Which is easier to learn, bimp or photoshop? For someone who knows nothing about either. Thanks for advice in advance. Also, where is the cheapest place to get photoshop?
Photoshop is quite expensive, well very but if you get Elements which is a photoshop version but not quite as extensive as the full version but has everything that you will need I would think. I have just got Elements 13 which is great, purchased from Amazon at around £80
I use Gimp because it's free, but I don't do anything that extensive and I can always find tutorials online as well. I learned how to do my levitation photo through there.
I personally think you are insane if you dont use lightroom for the 9$ a month they charge for CC and you get Photoshop... So thats $108 a year for both products... Boy it is really hard to beat even from the free stuff.
The level of complexity of both programs is about the same if you have never used a powerful editor before, and the learning curve will be great. You will not just be able to "jump in" and see what's what, and I am sure you would end up just frustrated. Personally, I prefer books rather than videos for a "from scratch" learning experience, and would recommend something like Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CC for Digital Photographers. http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Digital-Photographers-release-Voices/dp/0133900851/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1419427093&sr=8-4&keywords=Scott+Kelby
To me, the GIMP user interface is awkward and confusing, more so than Photoshop. There are many, many more resources for you to learn Photoshop and to find out how to do a particular task once you have started.
As others above have said, Photoshop Elements will probably do 90% of what you will want to do for Photography, and it is a much smaller program than PS CC. But still, I would suspect you would not learn much by just jumping in if you have never used layers before.
I have tried Photoshop on a trial basis, it is a massive programme with a lot of things I would not use included. It is kinda high end for semi-pro or pro photographer. I bought Elements and it is brilliant! It does everything that I needed out of Photoshop. Hope this helps.
Another thing to remeber is, that Gimp is 8-bit per channel based and Photoshop operates in 16-bit.
I use Gimp, because it is great software and enough to complement my raw converter or jpeg edits (and its free and available for my system). It can do a lot. I know Photoshop from CS1 and its very mature and professional, no question. If you can afford it, then it maybe is better choice. But then you just rent the program Nd if you don't like this license model (like me), then you may be not happy with in long term sight.
Back to your question, which of them is easier to lern. Both are hard to get used and learn everything of the program.
First think I noticed when switching from Gimp to Lightroom & Photoshop is the tremendous difference in quality of online instruction, help, tips and tutorials. Adobe World wins by a mile. I think it's because many sites are advertising supported so the site owner wants to attract and keep viewers. Gimp sites are run by guys from a software culture that is based on telling people to read the manual if they have a question, or telling them everything you need to know to answer the question but leaving actually answering the question to them. Yes, both are exaggerations, but not by much.
My 3 years with Gimp leaves me with an understanding of why and how the adjustments change the image. I'm not far enough into PS to say if that culture passes on such knowledge.
Thank you all so very much for taking time to help me out. But I think Brendan has a good point about the $108 a year for both. I do know just a tiny bit about layers and I know where the brushes etc. are. So for that price I might try it for a year and see if I can muddle through it. We will see. Again, thank you for the other sites I will look at for sure. Appreciate all the help.
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Either that, or for quick edits I use www.picmonkey.com
@oopsadaisy
I personally think you are insane if you dont use lightroom for the 9$ a month they charge for CC and you get Photoshop... So thats $108 a year for both products... Boy it is really hard to beat even from the free stuff.
Or the Martin Evening book if you are put off by Kelby's chatty style of writing. The Evening book is more comprehensive and starts right from installing the software, the Kelby book I find more approachable and task oriented. But both are excellent. http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-Photographers-2014-Release/dp/1138812471/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419427700&sr=8-1&keywords=martin+evening+photoshop+cc
To me, the GIMP user interface is awkward and confusing, more so than Photoshop. There are many, many more resources for you to learn Photoshop and to find out how to do a particular task once you have started.
As others above have said, Photoshop Elements will probably do 90% of what you will want to do for Photography, and it is a much smaller program than PS CC. But still, I would suspect you would not learn much by just jumping in if you have never used layers before.
I use Gimp, because it is great software and enough to complement my raw converter or jpeg edits (and its free and available for my system). It can do a lot. I know Photoshop from CS1 and its very mature and professional, no question. If you can afford it, then it maybe is better choice. But then you just rent the program Nd if you don't like this license model (like me), then you may be not happy with in long term sight.
Back to your question, which of them is easier to lern. Both are hard to get used and learn everything of the program.
My 3 years with Gimp leaves me with an understanding of why and how the adjustments change the image. I'm not far enough into PS to say if that culture passes on such knowledge.