Photoshop Overrated?

[Crazystuff]

I love making graphic art using a computer. I think Photoshop is a great program for designing but I think that it is a bit overrated. I make a lot of art using programs like Gimp. There are plenty of free programs out there but most of them are limited to what they can do. However I found that if you use Gimp and other programs together they can do almost anything. Does anyone else feel like Photoshop isn't the only tool in graphic design? Does anyone think that there might be a program better than Photoshop?

[bigjonny13]

List of freeware art programs and reviews.

[PigeonOnAStick]

At 11/13/11 09:32 PM, Crazystuff wrote: Does anyone else feel like Photoshop isn't the only tool in graphic design?

Nope, there are plenty. Here's a few.
Namely I like to use Flash and Illustrator for vectored stuff,
Al.chemy and Apophysis for random, creative stuff,
and the rest on Photoshop.

Does anyone think that there might be a program better than Photoshop?

Depends on what you mean by "better". If you're after digital painting, some people like Corel Painter since it behaves more like traditional artwork.

If you're talking about functionality, you can't beat Photoshop both for the tools and the performance. It is true that you can get better results if you used specialised programs, but when comparing 1 on 1 nothing compares to Photoshop ...

... apart from a 2H pencil and a sketchbook.

[Unibee]

I definitely don't think it's overrated.

Especially since most graphics designers I know of favor Illustrator anyways.

And I definitely agree with Pigeon in terms of 'better' programs. It depends on hat you're looking for but in terms of an all-round art program, Photoshop is definitely the best. There's a huge learning curve, but it can easily be solved with a few Photoshop classes. But apart from that it can literally do anything with relative ease as long as you know how to work the program. You can go from making a gif to typography to digital painting to photo manipulation in a heart beat and that's a great thing to have in a program.

[Crazystuff]

I agree with you all. I do think that Photoshop has the most tools and capabilities. When I say "better" i mean most functional. I also wonder if the price of Photoshop outweighs the fact that is one of the best programs on the market? Does the fact that some good programs are free while Photoshop costs a lot make free programs a better choice?

[Daverom]

Photoshop costs a lot partly because adobe is greedy as shit, and it is a really good program; probably the best their is, when it comes to photo editing.

Smaller programs have popped up, who couldn't hope to compete with adobe in reputation, but trump them in quality. If you're just getting in to digital art, I'd recommend SAI to anyone. It's cheap and you get the best of both worlds with vector and rasterized.
Although the set up for it is pretty clunky and crowded if you have a smaller monitor.

[Crazystuff]

While I may not agree with adobe being greedy, I do think the cost of Photoshop is too high. Photoshop is 1000 dollars and packages that include Photoshop are at maximum 2000 dollars. People want the best, and they will pay to get it. People will often comment on a picture with things like "this is Shopped..." or "nice Photoshop work..." People automatically assume that it is Photoshop that was used to make the picture.

[PigeonOnAStick]

At 11/14/11 07:22 PM, Crazystuff wrote: While I may not agree with adobe being greedy, I do think the cost of Photoshop is too high. Photoshop is 1000 dollars and packages that include Photoshop are at maximum 2000 dollars. People want the best, and they will pay to get it.

Educational versions are cheaper, and work just as well. Photoshop Elements 10 is currently being sold at $120 for teachers and stuents.

People will often comment on a picture with things like "this is Shopped..." or "nice Photoshop work..."

Yes.

People automatically assume that it is Photoshop that was used to make the picture.

No.
I say Photoshopped, but I know that that doesn't mean Photoshop was used. Chances are there are people who use the phrase Photoshop, but have little awareness of the product.
Same reason somebody tells you to Google something that they expect you to use the Google search engine. It's an easy way of describing something.
Sometimes products become so large in the market that their brand name becomes a verb.

Consider the alternatives: photomanipulated. Bleugh.

[Vonschlippe]

Call me an elitist, but I have started out with other software and I can confidently say Photoshop is not overrated. The best thing, before anything else, is stability. Gimp has lost me more hours of painting (by crashing) in the short year I've used it than Photoshop has in 6 years now.

Perhaps I'm a bit "too" accustomed to Photoshop, but whenever I pick up the interface of any other image editing software it feels like a horrible disease.

[Crazystuff]

Hmm...i see what your saying with the brand becoming the verb. I know they sell educational versions that are cheaper, but you have to be an active student to buy it. I have considered it, but once I'm done with high school There may be a better version or it might be better to buy the full version to last me forever. I think there are many ways to make good computer art and whatever tool the artist can utilize most is what they should use.

[Crazystuff]

At 11/14/11 08:52 PM, Vonschlippe wrote: Call me an elitist, but I have started out with other software and I can confidently say Photoshop is not overrated. The best thing, before anything else, is stability. Gimp has lost me more hours of painting (by crashing) in the short year I've used it than Photoshop has in 6 years now.

Perhaps I'm a bit "too" accustomed to Photoshop, but whenever I pick up the interface of any other image editing software it feels like a horrible disease.

STABILITY! I totally agree. I hate it when gimp crashes. In my Graphic Design class I noticed photoshop crashes often too. I think the computer itself plays a large role in how stable a program is.