Just the way I like buying cheap music, I like cheap software. But just the way I don’t like pirating music, I don’t like using cracked versions of expensive programs either. And the good news is: there’s no need to!
I’m pretty sure everybody with some graphical experience has seen a cracked version of Adobe Photoshop at least once in his life. And rumour has it that Photoshop condones this, because there’s no way that young kids, for example, are going to pay $500+ for a legal version. By using cracked versions, the kids learn to work with Photoshop, so that once these talented kids start working for real, they are hooked. Free promotion.
While obviously, Adobe won’t admit this, I guess there are some good reasons for them to try and hook as many people as possible. And one of them is the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). At least at amateur level, there’s not much one can do with Photoshop that you can’t do with GIMP. The main problem for GIMP is: it’s different from Photoshop. I think nobody will baldly claim that Photoshop is easy to learn. Everybody who hasn’t had much graphical experience before, will need a couple of hours to find out what the basic principles and possibilities of PS are. That’s because there’s an awfull lot that Photoshop can do.
If a Photoshop user starts using GIMP, he can be assured that what he wants to achieve is possible. The only problem is that when he starts looking in the menu for a certain function, chances are he can’t find it: a lot of functions are called differently, and sometimes placed in a totally different menu. GIMP is different.
The thing I missed the most, when I started using the GIMP, was ctrl-clicking a layer, for selecting all non-transparent items. I couldn’t find it, and for a while, I really thought that this was a Photoshop-only killer feature. And then, the day of relief dawned: I found it. While it’s not a shortcut, the function is easily accessible by right-clicking on a layer, and selecting “Alpha to Selection”. You can find it as well under Layers>>Transparancy>>Alpha to Selection.
By now, I’ve forgotten most Photoshopisms, and I feel using GIMP like I felt using Photoshop before. (That is: I’m sure somebody can do it, but I’ve no idea where to start myself… ;)
So if you have a crackedl version of Photoshop on your pc, and it gives you a quirky feeling, just give GIMP a try. And make sure not to give up too easily, because I can promise you: there will be times that you curse GIMP for making you feel like a beginner, looking for half an hour for something you could easily do in 2 minutes in PS. But trust me: it’s worth it…
ps: For the curious-but-conservative people: there’s a GIMP plugin that tries to mimic Photoshop behaviour and menu structures in GIMP: GIMPshop. Haven’t tried it myself, so feel free to chip in your comments.
