There are a thousand and one alternatives to photoshop very interesting that allow you to have a powerful photo editor without entering into large payments or subscriptions of any kind. GIMP has established itself as one of the most prominent open source alternatives, although its interface is not entirely friendly if you come from an Adobe environment. PhotoGIMP was born precisely to resolve that clash. This is a free patch that reorganizes its interface, shortcuts, and various settings to make it much more familiar to anyone coming from Adobe software.
What exactly is PhotoGIMP
PhotoGIMP is a set of configuration files that replace the default GIMP settings. The project is maintained by Dionatan Simioni, known as Diolinuxspecialized mainly in Linux and free software, and is distributed openly under the GPL-3.0 license through GitHub, which means that it can be used, modified and distributed freely.
It should be noted that PhotoGIMP does not add new features to GIMP nor does it turn it into Photoshop. As explained in the project’s official repository, it is a free, community-maintained patch that transforms GIMP into an interface with the idea that easy to use for those coming from Photoshop. So the editor behind it is still GIMP, with its pluses and minuses.
What exactly does PhotoGIMP change?
PhotoGIMP touches several elements of the user experience, but not the program engine:
- Tool layout. Icons and panels are rearranged to mimic the position that Photoshop users are accustomed to, so you don’t have to learn from scratch where everything is.
- Keyboard shortcuts. The keybinds follow Adobe’s official documentation for the Windows version, so much of the muscle memory from years of using Photoshop still applies.
- Use of the canvas. The default settings are modified to leave the maximum possible work space visible on the screen.
- Own welcome screen and icon. The patch includes a different start screen than standard GIMP and, on Linux, a launcher with its own name and icon in the system menu.
- Default language. The configuration applied by the patch leaves the program in English as standard, although it can be changed from the settings at any time.
How to install PhotoGIMP
The process varies slightly depending on the operating system, but always follows the same logic. And first you must have GIMP installed and have opened it at least once, so that it generates its own configuration folders, and then replaces those files with the ones included in PhotoGIMP.
On Linuxthe patch is intended primarily for the version of GIMP installed through Flatpak. The process consists of downloading the compressed file for Linux from the official repository and extracting it directly into the user’s personal folder, so that the files are placed in the hidden folders .config and .local. If you have installed GIMP through another manager, such as apt, dnf either Pacmaninstead of Flatpak, the process also works as long as the configuration folder is in the same location and the installed version is 3.0 or higher.
On Windowspress Windows key + R, type %APPDATA%\GIMP and copy the contents of the version of PhotoGIMP for Windows, previously downloaded and unzipped, into that folder.
On macOSthe destination is the folder ~/Library/Application Support/GIMPaccessible from the Finder with the shortcut Cmd + Shift + G, where the configuration folder that comes with the patch is also copied.
In all three cases It is highly recommended to make a backup before from the original settings folder, in case you want to keep your previous custom settings as PhotoGIMP overwrites files such as shortcuts, panel layout, templates, or visual theme. Uninstalling it is just as simple. And all you have to do is delete that same configuration folder and reopen GIMP, which will run automatically with its factory settings.
It should be noted that the current version of the patch only works with GIMP 3.0 or higher. So if you are still using the 2.10 branch you will have to update the program before applying PhotoGIMP.
It’s GIMP, both for the good and the not so good
As we were saying, PhotoGIMP aims to reduce those small initial frictions for those who are more accustomed to Photoshop. If you have never been convinced by GIMP at first because of its capabilities, PhotoGIMP is not going to change your life. But if you were a little nervous about starting in GIMP because ‘it looks different from Photoshop’, This patch aims to take away your fear.
So for the rest, it’s still GIMP, both for the good and the not so good. And you have a powerful free and open source editor at your disposal, but it still does not offer more specific and complex tools for professionals that Photoshop does have, such as its advanced color management with native CMYK, more complex editorial design, automation, integration with AI, etc. For the rest, if you don’t miss this more concrete and professional aspect of Photoshop, you are more than enough with GIMP, especially since since version 3.0 you also have the option of non-destructive adjustment layers.
The PhotoGIMP repository has more than 13,000 stars on GitHub, is supported by the community, and has hundreds of forks from other developers, as well as translations and alternative installers. Wow, it is one of the most outstanding options to escape the more than 300 euros per year of Photoshop in case you can manage with everything that GIMP gives you. Besides, no account or login of any kind requiredsaves all the work on the computer itself without depending on cloud services, and the installation and uninstallation of the plugin is resolved by copying or deleting a folder.
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