[HN Gopher] Why is GIMP still so bad?
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       Why is GIMP still so bad?
        
       Author : ducktective
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2022-04-17 20:06 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
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 (TXT) w3m dump (old.reddit.com)
        
       | orionblastar wrote:
       | Because it is still compared to Photoshop. I like Paint.Net
       | better as it is more like EA Deluxe Paint.
        
       | DocTomoe wrote:
       | I just love when people demand everyone's muscle memory to be
       | overturned in a free tool for "better UX" because they themselves
       | are too lazy to learn a new workflow.
        
         | throw_m239339 wrote:
         | > I just love when people demand everyone's muscle memory to be
         | overturned in a free tool for "better UX" because they
         | themselves are too lazy to learn a new workflow.
         | 
         | Gimp devs probably think like you do. And this also is why
         | artists aren't using Gimp more as well. The hubris. Gimp UI is
         | objectively terrible and the workflow you're talking about
         | doesn't have artists in mind, it's designed by developers for
         | developers, not artists.
        
         | sippeangelo wrote:
         | I can't tell if you're speaking for or against GIMP's
         | unintuitive UX here.
        
         | kehrin wrote:
         | This is exactly the attitude that made Photoshop end up with
         | the absolute worst UX ever. So bad, I'd argue it's the reason
         | Adobe just gave up and spread out new features across multiple
         | other tools.
        
       | V__ wrote:
       | Often times people say that GIMP is just another workflow and one
       | has to get used to it, just like with Photoshop. Maybe there is
       | some truth to that. But my personal opinion differs.
       | 
       | Of all the tools I played around with over the years, as a
       | beginner or intermediate, be it Photoshop, Cinema 4D, Blender,
       | Paint.Net, Illustrator, Inkscape, Premiere, and countless other
       | less prolific..
       | 
       | I was always able to figure it out myself fairly easily, with a
       | bit of tinkering... except GIMP. It is my least used program with
       | the most Google and YouTube searches, and I'm never not
       | frustrated while using it. Still, every few years I come back and
       | try it again.. and am disappointed again.
       | 
       | I remember, to this day, what my very first frustration was. I
       | wanted to use GIMP to resave a PNG as a JPG and didn't notice the
       | hidden dropdown (behind a checkbox!?) to change the file type why
       | saving. Changing it in the filename box returned an error.. why?
       | why? Sure, it only took a minute to find it, but it shouldn't
       | have.
       | 
       | Don't get me wrong, it is undoubtedly a powerful program and I am
       | grateful that it exists. But the UI is abhorrently unintuitive.
        
         | alpaca128 wrote:
         | Well, it's the exact opposite for me. I don't do a lot with
         | Gimp but I can only remember one time I needed to google how to
         | do something, I just find it very intuitive to use. Sure it's
         | not the most polished software and I've seen one or two bugs
         | but overall it does everything I need with an easy to use
         | interface.
         | 
         | > Changing it in the filename box returned an error
         | 
         | I always do it like that and it just works. Though in current
         | versions you have to "Export" to jpg/png and not "Save as".
         | Afaik the intention is to prevent overwriting the original file
         | on accident.
        
         | wildrhythms wrote:
         | I switched from Adobe Photoshop to Pixelmator Pro. I'm happy to
         | pay for software when it's fast, feels native, and has
         | intuitive UX. Respect to the GIMP devs for continuing that
         | important work, but I have to +1 to each of your points; the
         | GIMP UX is not good. I find myself constantly getting 'locked'
         | into some selection or transformation state I don't understand,
         | there's no UI indicator for, and pressing escape or deselect
         | doesn't get me out of. Very annoying usability in my
         | experience.
        
       | krapp wrote:
       | Because Free Software people aren't supposed to care about
       | quality, but rather be willing to suffer for freedom.
        
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