Photoshop or GIMP vs PSP 2023 Ultimate

[Hankster]

Serious question . How much, or is there, anything the other two CAN do, the PSP and it's side programs in ULTIMATE cannot? Go ahead, and throw in AfterShot3 Pro to the PSP mix. What does PSP lack, the others can do? is there really anything? and, would most normal users, miss any of the things, if there are any?? Hard to find REAL discussions anywhere else, too many seem to worship the "A" god, to even consider there are alternatives!

[Jean-Luc]

See here:
https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/product ... d/#compare

[Hankster]

Thanks, I did look it over. But I'm also looking for users actual opinions and experiences. Like do you ever have to, or feel the need to step outside of PSP to get done what you want to? I've looked at and dabbled with a lot of different programs etc.. but frankly, would prefer to learn one Set of programs REALLY WELL, rather than know a little bit of a lot of them. Trying to decide to commit to one company/program set vs jumping all over. That's my end game with this. Pick one and done. learn it inside out. But do not want to waste time. thus Why I'm asking others here. 65 yrs old.. not lots of time to waste! LOL! ( but I do learn quickly) Thanks in advance.

[LeviFiction]

It's hard to do a definitive comparison. They are all good programs with a TON of tools and filters and features. Different ways of doing things. You might as well also include AffinityPhoto, though I won't include that in this list of random things I can think of off the top of my head.

The first thing that pops into my head is both Photoshop and GIMP have way more filters and effects than PSP. Several of the Photoshop versions of effects just produce a better and cleaner result than PSP or GIMP. Not to mention GIMP and Photoshop have more blend modes. And whether or not that means anything to others, depends on the user. Sometimes I can make do with a similar blend mode rather than the exact same ones. Othertimes it's just not the same. And we can get similar effects to GIMP into PSP through the G'Mic plugin.

Meanwhile, both PSP and Photoshop have layer styles/effects and GIMP doesn't have a native option (there is a plugin that makes it slightly more powerful than PSP). Both GIMP and Photoshop use layer masks, while PSP has a Mask Layer. That's neither a pro nor con, just a difference that requires thinking about how to arrange things in the layers differently. Photoshop has clipping masks, GIMP has composite mode (different but similar), PSP has no exact equivalent. Gimp and Photoshop cage/puppet deformation is to my mind superior to PSP's. If you don't do a lot of crazy deformations, not a big deal. GIMP using "MyPaint" internally for its brushes makes its brush system faster with a crazy ton of possible effects while PSP uses Art Media layers which are far more limited. GIMP is missing adjustment layers but they hope to have those in GIMP 3.0. Photoshop has smart objects for non-destructive editing.

Both GIMP and Photoshop have slightly better scripting because they can access more information than PSP's scripting can.

it's all kind of a give and take.

2023 with the built-in Aftershot brings PSP closer to Photoshop with it's RAW Camera Lab plugin. But RAW Camera Lab is used by both Photoshop and Lightroom equally and can be applied to any image. Whereas PSP's Aftershot is a separate program with a special interface to interact with PSP and is only for RAW images. GIMP I don't believe has an equivalent to either.

PSP and Photoshop both have a content-aware option. PSP's is limited to the selection tool. GIMP can use an external program to do something similar but doesn't have a built-in option.

PSP has built-in vector graphics. Both GIMP and Photoshop have vector paths but they aren't used in the same way. GIMP hopes to fix this in a later update to version 3.0. Also GIMP and Photoshop technically have better path manipulation tools.

HDR/stacking. GIMP has next to nothing for this. PSP has dedicated tools, but sadly we can only export a flattened result while Photoshop produces the result in the layers of the open image. So they have the ability to align layers directly on canvas. Which is great for more manual work than dedicated "easy to use" tools that allow for less targeted adjustments. I would prefer PSP do this in-image than send it to an external app they include with the program.

I find PSP easier to work with than GIMP but part of that is only because of familiarity the rest is the UI is still clunky.

[Hankster]

Ok, now that's the sort of info I'm looking for. Personal experiences. Thank you for taking the time.

[Jean-Luc]

Hi, Levifiction
Your comparisons are very interesting. This could be done with other tools, but it would require too much work. However, I would like to draw attention to two possibilities that I use myself. I don't know whether they have an equivalent in other programs. It's the "Print Layout" section and also the possibility of profoundly modifying the user interface (workspaces, menus, toolbars).

[LeviFiction]

GIMP does not have a Print Layout option built-in, it does have a print Plugin that allows for precise placement of an image and various settings but it's not the same. Though, again, with its better scripting and plugin options someone somewhere has probably made their own. (I believe an old project called GIMP# had a comparative option to Photoshop)

Assuming one does a lot of printing, I don't personally, or need a specialized layout editor. Most probably just create a blank image the size of the print, and arrange photos on it manually since the program is already a full photo editor. Photoshop I think has something called "picture package" which I think is similar to Print Layout. I'm unsure.

EDIT: Forgot to address the customization.

I haven't played around with this too much. When it comes to colors and icons GIMP has PSP beat. As far as keyboard shortcuts they are pretty much on par. There is even someone offering a GIMP shortcut config file to make GIMP shorcuts match PSP. But when it comes to docking palettes (tabs in GIMP) and menu customization PSP wins. Technically GIMP has one advantage in palette docking in that it can have the same palette in multiple places. But the docking areas are only to the sides.

Photoshop can customize menus, and keyboard shortcuts, and move palettes(Panels in Photoshop) around. Color settings for the UI are easier to adjust than in PSP. But I'm uncertain how close it is to PSP's customization overall. It's possible PSP has Photoshop beat here, but it's hard to say for sure as I don't have the latest version of Photoshop to play with. But I will say it's probably close.

I'll just quickly put this out there, I have zero interest in PSP's color workspace offerings but they do make me wonder if it was possible to figure out what settings were changed for creating the colors, whether or not it'd be possible to make a color customization script for PSP to make coloring faster and easier.