Graphic editors for Linux

[JunkMale]

What graphic editors are on offer that are not GIMP? I have had my fill of that pile of annoyance.

Ever tried to resize an image? IMHO you should be able to do it and not have to f**k around after cropping the resized image after. This is where people like macromedia win in the resize race.

I have given up on using WINE to run windows programs as it is not very successful at doing as much. So far out of the 20 windows programs I have installed, non work, even the ones that are not dependent upon hardware fail. So installing some windows programs under WINE is not an option.

I am looking for ease of use like Macromedia Fireworks, Photoshop & Irfranview all have.

[donatello]

For images on Linux... I think The Gimp is the best... it has its quirks, but the latest version is better.

Resizing? I just copy all, then delete then paste... CTRL A, CTRL C, CTRL V then resize it.

If you want to hunt for something, try http://www.sourceforge.net - maybe there is something out there...

I'm not sure if "Blender" is what you seek...

Good luck

[JunkMale]

Sorry that I have to disagree after using the damn thing for 9 months and still can not do things in it that takes me seconds in windows based editors.

For example, I made a demotivational card in GIMP, it took me nearly an hour of assing around to do something that on my old crappy lappy (sub 1Gigahertz) running XP and macromedia fireworks, that took me about 2 minutes to do despite the bottle necks and limited memory... No contest IMHO. GIMP just does not cut it in the real world, sure if you have hours and hours to mess around with it, I am sure it comes across as the dogs. Having experienced many softwares on various platforms, I can say that GIMP is "GIMP".

I have the most recent stable version, tried to go and "apt-get install gimp" in the terminal but that resulted in "NOTHING" being installed.

Its why I have given up on it and I am not spending any more hair pulling time with it.

Searching Sourceforge didn't help, all I got was a large assortment of text editors and those that were graphic editors were geared towards gamers or were graphical interfaces to edit databases.

So if anyone has an editor that they use that is for LINUX and "NOT GIMP", what are you using?

[Jick]

<uhh...wha?>I think there is a great lacking of quality imaging software for Linux. Or any software for Linux for that matter... It just seems to me that the majority of the software available for Linux to date just doesn't quite cut it in the quality category. Sure, there are TONS of programs available and the majority of them have great functionality but, they still lack that little polish that makes Mac and Windows applications as popular as they are.

I mean, how hard would it be to make a super imaging program for Linux? Just look at how the best imaging programs from other operating systems work and do some stitching and polish, polish, polish. If it was done right the creators could clean up! :eek:

I would totally make a new imaging program for Linux if I had the required skills. If I did that I could go back to using Ubuntu full-time. Right now I can't live without my Photoshop CS4, and GIMP is a tub of lard, so I'm stuck on Windows. :mad:

Anyone wanna help me create a new imaging program for Linux? :p
</uhh...wha?>

[criterion9]

I heard you could install Adobe Photoshop with minimal errors on WINE...just saying.

[Jick]

Actually the last few versions of Photoshop have lots of issues. The last one that is considered pretty good is like version 8. :(

Plus it will never be as good as a native app...

[JunkMale]

OK, after a few days of surfing, I will have to find the link again but aparently theirs a Linux users Fireworks forum that tells how to get Macromedias Fireworks 8 to run under Linux through WINE that looks promising.

When I find the site again, I will post the link for all those who wish to follow...

Until then, the EX has thrown me a curve ball that needs knocking out the playing field...

[Stephen Philbin]

Haven't really had any complaints about the GIMP for quite some time. Can you give us the image you're trying to scale and the dimensions to which you want it scaling?

If you think the software available on Linux is inadequate then what's wrong with sticking with Windows anyway?

[JunkMale]

Some software is inadequate because of the obvious lack of thought to design and function, even the sendmail client that is shipped with install, the programmer goofed big time with assuming everyone will connect via Ethernet... USB modems have been around since USB was fast enough to cope... yet this particular example has never been updated and is still shipped as a unit that only looks for an Ethernet connection.

