If you don’t want keep paying Adobe, switch to Gimp. Here’s how to make Gimp have a user interface very similar to Photoshop with PhotoGimp.
The creative industry is a heavy user of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, with it a staple in production houses and studios around the world. Photoshop is one of the many tools within that package, and is widely used within design and photography fields.
However, while the world runs on Photoshop, not everyone wants to keep paying a hefty monthly fee for access to the entire bundle. Indeed, even the single-app subscription is a bit steep.
For users wanting to get out of Adobe’s subscription, they have to look at alternative options. There’s certainly a lot of them out there, but it reveals an entirely new problem.
If you switch apps, you have to learn how to use it.
Sure, on Mac and iPadOS, there’s Procreate, Pixelmator Pro, and many other art tools to purchase and use, often at a lower cost compared to Adobe’s packages. If you do switch, you face a period of time where you have to relearn what you could do on Photoshop, but in an entirely different user interface.
Then there’s the sheer number of keyboard shortcuts that seasoned Photoshop pros will have committed to muscle memory. A lot of the shortcuts, especially those for rarely-used functions, will be different.
It will take time to get back up to speed, which to some could be too high a cost for moving over from Photoshop.
Bring out the PhotoGimp
PhotoGimp is a potential answer for people wanting to switch to the completely free Gimp, referring to the GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Aside from having a fun name, Gimp is a cross-platform image editor that is free to use on macOS, Windows, and Linux. While it is a powerful tool, it’s also open-source, so you can check out and change the source code if you wish.
While free, the attractively priced software has the same problem as others, in that the interface is different from Photoshop. All of the icons are in different places versus the typical Photoshop layout, meaning you will have to take time to learn where everything is.
PhotoGimp, on the other hand, solves that problem by being a patch for Gimp. Specifically, one intended to be used by Photoshop users.
Rather than relearning a new interface, PhotoGimp instead changes the interface for you. While not necessarily a 1-to-1 match to Photoshop, it reconfigures Gimp so that the layout and tools are put in a way that mimics Photoshop’s placements.
It doesn’t stop there, as it can also do keyboard shortcuts, too. The shortcuts in the PhotoGimp patch match those of Windows users of Photoshop, except you map the Windows Control key usage for Command.
To be clear, this doesn’t suddenly turn Gimp into a perfect copy of Photoshop. What the patch does is cut down how much you have to search around and relearn the interface, but it won’t change how Gimp’s functions actually work.
It’s not a silver bullet, but it does help traverse the knowledge and muscle memory gap.
How to use PhotoGimp to make Gimp more like Photoshop on Mac
The process is relatively simple, but does require you to access the Application Support folder within the Library in your Mac’s user directory.
After installing Gimp, make an immediate backup of the related folder in Application Support, since PhotoGimp replaces many files in it. You could always uninstall Gimp and start from scratch, but making a backup of the folder would save a bit of time and effort.
The process of installing Gimp for Mac
- Download and install Gimp from the official website. Use the latest stable build, both for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
- After downloading, open the DMG, then in the window, drag Gimp to the Applications folder.
- Run Gimp from your Applications folder, and tell Gatekeeper to open the app downloaded from the Internet. Once launched, which is required for PhotoGimp to work, close Gimp.
- Download PhotoGimp from GitHub and extract the zip file.
- In a new Finder window, open your user folder then /Library/Application Support/GIMP
- Note the version number of the folder inside there, e.g. 3.2. Copy that folder and save it elsewhere as a backup.
- Rename the extracted PhotoGimp folder to match the Gimp folder. So if the Gimp folder is 3.2, change the PhotoGimp’s 3.0 folder name to match.
- Copy the renamed PhotoGimp folder and paste it into the same-name Gimp folder. When asked about existing files, select to “Replace” or “Merge.”
- Open Gimp.
If the patch has been applied successfully, you’ll see a different loading screen for PhotoGimp, followed by a fairly familiar layout.
At this point, you can proceed with trying out a free alternative to Photoshop, without needing to think too hard about finding the main tools and features.
This story originally appeared on Appleinsider
