely applied to PSP, once you are familiar with PSP. PS and PSP are a lot alike in capabilities and performance. PSP suffers from having a smaller user base, so there are fewer guides for it and fewer user created shortcuts/methods.

Govi

According to Corel's site, Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is Vista compatible. PSP 10 is old enough that, as you say, it may not work with Vista.

Govi

One other point. Right now, if you look for jobs that use graphics software, I've found no employer who lists PSP as a job requirement, but PS is often required. So, if you want to turn what you will learn into a real world job, spring for PS, despite its price. It's the only version that has a chance of repaying your investment of learning by earning you a job.

Circle Widdershins

I heart gimp and you're all elitist PS trolls.

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Joshua Nightshade

The modern versions of both are similar enough though that if you're more familiar with one, you can usually pick up the other fairly quickly.

Robert Jung

I am learning GIMP using a book called

Beginning GIMP
From Novice to Professional
written by Akkana Peck
published by APRESS

The book is fairly easy to understand. I found the on line tutorials to be impossible to understand and useless, but the book is pretty good.

Lewis Luminos

I have PSP 10 running fine on my laptop with Vista. (although I can understand it may not be supported if there are problems). No problem for me though.

Confused

I use GIMP and find it reasonably easy i create 90% of my lothing using it, though occasionally switching over to photoshop for certain things

Gabriele Graves

I use GIMP extensively and found it hard at first but then Photoshop was like that too. Paintshop Pro is definitely easier to use but there is a lot less power there too (last version I used was v9.0 so this might have changed.). Paint.Net is a joke.

It all depends on your needs, I do a lot of graphic stuff that needs advanced layers, path and tools handling however lots of people just need the ability to convert from one format to another. For those purposes GIMP will be overkill unless you intend to learn more.

I have used GIMP for a long time I would never switch to anything else, it is very fast, flexible and powerful. I love GIMP.

Aodhan McDunnough

I use GIMP now. It is a difficult interface but I think it's mostly because I "grew up" on Photoshop. Little by little though I'm learning how to do things that I did in PS. Some things are outright more difficult, others just different and sometimes I find that "different" works well too if I change my way of looking at things.

Most important thing for me is it's OSS and it runs on both Linux and Windows.

LoganBauer

I read this as "I create 90% of my loathing using it", but it's not as funny if you meant to type "clothing"

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Robert Jung

It was the my impression that GIMP is the best free version, almost as good as PS ;-)

Confused, Gabrielle and Aodhan ( Circle ? ): you seem to have access to both PS and GIMP but choose GIMP part or most of the time. Why?
(apparently Aodhan uses Lynux so GIMP is an obvious choice in that case )

thanks

Aodhan McDunnough

I have only PS 4.0. Too expensive to get something later.

Interestingly I found line drawing with paths much easier in GIMP. I'm entertaining thoughts of making a webcomic, and I am considering learning manga art seriously, so this is a big plus.

Gabriele Graves

The photoshop I had access to was owned by the place I worked at and was a much earlier version that is available today. There is no way I could afford a personal copy of PS then or today. Now that I have learned GIMP there is simply no need either in my mind.

Khamon

I use GIMP Marianne. If you post some specific questions here, I'll try to answer them for you.

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