Ubuntu - Linux

[Squidgy]

Hi, I've been a MS Windows and Photoshop (CS2 & CS5) user for a long time but recently I installed an SSD (solid state drive) into my second machine in an attempt to get to learn Ubuntu, of which I think is great. I have downloaded Gimp and RawTherapee today but have not had chance to try either of them out. Do any of you use this combination of software and if so, how do you find the results compared to Photoshop? I know that Linux users are thin on the ground and I've got lots of questions but will leave it at this for now.

Many thanks.

CiC is the best forget the rest!

[Inkanyezi]

I've been using the Ubuntu distro since 2005 and migrated completely from Windows when I retired a couple of years ago. Never had a problem with it. My youngest son is a Linux hacker since early nineties and I have had a Linux server since -95, although I didn't try it on the desktop until 2005.

I use Raw Therapee and Gimp, and the tastes of Photoshop that I have used before were Photoshop 4.0 from the nineties and Elements 3.0 that I bought in 2004. Gimp is not quite as "user friendly" as Elements, but once I got the hang of it, it does a decent job. I often use Raw Therapee for white balance correction, even in jpegs, something that Elements was absolutely worthless at. I don't know if Photoshop is any better now in that respect, although I would think that any RAW converter that can open a jpeg would do a decent job. None of the Photoshop versions I used was good at it. I don't know about the CS flavours; they might be better.

It has been about two years now since the last time I fired up my Windows box that still sits under the table; I'll probably scavenge it for something else soon. I only used it for a couple of Windows programs, but I can run those under wine, so I don't actually need Windows. I like working in a MS-free environment.

Results? I couldn't really tell any difference, except that the RAW converter (Silkypix) for Windows that I got with my camera automagically corrects lens weaknesses as chromatic aberration and distortion. I haven't yet had Raw Therapee do that; when I feel a need for it, I can do it in Gimp manually, but I seldom use the original zoom lens for my camera and only rarely have a picture where I find a need to do corrections of that kind. I find the user interface of Raw Therapee easier to use than Silkypix.

[Hero]

Results? I couldn't really tell any difference, except that the RAW converter (Silkypix) for Windows that I got with my camera automagically corrects lens weaknesses as chromatic aberration and distortion. I haven't yet had Raw Therapee do that; when I feel a need for it, I can do it in Gimp manually, but I seldom use the original zoom lens for my camera and only rarely have a picture where I find a need to do corrections of that kind. I find the user interface of Raw Therapee easier to use than Silkypix.

I'm not sure if RAW Therapee supports it, but for many rawconverters and even gimp (through a plugin) there is a nifty piece of software in the repository called lensfun for automatic lens-corrections. Just fire up synaptic and search for lensfun.

btw Nigel, there is another topic on linux and image-manipulation in the community lounge.

[Tygart]

Nigel

I use Linux (Kubuntu) I process my RAW in "RAW Therapee" And edit in "Gimp" There are other programs too, check the link below.

I will never use Windows again, there is no need for me to, Linux has 1000s of FREE programs, that work as good or better then any Microsoft program I have use.

Also I have a 3 year old laptop with the latest Linux operating system and its is smoother and faster then it was new with "Vista"

Here is a thread I started with other replies about this topic
Any Linux Users?

[Tygart]

Oh YAH!

Some of your Photoshop plug-ins will work with "GIMP"

[Squidgy]

Thanks to all for your helpful replies.

Inkanyezi, you have been using Linux for a long time and must be a real master by now. I will still be using an MS Windows and Photoshop PC for work related picture processing until I can master Gimp and RawTherapee. I have made a pledge to only use Ubuntu, Gimp and RawTherapee over the Christmas holidays. I'll keep you updated of my progress.

Hero, thanks for the info, I'll see if I can find the thread.

Rob, we got something in common! Only this morning I removed the drive from my three year old Toshiba laptop that had "Vista" on it and replaced it with an SSD drive and Ubuntu. It absolutely flies! So thats now one PC and now a laptop thats gone over to Linux in just one week. Once I get to know Gimp I will give it a go with the plug-ins, some of which cost me a small fortune.

[pwnage101]

As a photographer, I don't let my pictures see GIMP often. Mostly they fly right out of RAW processing straight into jpegs. Even when I used Windows/Photoshop I only used Photoshop as a tool for batch-processing (downsize -> sharpen -> sRGB -> repeat). Bridge/Camera Raw was where I spent most of my time.

I Just thought I'd share my approach since I've been hearing a lot about GIMP lately. For those of you who find yourselves only using GIMP for resizing and sharpening, often times those features are built into your RAW converter. Otherwise there are standalone tools that do the trick, such as G'MIC.

Happy photo-ing!

[Donald]

As a photographer, I don't let my pictures see GIMP often.

Now that I use Silver Efex Pro2 (SEP2) for my B & W conversion, I am using GIMP a lot less than I used to. In relation to Troy's post above, I quite agree. I do my capture sharpening with the RAW porcessor, which in my case is DxO Optics Pro 7. But after going through SEP2, I still go to GIMP for content sharpening and output sharpening, once the image is resized, again in the GIMP.

[Squidgy]

Now that I use Silver Efex Pro2 (SEP2) for my B & W conversion, I am using GIMP a lot less than I used to. In relation to Troy's post above, I quite agree. I do my capture sharpening with the RAW porcessor, which in my case is DxO Optics Pro 7. But after going through SEP2, I still go to GIMP for content sharpening and output sharpening, once the image is resized, again in the GIMP.

Thanks Donald, I was going to ask about sharpening but you answered that for me here. I need to carry on the same way I did when using Windows, Canon PP for white balance and noise reduction etc, and CS5 for sharpening, resizing and output sharpening. Looks like it works the same way with RawTherapee and GIMP? Let the software do it and not the camera?