Switching to Linux (Ubuntu) and the Gimp... What's your workflow?

[Free]

Howdy All,

After a heap of drama's with Windows 7 I've finally decided to pack up Windows & Adobe completely and use Ubuntu for everything now (I have been using Windows for work and Ubuntu for play for a long time now) and really give the Gimp a try...

So far, I can seem to get most of what I need done for graphic design, although it does take a lot longer than with Photoshop, but I figure if I put in the time it will get quicker.

I haven't done any proper photo editing yet so I'm just wondering what any of you Linux & Gimp users workflow is like???

I've had a look at fspot before, but not with raw images. How do you think it works? I've read that digikam is pretty good, but I'd rather not bloat my build with the KDE library if I don't have to... Or I could give Kubuntu a go? Not sure on the stability or long term support though?

What do you think is the best way to convert from raw? I really like having the Nikon colour profiles in Lightroom as it gives a great representation of what I see in the camera. I installed UFraw, but so far the raw images are coming out nothing like they look in the camera or in Lightroom?

At the moment all my raw images are cataloged in Lightroom so I imagine I'm going to lose all my keywording and adjustments too

Any ideas to make things easier for a Photoshop user would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Free

[BCampbell]

I'm using XP with GIMP, not experienced with lightroom, but I'll give you my impressions, hopefully it helps a little.

You'll want a good previewer, I have Ubuntu on a separate laptop and didn't find the native folder display to work well for previewing when I tried it. I'm using Windows RAW Viewer which renders fairly quickly and will integrate with whatever RAW editor you want to use.

UFRaw has worked well for me, there's a new 0.17 out. But I haven't tried other solutions; RAWTherapee seems to get high marks. There appear to be profile saving options though I don't have much use for this, I actually do very little editing in UFRaw, just exposure, sometimes WB, and rotating/cropping. Pay attention to the "filmlike/digital" clipping option, it can make a huge difference.

Once you get used to GIMP you'll probably fly through pretty easily. Two plugins I use frequently are Wavelet Denoise and Darla (defringer). I typically only use Curves (under colors) and Unsharp Mask. Things get a little more complicated if I'm blending two exposures from RAW; play with layers to get used to them. Also, selection tools are a bit different as I understand, and a little harder to work with, it seems. Practice with them, and learn to use the gradient fill on a layer mask to blend if you don't already know how.

Overall, things go pretty quick now that I have the flow down fairly well. Windows RAW Viewer is where I do my first pass and weed out bad shots. Some stuff I can get away with just running through UFRaw and saving from there, so I try to get those out of the way. Opening a photo in UFRaw, adjust exposure and cropping, importing to GIMP, and doing final touches takes only 2-3 minutes if it's a single exposure; multiple exposures with layer masks can be a little tougher but still not too bad.

Good luck, I've found GIMP to be full featured enough that I haven't outgrown it in a couple years of shooting yet.

[inkista]

I barely use Linux, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I'd recommend not doing the switch to Kubuntu. I tried it (a while back, so it might be bettler integrated now), and had a really hard time getting all the packages I wanted together and working on it. Unless you're really in love with KDE, don't go there. You can still use KDE packages in Ubuntu, and if you're used to Gnome, it's probably better to stay with Ubuntu.

Secondly, not sure if it's what you want, but have you tried Lightzone? It uses dcraw for its RAW handling, and it looks like it's trying to be a Lightroom substitute for Linux. It's commercial software, but they have a free 30-day trial version. And I'm not sure the $99 pricetag applies to the Linux version... Crap. The Linux version used to be free (and unsupported); now it's like the OSX and Windows versions.

This one looks better and more open (and free): rawtherapee.

Oh, and googled up this:
Building a Linux Photo PC - Software. Same site also has a good list of Linux photo software.

[Free]

Many thanks to you both, you've definitely pointed me in the right direction and given me plenty more reading to do.

My main reason to do the switch is to ditch windows because of stupid instabilities that just shouldn't be an issue (but that's a rant for another day), and while I prefer open source and happily donate to the programmers, I don't mind paying for "closed" software if it's the best thing to get the job done

I'll give those plugins a look BC, at the moment I've installed a high pass filter script that gives me much more control over the sharpen than the unsharpen mask and even the "high pass sharpen" filter I tried before finding this one.

It took me a bit to figure out how to set up my tablet, but now that's going I'm going better. I haven't used any selection tools other than the rectangle selection and painting layer masks, but with a tablet, that's mainly all I use in Photoshop too.

Thanks again,
Free

[BCampbell]

Free, which plugin is that? I'm always on the lookout for good ones. Do you do much printing? I tend to process for print rather than for web, so a very light USM seems to work well, but I'll try anything once.

[inkista]

If we're talking Gimp plugins, I need to push Mathmap again. Mathmap is probably the only reason I run Ubuntu in a VM at all. Love me that Droste effect, although Mathmap's capabilities go far beyond mere Escherizing.

[Free]

Hey BC,

I do a bit of printing, but mainly web (it's my job), I picked up the highpass filter sharpen from a photog years ago though, it gives you more control of your sharpen that a straight unsharpen mask.

It's a general purpose highpass filter plugin

While I usually use highpass to select an edge for sharpening, it can also be used for softening or anything where you're only wanting to work with the edge (or invert to preserve the edge) of a subject.

Here's a photoshop tut that will give you some ideas.

Hey Inksta, that mathmap looks kickarse!

[Free]

Quick update, I've downloaded a trial of Bibble 5 and I've got to say, it's pretty bloody awesome! In fact if it weren't for 2 things (and 1 isn't a huge deal and one isn't all Bibbles fault) I'd say it was better than Adobe Lightroom!

Firstly - and nothing I can't get over quickly is it's not quite as well laid out as Lightroom and I need to do a bit more clicking than I'm used to. (I am a keyboard shortcut freak and with a dodgey wrist prefer to keep the mouse to a minimum)

Secondly - If I want to do further editing (in Gimp say) Bibble outputs to 16 bit tiff. All good until you realise Gimp doesn't support 16 bit at all and can't save layers in tiffs!

One feature of Lightroom I used a lot was "Edit in Photoshop" where Lightroom ships the photo with (or without) edits into PS and then when saved in PS stacks the photo next to the Lightroom copy in the catalogue and allows further editing to that in Lightroom.

So I guess my only real complaint about photo editing in a Linux environment is the lack of inter-operability between the software! Which, considering that it's open-source I find ironic.

Gimp is releasing a new version next year sometime that has had a complete rewrite and will support 16bit colour depth, layer groups, a single window and all sorts of goodies. As soon as someone can re-write the tiff plugin to handle layers I reckon it will be a contender with Photoshop.

Anyway, just thought I'd ramble on a little, maybe someone will find this post useful and make the switch themselves!

Have a good one
Free

[Ozzyprv]

Free,
Thanks for this post. This is the push I needed to keep trying to find a good workflow manager in Ubuntu. I was about to give up on 3 years of Window$/Mac free, get a Mac with Lightroom, etc, etc.
Now I am trying Bluemarine. Next I will try that Bibble one.
I will provide an update later.

O.