GIMP is No Longer a Viable Photoshop Alternative
“Why are you trying to run Photoshop on Linux? Just use GIMP.” This suggestion never held much weight, and today, it holds even less.
A few years ago, I had a Twitter spat with someone involved in the GIMP project, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, often touted as the “open-source Photoshop alternative.” I argued that GIMP had fallen significantly behind and was not a viable option for professional visual and graphic designers. This view, based on my personal experiences, highlighted the shortcomings that prevent GIMP from being a reliable tool in the professional design world.
The discussion started when I contrasted Photoshop and GIMP’s features, specifically smart objects. In non-destructive editing, smart objects are crucial. Another designer chimed in, noting that smart objects are industry standard and are found even in free web-based Photoshop alternatives. However, the GIMP team member claimed this feature was on their roadmap and shared a link. Upon reviewing the roadmap, I realized there was a disconnect between GIMP’s development priorities and the needs of professional designers.
The roadmap featured several planned non-destructive editing features, but they quickly fell flat. The “linked layers” feature was their solution to smart objects, but it was far from the same. Not only could smart objects not be imported into GIMP from .psd files, but the entire user experience was cumbersome. Instead of nesting non-destructive layers within your working file, GIMP would “link” external files as layers. Despite professional designers voicing their concerns about this implementation, the developers persisted with their approach. One user, Steve Hardy, referred to smart objects as the essential feature that elevates Photoshop above the competition and described GIMP’s linked layers as a more complicated solution.