I have found allot of useful software and some software that just does not cut it like the mobile phone stuff like wammu that takes up to 5 minutes to detect the USB dongle or my mobile phone... If the Linux people want market penetration to give microsoft food for thought then the people behind the Linux project and people behind the software need to be thinking in terms of the end user and not showing off their coding skills and then leaving software half finished as is the case with some of the programs I have encountered.

Maybe I am too critical, I don't know but theirs plenty of room for improvement with software on linux.

I stopped using windows when SP3 knobbled a genuine install that had worked fine without problem for 6 years. I am using Linux because it is the only free alternative at my disposal. Microsoft has had its chance, I have paid them once for a license, I do not see why I should be forced in to paying again for the software I already paid for... cheeky b'stards that they are, told me that my software telling me that the OS is not genuine when the bloody thing is, they can go and Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Oscar Oscar Foxtrot.

GIMP I have to say is a real ****eyed way of doing things and what took so long was the fact that I took an image, resized it but the resize left a large boarder of transparency that could not be coloured in or selected and the process is what I refer to as "Clicky" meaning that you need allot of clicks to do a fairly simple task.

I ended up trying the same process in my old lappy which has fireworks, took me 2 minutes to do same job no fuss. It took lappy longer to boot up than the job at hand. Had GIMP followed a similar methodology like fireworks and a couple of other graphic editors do, then chances are it would be a thumbs up from me.

Another thing I have noticed with GIMP is that some of the image file sizes are larger than when edited with something like irfanview.

On the whole, I am not complaining about Linux, just the way in which it is lacking and that the "Lacking" is what is keeping it from being "gestalt" which is a shame.

[schrewkathy]

The newer version adobe photoshpo cs4 works well with linux.

[opifex]

I find it curious that you are having problems "re-scaling" images with GIMP... make sure that you have the latest version 2.6.7 (I still use 2.6.6) and also read through "Grokking the Gimp" as it will help you a lot. As far as just resizing... in the menu click "Image" then "Scale Image" and you are there.... put in your numbers and then click "Scale" and done. Nothing too difficult.
But if you can't handle the GIMP, you could try using "Krita" a part of KOffice.
I would suggest that you use a Package Manager to do your installs to make sure that you install all of the required dependencies... it doesn't appear that you are handling your transition to Linux very well.

[JunkMale]

If you look at the attached... Speaks volumes.

I will have a look at your suggestion, in the mean time, anyone who knows any devs on the GIMP project, ask them to putt their heads out PLZ.

Cheers.

I forgot to say that it may look nicely sized but the image should be viewed in an image viewer because of the white border around it.

[opifex]

You re-scaled the layer... not the image.
You can re-scale any layer, the canvas or the image. I "cropped" this 13175 by re-scaling the canvas in just a few seconds.
I have done some development on a couple of GIMP plugins.... not all that difficult. And I do know a couple of the developers... there are a lot fewer problems with The GIMP and other Open Source software than the majority of the closed source products. The reason is quite simple... there is community support on the projects. These projects are not done with $$$ in mind, but with usability and quality as the goals.

I am always amazed when people complain about something that is FREE as in freedom and FREE as in beer. If you don't like it, don't use it... it didn't cost you anything but your time. If you do like it, then contribute... become part of the development community or donate some $$ to the project. Just a thought.

[JunkMale]

Rescale the layer! I selected resize! What I was trying to do was to resize the image so that it would have a black boarder and I could layer over some text like in the demotivational cards. I did this in less than 2 minutes under a proprietary piece of software.

GIMP unfortunately is too confusing, I don't have the time to spare in relearning someone elses way of doing things as my time is split between three websites and bringing my son who is still a toddler and requires most of my time.

If I had time to program again! I wouldn't be spending it collaborating as I have been down that particular pot holed road before and ended up at a "Bridge Out" sign when everyone else upped sticks and deserted town which is why you find most of my assistance in sites I do frequent is limited. Once burned ya know.

