GIMP 2.4 (free open source graphics program)

[Sparky]

After tinkering for a few minutes, I noticed a few small improvements in this release. The program opened very quickly; it launches in around 5 seconds now. Once it was open, I noticed that the tablet support seems to have been improved- it feels very responsive, and no longer switches foreground and background colors oddly when you begin a tablet stroke. Another nice improvement is the new blur tool. In the past there was a tendency for dark areas to bleed out into light areas instead of creeping toward the average value. Thankfully that seems to have been fixed, and the tool seems more responsive now as well.

On the negative side, there is still no support for grouped layers, and shared layer masks are still an impossibility. So while I prefer the GIMP's interface and cleanliness, I will unfortunately still be using Photoshop for more complex projects.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the GNU Image Manipulation Program (affectionately referred to as the "Gimp") is an open source program similar to Adobe Photoshop. It runs on many platforms and is completely free. Go to gimp.org for more information. I've used the GIMP for years now, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a legal alternative to pirating Photohop. It has nearly all the same basic capabilities in terms of layers, filters, and painting tools, and it's similar enough to Photoshop that switching from one to the other is relatively painless.

[deadsuperhero]

Hmm...layers seem to work just as well as Photoshop in Ubuntu...
Oh...right...you probably get one with less features, maybe, seeing as it's an XP port...

[tube]

Hmm...layers seem to work just as well as Photoshop in Ubuntu...
Oh...right...you probably get one with less features, maybe, seeing as it's an XP port...

Actually it's not really a port. It's exactly the same software on both platforms. There are small differences of course, but nothing like missing major features. You see, Gimp is designed as a cross-platform application just like Open Office, Firefox or Inkscape, so there's no need to actually port anything.

There simply happen to be some layer features in photoshop that Gimp doesn't have. Not that you can't achieve most of the same results in Gimp using slightly different techniques. I'm no artist though, so please don't ask me to back my claim with examples...

To comment the original post, I agree that 2.4 is a great deal more usable than the previous versions. A lot of work has been put to making the interface more intuitive, even though there's still bit of a learning curve for those who are used to Photoshop. Anyway, Gimp is pretty much the only real option for us Linux users, so I'm happy it's rapidly getting better and better.

[Nine Toes]

Hmmm... I used a simple 10 px gaussian blur, and GIMP locked up.  I dunno what that was all about.

[Sparky]

Don't let it scare you off. Overall it seems like a pretty stable application, that sort of thing is pretty rare in my experience.

[deadsuperhero]

It works like a charm in Ubuntu, I love it. Though, it takes a while getting used to having toolboxes as actual seperate windows, but one gets used to it.