I do Used photoshop and gimp for a long time but gradually transitioned to gimp as it evolved. The multiple window setup of GIMP can actually get somewhat annoying, due to it not following the basic design of 99% of Windows programs. Since GIMP is open source, there are variants of GIMP (ex: GIMPshop), most all changing the program to run in a single window, in the same way that Photoshop does.

GIMP is broken into multiple windows, including the Windows version of the software. GIMP follows this standard well, except for one major thing. The standards that Photoshop set forth are the options that it offers to edit images. Photoshop is built so well, in fact, it has become the unofficial standard for other imaging programs, including GIMP. There is no doubt that Photoshop is a very well built program. While most will say that GIMP is not as good as Photoshop, it is good enough to where the remaining questions carry the actual weight. These factors contribute to the ongoing debate of Photoshop vs GIMP: - Is GIMP as good as Photoshop? - Why should I pay for Photoshop when GIMP is free? - What can Photoshop do that GIMP doesn't? - Are the advantages of Photoshop worth the hefty price tag for me? This gives a professional appeal to Photoshop, and makes it ideal for professional image editors, due not only to any aspects of Photoshop that are superior to alternatives, but by being able to associate themselves with the Photoshop name while seeking clients. There could be, and likely is, real, logical, statistical reasons for this, but at least part of this, is Photoshop has a trusted name that IS image editing. GIMP is regarded as a very good image editor and even a free alternative to Photoshop, but never regarded as a replacement.

There are alternatives though, and the biggest and best of those is most likely GIMP. Photoshop is very expensive though, and the price is often not worth it to the 'average joe' or 'average jane' (can't forget the lady geeks!) This is likely the reason it is heavily pirated. Photoshop is so ingrained in photo-editing, it is used as a verb to describe an edited photo.

Affinity photo vs gimp