If your friends in the GIMP development were to sit back and look at their software as if they were newbies or even try an experiment with people who have limited experience on computers and ask them to edit a photo for example without any assistance, they may notice what is wrong. I am not complaining about the "Free" aspect or the effort that they put in, what I feel is the main issue is that they are all too familiar with it and what seems logical to them is not so to the average user thats used to the multitude of software editors under Winblows.

So if your dev friends go and look at what makes other vendors software tick, they may be able to help people more by less clutter, the menus are confusing at best, the thing is to "Clickky" and major improvements could be made with it. If it was simpler to operate and not so cluttered then things may improve for the end user.

I will add that I am not the only one, theirs plenty of people who suggest GIMP and you see the people who have tried it come back asking again for graphic editors and mainly because they can not get on with the software as they are used to whats on offer at work in packages like fireworks or irfanview, etc.

Always room for improvement on ant platform and if linux based devs want linux to give M$ a real run for their money, devs are going to have to think in terms of what users are used to and not what the devs think is logical...

[opifex]

I'd be willing to bet that you would probably complain if they hung you with a new rope!
But, what I really don't understand is that if Linux (whichever distro you are running) and all the available applications are so terrible and complicated and useless... why you haven't gone back to windows??? Windows 7 should be a real joy! :D

oh, about the confusing GIMP menus?? if you cant' read English there many other language options available. FREE as in FREEDOM and FREE as in BEER... your favorite proprietary software doesn't usually offer those options to you. enjoy!

[JunkMale]

Basically if gimp operated in a similar way as most other programs did without having to learn an app all over again, they would be on a winner.

As for hanging, you betcha... I will be a moaning old whinge bag up until I suck my last breath.

This still does not get around the fact that gimp has plenty of scope for improvement and possibly merge functions to make life simpler and linux apps more readily available to penetrate a M$ dominated market.

[opifex]

Unbelievable.
Reformat your hard drive and install Windows and then all your problems will be solved... as far as Linux and Linux apps go anyway.
As far as other Open Source apps go... it might be wise to stay away from them also. You have already whined about Firefox and plugins and who knows what else! Use IE8 on Windows 7 and be happy! By all means DO NOT download anything like Thunderbird and OpenOffice.org! Microsoft Office is the way that you should go.
Is this thread RESOLVED??

[JunkMale]

Well GIMP actually for the first 3 months of using Linux was a fail from run, it would open up and then close down. I have not once been able to send an email from this install of ubuntu because the sendmail only looks for an Ethernet connection and my modem is USB Dongle and can get emails in to the machine but not out... Wammu does not work properly, most of the other software like wammu crashes. Some of the software is only half completed by the people writing it and you only know that when a popup message says, sorry, that feature is not yet available. Mobile Media converter is very twitchy at converting to known formats like MP3 and other media converters either crash and I have to reboot (Audacity) or they complain that the format is not supported despite being an option in the save dialogue.

I have however been pleasantly surprised by some programs (not many, just a couple) and completely annoyed by others. I just recently commented to Transmission Bit Torrent devs on how it keeps peers in the list that will not allow downloads, completely useless if your wanting a speed download of a distro. Amorak is resource hungry and makes my machine thats a moderate 2.66 Gigaherts look like a Pentium90. None of the JACK or ALSA stuff works, Scream HTML editor spends more time crashed than running so I use kwrite mostly and gPHPedit as they are very stable editors. Video playback in VLC player is OK except it refuses to recognize the primary DVD RW but happily uses the slave DVD RW. Theirs a shortage of decent graphical editors for linux and allot of stuff does not recognize anything of the external USB hard drive variety of storage.

So yeah, plenty of room for improvements. What I can not get over though is how vehemently users defend something that needs to be brought up to par and its no wonder that M$ have the lions share of the market. I do realize that its free, I am not stupid but it goes without saying that most of the stuff I have encountered with linux would benefit from a rework and update for stability and to get a better share of the alternative markets.

