Slashdot Mirror
GIMP Interface Proposals?
Anonymous Coward asks: "It would seem that naught but its developers themselves like the GIMP's UI. How would you like the GIMP to look? Reply with links to GIMPed (or Photoshopped, if you swing that way) screenshots. Individual features, the menu structure, or (preferably) default workspaces after you open up a blank new canvas." With the release of version 2.2 in the bag, 2.3 development should now be in full swing. What aspects of the interface do you think the GIMP team should make for the next release and for future relases down the line?
I concur on this part. Photoshop has been developed over the last 14 years to be the world's premiere image-editing program, by professionals for professionals. It has power, extensibility, and ease of use attached to its name, can open more image formats than I'm aware of, processes images surprisingly fast, is stable, can do batch jobs, etc.
GIMP has all of this except for ease of use. The right-click menus are a pain (I expect right-click to give me a contextual menu, not the only menu), the toolbars-as-separate-windows idea is cumbersome, and the single-document interface is a pain and slows down my working time.
If the GIMP wants a good interface, the parent has the right suggestion: make it look, work, and feel like Photoshop, minus inconsistancies/annoyances (I can't think of any, but people probably have some I haven't encountered). Copy it feature-for-feature, make it look-alike and work-alike, put menu items in the same-named menus, and then maybe, just maybe, the pros will be willing to switch.
Then all Linux will need is an InDesign clone, a Final Cut Pro clone, and a few others, and professional graphics and video artists can start switching over.