So, does GIMP have what it takes as a Photoshop alternative? Download one and use it to find out for yourself.OffiDocs has updated the GIMP online version to 2.8 from the previous one, 2.6 so our GIMP online includes much more functionality. However, given its complexity, it is by far the most feature-rich image editing application that is close to Photoshop. It requires one to put in effort and many times, the workflow is not very intuitive. One major drawback what we encountered is the steep learning curve. They work well and produce nice-quality images. These include special-effect filters exposure controls, such as levels and curves color controls, such as hue/saturation replace color, bucket fill, paintbrush, eraser, selection tools etc. GIMP, being open-source, has downloadable plug-ins that will plug the gap for these missing features.Īs an image editing application, GIMP has just about most of the features that most users wanted. The layout options, built-in effects and warps are missing. We found that GIMP’s text capability is not as feature-rich as Photoshop’s. While the UI is not as elegant as Photoshop, it contains similar menus and components, albeit in a slightly different order. This is because you will find familiar panels for Layers, Brushes, Tools, Paths, etc. To date, we still cannot find an image editing application that is even close to GIMP to take on Photoshop.Īt first glance, when you start up GIMP 2.8.22, you might think that you have loaded up an alternate UI for Photoshop. Since it is open-source, there is an active community of contributors and this means that is it constantly under development, whether is it squishing the bugs or adding new features. GIMP is an open-source and you can download and use it for free. In addition, it supports a huge number of plugins, some of which come pre-installed while others are available for download, separately. GIMP includes layers, which is one of Photoshop’s powerful feature, also has highly customizable brushes, filters and automatic image-enhancement tools.
After familiarizing and getting used to it, it can be an alternative to Photoshop, if you are on a budget. GIMP can be downloaded from their website at It is very similar to Photoshop. The latest version is GIMP 2.8.22, which was released on 11th May 2017.
It is cross platform and available for computers running the Mac OS, Windows OS and the Linux OS.
GIMP, which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a freely distributed, open source image editing software application.