Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: John Ames Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: GIMP and Photoshop user interfaces (was: Re: Distros specifically designed for children) Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2025 08:42:03 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 45 Message-ID: <20250603084203.00007f94@gmail.com> References: <10102st$1j2ov$1@dont-email.me> <10131ao$28rgm$1@dont-email.me> <1016dr6$1e7od$1@news1.tnib.de> <1016gih$355q7$6@dont-email.me> <1019l0j$3s6rv$1@dont-email.me> <683a690e@news.ausics.net> <101dqb6$tefk$1@dont-email.me> <683a7a0e@news.ausics.net> <101e1p5$ucpf$3@dont-email.me> <683ab63f@news.ausics.net> <101ek3m$126kd$5@dont-email.me> <20250602091348.00007738@gmail.com> <101lfch$3j9qp$4@dont-email.me> <101mfnp$3tnqt$3@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Injection-Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2025 17:42:07 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="a780d6534aa414914c33f5415a0d0e3c"; logging-data="97155"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19MPeM0Kk9U/lCai8J3b2oF7zx+4aNb2TE=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:Q59UPiGe52ZK4+oa1AaTf1mhwf4= X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 4.3.0 (GTK 3.24.42; x86_64-w64-mingw32) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:68255 On Tue, 03 Jun 2025 10:36:57 +0100 Nuno Silva wrote: > > That=E2=80=99s strange, isn=E2=80=99t it, since most of the Adobe-lover= s who don=E2=80=99t > > like GIMP primarily say it=E2=80=99s because its UI is too different fr= om > > Photoshop. > > > > You think it would be better if it were *more* different? =20 >=20 > I'd say wanting to jump to a different program without having to learn > or read documentation is having unrealistic assumptions. Sure, you > *can* have programs designed to be "compatible" UI-wise, but unless > that's a main design goal, there are going to be differences. It's not about "different programs do things differently" - yes, that does happen, but GIMP's UI design is just kinda shoddy even on its own merits. To cite one convenient example, the designers clearly have no idea what the point is of keyboard accelerators in menus & dialogs; they'll often assign the same accelerator key to multiple controls on the same window so that, instead of quick-navigating through things with a sequence of keystrokes you can commit to muscle memory, you're obliged to look at the screen to *see* which control you've selected - at which point you might as well have just used the mouse. Like, even if they'd picked a different *set* of accelerators than Photoshop for $REASONS, doing it the right way would let you achieve a comparable efficiency of workflow; but they don't really understand or care about good UI design, so they didn't. Adobe are bastards through and through, but they know the reason they can get away with it is that they have the best workflow in the business and working professionals care more about Getting Shit Done than not supporting bastardry, so they *do* make the effort. (I'd also cite, as another example, that they have no idea what the point of context menus is, either - right-clicking in the document window brings up a *whole entire copy* of the main-window menu tree hanging off the mouse pointer, which is utterly bonkers from a usability standpoint - but I'd have to go back to check and make sure that they didn't finally do something at least marginally saner since I last looked.)