Art Why do so many people use photoshop?

[Chikara Kokoro]

One of the greatest mysteries in my life is why so many people use Photoshop. Most versions of it cost more than $100, and I know that most of the artistic community is fairly cash poor.

Personally, I use the GIMP. It's a free program that can be used on any operating system, and I have yet to find anything aside from layer settings that can be done on Photoshop that can't be done on the GIMP. I addition, you can find nearly all of the brushes that are missing on GIMP with enough searching.

Now that tutorial websites based solely for the GIMP where you can learn how to create such useful things as [URL=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Foil-Paper-329-1.html]realistic tin foil[/URL] on your computer, my question is gaining even more importance in my mind.

So I'm going to ask y'all.

Why do you (or don't you) use Photoshop?

[tomboy2xxxkoy]

u can do a lot of things w/ photoshop
though u might think there're not a lot of things u could do w/ photoshop, there'r actually a lot (from personal experience)
u just have to get familiar w/ it to know/learn what it can do
y else would the program cost so much & so many ppl'r using it?
so, it's worth something if u know how to work it

r u sure GIMP is free?
did u download it from somewhere or something?
cus in someplaces (in internet), photoshop is also free if u know where 2 download them (but i dont no where T^T)
but it's illegal to download the program for free ^~^

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]Well, I tend to use various programs in image editing. I pretty much use whichever one will get the job done faster, and whichever program I'm used to.

I mostly use photoshop for "big image editing". I was introduced to photoshop before paint shop pro, so I like it because I'm used to it. I have nothing really to complain about it.

I personally don't like Gimp very much. It has an annoying layout. But a few times I've used it because in certain ways it works differently than photoshop (not neccesarily better, it's just different), and hence that difference would be more useful in a specific project.

I made the individual frames of my hiragana animations using gimp because I could work faster with it. I know it would have taken me forever to do the frames in photoshop, and I was able to finish them in about 30 minutes in gimp. Then I put the frames together using 'easy gif animator'.

The first time I tried making hiragana animations, I used paint instead of photoshop to edit the frames. I didn't need to worry about quality either because they were balck and white.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[size=1]Here's a secret I'd like to pass down to the up-and-coming generations of graphic designers, so that the knowledge of the ages is not lost.

[spoiler]We pirate the programs. Yes, that's right. We're bad, bad people who pirate $700+ programs.[/spoiler] However, I have a legitimate copy of Photoshop -- a friend has a graphic design business, and had to buy a bunch of copies (bulk = cheaper), so he gave us a spare one that wasn't used.

Anyway, Photoshop can do tons of stuff that PSP/GIMP simply cannot match. Yes, that's right PSP fangirls, Photoshop is more capable. Bow down and worship -- you have no chance to survive, make your time.[/size]

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656446][QUOTE]Why do so many people use photoshop?[/QUOTE]Because it's the only graphics program I have besides MS Paint and it sure beats the crap out of the latter.

Also, the guy who sold us our PC was kind enough to install the program (we get to choose a few programs as part of the package, I think) so we didn't spend a lot of PS.

I've yet to fully explore PS 7, despite the two odd years I've been exploiting it. I want to get CS2, though, just because it's the latest version. ^^[/COLOR]

[Stuart]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]Here's a secret I'd like to pass down to the up-and-coming generations of graphic designers, so that the knowledge of the ages is not lost.

[spoiler]We pirate the programs. Yes, that's right. We're bad, bad people who pirate $700+ programs.[/spoiler] However, I have a legitimate copy of Photoshop -- a friend has a graphic design business, and had to buy a bunch of copies (bulk = cheaper), so he gave us a spare one that wasn't used.

Anyway, Photoshop can do tons of stuff that PSP/GIMP simply cannot match. Yes, that's right PSP fangirls, Photoshop is more capable. Bow down and worship -- you have no chance to survive, make your time.[/size][/QUOTE]
Damn you, Photoshop.

I've found that PSP includes all the features you can get with PhotoShop, and plus it's FAR more user friendly. You just have to know what you're doing, that's all. So, what can PhotoShop do for us that the awesome power of PSP can not, eh? Silly Alex. I demand justice!

Oh, and pirates rule![/FONT]

[Katana]

[size=1][color=royalblue]PSP was great while it lasted me - you know, the free trials. I actually managed to milk out two-60 day trials with mine. XD

I was actually of the extreme fortune to receive Photoshop as my eighth-grade "graduation" present. But I came upon it not through a $700 gift, but rather through my dad and his company. They were upgrading their PS versions to CS (or something of or relating to that title), so my dad snagged one of the "older" copies of Photoshop 7 for me.

Heh.

[spoiler]But in the end, Retri is right. For most people.
Not me.
Geez.
XD[/spoiler][/color][/size]

[Circ]

Formy part, I appreciate both, but I have found that Photoshop's handling of fonts was far more efficient than Paint Shopt Pro.

This is the main reason I've found myself using Photoshop almost exclusively. I've been doing mostly icons, which can require a rather fine twiddling with fonts (well,that and layer styles, really).

I still do find that Paint Shop Pro does a few things I can hardly do wih any kindof efficiency with Photoshop. Photoshop is a pain in the *** when it comes to many effects, because it lacks a preview window on several. It also lack PSP's nifty anti-JPG artefact tools and efficiency at handling vectors (although that is kind of debatable).

