elements vs gimp???

#1

Hi, i’m poor, and don’t like using pirated software,

so I can’t afford photoshop at the moment,
but getting a dirt cheap copy of elements off ebay is looking to be a good alternative.

I’m wanting to hear from any of you guys that have used elements, and have used gimp (you know, the freeware wannabe photoshop).

and which you would recommend for someone who’s going to do pretty light digital art, painting/drawing, and light image editing. maybe a lil texture making…
nothing too extravagant.

I’ve been using the gimp at the moment, but I find it a bit sluggish in certain areas, though faster hardware would probably clear that up (of course… being poor… same problem arises).

THANKS!

#2

http://www.google.com/search?q=GPS+Gimp+Painting+Studio

Try it, better than the default Gimp.

#3

Respect for having a spine. :thumbsup:

Couple of years back I used Elements 3 for freelancing and it was quite fine. It was capable of using actions made with full Photoshop so my Elements was boosted with curves, layer masks, channel mixer etc. Only thing I really missed then was support for saving and previewing CMYK -files, but at that time GIMP didn’t do any better so it made no difference. And stepping up to full Photoshop from Elements was easy, almost zero learning curve. I also tried photoshop -like user interface for GIMP, but at the time it wasn’t stable enought for working, but maybe things have changed.

You might also be interested in other resources here:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=283&t=768736

Or getting Elements bundled with something like wacom tablet. Or if you are a student or teacher, you may also buy Educational version (not the very licence limited Student Edition) of full Photoshop somewhere around 300$/€.

edit: Elements 3 doesn’t work with Vista and I’m not sure how newer versions of Elements support those actions (curves, layer masks etc) , but that could propably be checked with Google.

#4

$300 will get you a CS suite w/ Illustrator and InDesign on educational.

#5

Tad, what is it that you wanna do with it? paint, edit photos, or both?

#6

yeah a bit of photo editing, a bit of painting, bit of UI design.

UPDATE:
I just won a copy of elements 7 off ebay for $25
not too bad!

theres a seller with a whole bunch of elements 7 and 8’s up on ebay if you guys are interested.

#7

just make sure it’s legit :slight_smile:

congrats :thumbsup:

#8

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