The GIMPShop .NET is a powerful and free-of-charge image editor with reach set of features. In my opinion, one of most important advantages is Photoshop-like user interface. But it is not all.

Specifically GIMPShop is a version of the GIMP that has been edited to be more user-friendly for Photoshop users.

GIMPShop was created by  Scott Moschella. The menu structure and terminology are adapted to to look and feel more like Photoshop, and other adjustments were made to make the GIMP more usable. In the Windows version, the Deweirdifyer Plugin has been used to place all of the various windows into one nesting window, so it will act more like a single program that multiple little programs.. Also the menu structure and terminology are adapted to to look and feel more like Photoshop.

GIMPShop was orginally developed for Mac OS X, but has been ported to Windows, Linux, and Solaris.

GIMPShop is different than Photoshop in a number of ways.

1. It is free. Meaning it doesn’t cost you anything to own the software – you can download it (legally) from the links to the right of GIMPShop dot Net.

2. It is Free. No, I’m not repeating myself, it’s a different kind of “free”. Free as in Freedom. This means you can download it for free, and give it away for free, or sell it, or change it and make it your own. In fact, GIMPShop itself is based on The GIMP, which is a different Free (and free) program. Another term for this is Open Source, although there are slight differences.

3. GIMPShop is cross-platform. This means that whether you use a Windows computer, an Apple with Mac OS X, or even a computer with Linux on it – you can use GIMPShop. Adobe Photoshop is not available on Linux. And the versions of Photoshop for Windows and Mac are different, (and must be purchased separately – if you have a Mac laptop and a Windows computer, you would have to buy a copy of Photoshop for each if you wanted it).

4. As close as GIMPShop may act to Photoshop, it’s not exactly the same. There are some features (just a few) that Photoshop has that GIMPShop does not. CMYK support, tablet support, and some other advanced features are available in Photoshop, but not GIMPShop, (or the GIMP). There are some features, like ScriptFu, that are available in GIMPShop that Photoshop doesn’t have – so it’s plus and minus both ways on that.

5. Third party support is better for Photoshop. Photoshop has been around longer, it makes millions of dollars of profit that it can use to advertise, so it’s better known than GIMPShop, so other companies make things for Photoshop because they know it’s out there. Open Source support is better for GIMP and GIMPShop.

6. There are books out there for Photoshop, not too many for the GIMP, and even less for GIMPShop. However, the point of GIMPShop is to make the GIMP more like Photoshop, so these books should help you use GIMPShop as well.