[spoiler]And I agree with retri. My copy of PS 6 (I think it's six...) is also pirated, though I did just fine for a vey long time without it.[/spoiler]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] [spoiler]I have a pirated Photoshop CS and I don't even use it. Do you know why I have it? I was bored on the weekends and wanted to see if it was really that easy. It was.[/spoiler]

Obviously, most of the young artists you'll see on places like DeviantART have pirated versions of the program. Or they're lucky and have a friend/relative who works at whatever graphic arts place. The thing is, Photoshop is hands down the best program to use when it comes with photo-editing and pure graphic art.

On the other hand, people who make digitally colored art go for programs like Painter, which is superior in creating digital art. OpenCanvas has gathered a small cult, although it's sort of like the indy version of Painter. *shrug*

But basically, if respectable program that is put in the hands of someone talented, great stuff will be produced.[/color]

[sakurasuka]

[SIZE=1]Personally, I use Paint Shop Pro. But you probably shouldn't take my work for it, I still use MS Paint for small jobs >_>

But yeah, I find PSP to be, as Stuart mentioned, [i]far[/i] more user-friendly. Also, I can't afford PS. PSP is much cheaper, I've found.

Either way, GIMP just doesn't really compare. Once you've used a program like PS or PSP, you won't know how you lived without it.[/SIZE]

[John]

So you see, Chikara? Everyone here is simply either a sneaky bastard or a lucky one. :p

I'm lucky, myself. My school issues its students laptops during the schoolyear, and I'm in two or three classes this year that require Photoshop (among most of the other major Adobe programs), so it was custom installed for me. Before I had it installed, though, I tried a few programs like GIMP and Inkscape, but they wouldn't run for me because of strict restrictions by the tech guys on the laptops. I'd try a free copy of PSP, but I've obviously got no strong incentive, lol.

[spoiler]This sentence is surrounded by spoiler tags.



...I didn't want to be left out. ;w;[/spoiler]

[Chikara Kokoro]

Wow, everyone seems to be in agreement.

Still, I am extremely stubborn, and I will continue to use the GIMP. Inferior to other programs or not, it is, in my opinion, a good free [spoiler]and un-pirated[/spoiler] alternative.

In addition, I don't use Windows. I use Red Hat.

Can PS or any other "professional quality" photo-editing software even be used on an OS that isn?t Windows?

[Hittokiri Zero]

o_O; man i'm not even going to bother explaining Photoshop's superiority of GIMP, you need look no further than a large art website such as DeviantArt or Shadowness to see the results for yourself...

Now if you were to debate whether PSP or Photoshop is superior you could make a good argument there. Generally speaking Photoshop is a more powerful program with more plugin options, I haven't taken the time to compare the differences in the newer version of the program but simply put Photoshop is the standard for graphic designers everywhere, that alone is a testament to its superiority over GIMP (and to a lesser extent PaintShop Pro).

That's not to say GIMP is a bad program, as it is a great cost-effective alternative to Photoshop but if you're serious about graphic design sometime down the line you'll probably switch over to Photoshop and never look back.

[VanS3n]

hmm.. so far photoshop seems to be more user friendly than other softwares...
its easy to learn how to use it.. and once you get the hang of it.. there are tons of stuffs you can do with it...

^__^d

[Circ]

[QUOTE=VanS3n]hmm.. so far photoshop seems to be more user friendly than other softwares...
its easy to learn how to use it.. and once you get the hang of it.. there are tons of stuffs you can do with it...

^__^d[/QUOTE]

Photoshop is extremely un-user friendly to me. the learning curve is much, much steeper than Pain Shop Pro's. heck, it took me a whole hour just to figure out how to properly rotate text layers! And I still run to Paint Shop Pro whenever I have to do something involving masks.

[quote name='"Hittokiri Zero"']o_O; man i'm not even going to bother explaining Photoshop's superiority of GIMP, you need look no further than a large art website such as DeviantArt or Shadowness to see the results for yourself...[/quote]
I'm sorry, but that is awfully close-minded. No matter the program, an experienced user of it can produce some awfully nifty stuff with it.

[QUOTE]is the standard for graphic designers everywhere[/QUOTE]
I'll point out that while PS is admittedly a standard for design aimed at [B]printing[/B], PSP is more than you need if you intend to do mostly webdesign, [B]especially[/B] if you can't afford PS in the first place. PSP included web optimization of images ages before PS did and was never aimed at print market: it's not even available for Mac.

[VanS3n]

[quote name='Circéus']Photoshop is extremely un-user friendly to me. the learning curve is much, much steeper than Pain Shop Pro's. heck, it took me a whole hour just to figure out how to properly rotate text layers! And I still run to Paint Shop Pro whenever I have to do something involving masks.[/quote]

well... ^^; thats my opinion anyways...

the only thing that matters is that it wil always depend on the one using it... I too use alot of graphic softwares... yet my preference still would be photoshop since thats the only software I am very much familiar with... and is the software I use for most of my work...

[Guest Scythe]

[QUOTE=Chikara Kokoro]One of the greatest mysteries in my life is why so many people use Photoshop. Most versions of it cost more than $100, and I know that most of the artistic community is fairly cash poor.

Personally, I use the GIMP. It's a free program that can be used on any operating system, and I have yet to find anything aside from layer settings that can be done on Photoshop that can't be done on the GIMP. I addition, you can find nearly all of the brushes that are missing on GIMP with enough searching.

Now that tutorial websites based solely for the GIMP where you can learn how to create such useful things as [URL=http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/Foil-Paper-329-1.html]realistic tin foil[/URL] on your computer, my question is gaining even more importance in my mind.

So I'm going to ask y'all.

Why do you (or don't you) use Photoshop?[/QUOTE] My sis is a photoshop whiz kid and she uses it because she uses the layering for most of her projects. She can do anything on photoshop that she wants to and has a burned copy so she didn't have to pay for anything.