Support for linux despite it being a free operating system is not free and those forums that do offer free help, getting it is like getting blood from a stone. It took me a couple of months in the Ubuntu forums to get to the bottom of the sendmail issue despite repeatedly stating that I had trouble shooted the issue and it was nothing to do with the host, the ISP or the firewall. Eventually I got my answer and it was one that can not be resolved by anyone other than the team that maintains sendmail's code base.

As for the thread being resolved, no its not although I do thank people for their input, the suggestions for certain software didn't work out, I have yet to dig up the fireworks installer disc to see if I can get fireworks installed under WINE which is another piece of software that is twitchy as so far everything installed under it has not worked.

I live in the hope that one day linux software will rival that of the microsoft world of goods but its doubtful that will happen in my lifetime seeing as mine is rapidly running out and the Alzheimers is playing havoc with my memory.

Is it dinner yet nurse?

[opifex]

To have experienced all of the mentioned problems, your installation was bad from the beginning and could probably be resolved by updating the kernel image and then doing a re-install of the problem apps. There is so much assistance available for any and all Linux distributions. Contact the Linux Users Group (http://www.linux.org/groups/) nearest you to find a little more help with your problems. And by all means, READ the manuals that are available for the applications that you want to use.
Maybe Ubuntu is NOT the right distro for your particular needs, there are hundreds more options (http://distrowatch.com/). Look around and choose what is right for you. The only cost to you is the time it takes to install the package and the time it takes to LEARN... pretty fair deal if you ask me. IF you absolutely cannot deal with Linux, you are free to remove it by all means and install the last OS that you had problems with or maybe something else like FreeBSD (http://www.freebsd.org/) or opensolaris. (http://opensolaris.org/) Run a couple of different distros from "live CD" or "live USB" versions to see what suits you best and what you can deal with... different strokes for different folks.

[JunkMale]

The problem with that is the CD (all three in fact, U,K & Xbuntu) Came back after self checking data integrity as A O K.

The problems mainly are with the software programs that I have tried, reinstalled after downloading several times and the fact remains that the issues I have been or still am experiencing are down to lack of foresight, especially the sendmail issue.

It does not track that the install is bad, sorry.

[criterion9]

Did you try installing the software with the package manager or doing manual installs? It sounds like you tried to install everything manually when you didn't need to for the applications that just weren't working for you. I can agree about a lack of foresight for usb support for basic things but in the case of sendmail at least you do have a few other options.

[JunkMale]

All additional stuff installed was through the add / remove or the synaptic package manager with the exception of this web browser (Opera)

I have tried getting IrFanView installed through WINE but thats not having any of it despite the fact that they insist it runs fine, I can't get it to install a bean.

[criterion9]

Did you configure WINE?

Here is a WINE simple howto (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/wine). And here is a setup and config walkthrough (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=149585). You'll probably want to read through the replies to the end before you start since many times the trick to make it work is the last post someone made. Last but not least the ubuntu wine wiki (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wine).

[JunkMale]

OK, nice links.

I have looked in the .wine directory and find that the fake c drive is called drive_c but in examples its referred to a simply c or c:

Running the winecfg shows up an errors prefixed with fixme: in the terminal and the main config window shows up. Checking it, the list of fake drives lists match whats on my machine including the fake drive_c.
~$ winecfg
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a060 0x1001818 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a068
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a080 0x1001808 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a088
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a0a0 0x10017f8 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a0a8
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a0c0 0x10017e8 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a0c8
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a0e0 0x10017d8 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a0e8
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW 0x100778a 0x100a100 0x10017c8 1 0x33fe78 (null) (null) 0x100a108
fixme:win:RegisterDeviceNotificationW (hwnd=0x12a9f0, filter=0x7e5868fc,flags=0x00000001), STUB!
err:winecfg:load_drives GetVolumeInformation() for 'F:\' failed, setting serial to 0

Anyway, time for a bit of reading :)

Thx.

[criterion9]

I would remove the current install of wine (provided you can afford to reinstall anything that was successful) and try a fresh one following one of the examples I provided.