14 DAY TRIAL // Open source software is great, and definitely a step forward in the right direction. Imagine what math would be like if everyone who studied it had to rediscover all theorems by themselves because, while they had been discovered before, they were copyrighted by different people. Open Source lets people use 'wheels' without having to rediscover them every time, and little work is wasted. On the other hand, open source software often has certain disadvantages to it, because of its open nature. Open source programs rarely have a uniform look and feel to them and a clear design from top to bottom, because the program is usually the result of many different people working often separately.
GIMP is a good example of a great open source program that offers a compelling alternative to high end image editing programs such as Photoshop. There is one bad thing about GIMP for me, it work in the X11 environment, and has a very un-OS X interface, Windows keyboard shortcuts and other such issues that turn me off from using it. That's why I was excited to see a native application that is based on GIMP technology? Seashore.
What it does
Seashore is an image editing program. It is somewhere out in the middle ground between MacPaint and Photoshop having enough advanced options to be potent enough for someone with advanced needs but still not being polished and capable enough to be a professional application.
While it makes use of GIMP technology it is not as complete or feature packed as GIMP, and still has some way to go in this department.
Cocoa application
If Seashore is a GIMP offshoot, but it is not as good as the original, then why use it over GIMP, you might ask. The answer to this question depends entirely on your needs. If you need all the features of GIMP, then Seashore is not the better choice.
However, if you don't need all those features but do need a native application with everything that implies, Seashore is the winner.
Seashore is a native Cocoa application. It takes about 20 times less space on your drive than GIMP, it needs a lot less resources, it uses the standard OS X keyboard shortcut conventions and save dialogues and all the other goodies in Tiger. But, first and front most, it is a native application and does not need X11? It is fast and responsive, opening up instantly and having no latency in executing commands. I opened rather large files in it and had no issues whatsoever when messing about with them using all the different tools.
GIMPed
Despite all the good things about this program, there are still limitations that for some could make it all but unusable. The interface and workflow is similar to that of GIMP, with many windows floating all over the place. Some of the tools require an obscene amount of clicks in the most awkward of places.
Cropping an image is a good example. To achieve this, you have to select the crop tool from the toolbar window, drag the selection you want in the canvas window, and then press the Crop button found in the options tab of the Options window. Compare this to the approach of just about any other program where you simply make a selection and choose the crop command from the menu or hit the appropriate shortcut.
This scattered up approach applied to just about all the tools and options, and takes a while to get used to, especially if you are used to the way Photoshop does things.
Tools of the trade
In terms of the actual options and features it has, Seashore stands up pretty well. It has all the traditional tools commonly found in image editors, and has a good layer implementation it works very well with alpha channels and has all of the usual blend modes.
In terms of effects and filters it has only a small handful of options when compared to Photoshop but everything else is quite good.
The Good
Native application with a very small footprint and quite a complete package of tools, features and options.
The Bad
The interface takes a lot of getting used to and the tools require too many extra clicks.
The Truth
For a free application, Seashore is quite a gem. While not as mature as Photoshop or GIMP, it is certainly on the right track and has a great deal of potential.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
