(Read before Comment) Why you don't like GIMP UI?

Open Source@lemmy.ml – 66 points – 7 months ago

For what i heard, a lot of people on the Linux community use Krita for image manipulation, even though, it's intended for digital painting, and GIMP is the one intended for image manipulation, because people don't like the GIMP's UI.

My issue is, i never understood why they don't like the GIMP's UI, since i never have issues with it,(Although it's probably because i'm used to the UI) so i need to adress this problem and ask you What does the GIMP UI has that you don't like or hate so much and why you like Krita's UI over GIMP's?

Before you event comment your answer i need to ask you to do the following:

Address each specific issue along with an concise and direct explanation of why you don't like it
Answers such as "I just don't like it", "I don't like where it's placed" or anything alike doesn't count as "Concise and Direct", we are adults, not 4 year old children.
If you can provide a suggestion of how GIMP's UI can be improved, it would help a lot, and maybe this issue can be solved.
If someone else commented something you were about to comment, upvote them, this way we can address the most common issues effectively.
I need you to watch the screenshots of both UI's, because something that most people don't know, it's how similar Krita and GIMP's UIs are.

Krita's UI

GIMP's UI

(Credits to a friend of mine for lettig me use the screenshots.)

My ideas on how GIMP can improve it's UI

Adding the option of the new UI selected by default, but with the possibility to switch to the new UI.
Possibly addding "work spaces" like Krita would help too, along with the possibility of exporting and importing them, this way people can have custom arrangements of the UI according to the kind of work they will do.

Thanks for reading and hopefully we can address this issue effectively.

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Dude, you can put the tools on the same way as Krita, just look at this

you can

That's the key. can. It needs to not suck by default. If people have to tweak the program to be usable first then nobody's going to want to use your program.

The deal is, it's not mine, it's a Libre Software, so it belongs to everyone, not just me.

That's cool. I'm not going to fix software I don't like.

no one asked you to?

Can, but not by default. The default setup is what leaves an impression on most users. Most users opening GIMP for the first time expect to be able to find stuff that they need, not have to first spend a lot of time getting familiar with all of its options. It shouldn't be needed to first spend time opening all the sane default windows and re-aliging stuff every time you boot it for the first time. At least, that shouldn't be the case of GIMP wants to be as popular with non-technical users like Krita is.

Also, the tool bar still doesn't have the nice separations between tool functions, and it still feel a bit more chaotic. Not sure of it's the icons or the order.

I hate it when people are SO quick to judge and so superficial

You call it "quick to judge and superficial", but imo that's the wrong attitude. Every tool we use as humans should be designed to be as intuitive as possible. It makes it easiest for people to learn how to use a new tool. That doesn't mean that a tool cannot be complex or customizable, but the default experience should make it easy for new users to quickly achieve something. Once they grow accustomed to the tool they can tailor it their own way.

No tool has to do this, but if it wants to be widely used then this is kinda necessary.

There's a reason why there are whole fields of study into human media interaction, and why software companies hire UI designers. Everything that doesn't have to be explained in words and text because it is intuitive saves mental overhead for the user and makes the application more accessible.