When comparing GIMP vs Capture One Pro, the Slant community recommends GIMP for most people. In the question“What is the best photo editing software?” GIMP is ranked 2nd while Capture One Pro is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose GIMP is:
GIMP is completely free and open source, meaning you can use GIMP and all of its features without spending a penny. This makes it an excellent case for artists or designers who may not have the budget to spend over 700 USD on Photoshop. It is also available for free on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It's licensed under GPL with source code available [here](http://www.gimp.org/source/).
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free, open source and cross-platform
GIMP is completely free and open source, meaning you can use GIMP and all of its features without spending a penny. This makes it an excellent case for artists or designers who may not have the budget to spend over 700 USD on Photoshop. It is also available for free on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It's licensed under GPL with source code available here.
Pro Powerful
GIMP is the most feature rich free image editing tool. It has most image manipulation and workflow tools that you would expect from an image editing software and what it lacks it makes up with plugins.
Pro Content-aware tools with a plugin
There's a content-aware fill plugin available for GIMP.
Pro Modular & single-window interface options
By default GIMP splits out each window, but you can check to use the one screen mode in options if you prefer.
Pro Lightweight
Compared to to other photo editing software, GIMP is very light weight. In addition it isn't very resource-intensive, meaning you can put it on a flash drive and have it with you to load up on just about any computer.
Pro Beginner-friendly
Gimp has less features than programs like Photoshop, but for a beginner, or someone not needing complicated options, Gimp is the perfect choice. It allows you to quickly do basic photo manipulation so you can easily get the product you need without having to worry about complicated features getting in the way.
Pro Full channel support
Pro Capture Pilot enables using Capture One collaboratively during a shoot
Capture pilot is a feature that allows any web-enabled device to remotely connect to Capture One and use a subset of its functionality like view a selected catalogue, rate images and even make minor edits to photos. An iOS app for Capture Pilot is available as well that in addition to default functionality also allows controlling a tethered camera though that functionality has to be purchased separately.
Pro Well thought out tethered capture implementation
Once you hook up your camera to Capture One, the program offers a bunch of useful tools and workflows based on your needs.
For example, it has Composition Mode that allows setting up the shot without taking up hard-drive space by replacing the last image taken with the a one as soon as you take it. It has Hot Folder functionality that will keep an eye on changes in a set folder and as soon as any new images appear in that folder they will be added to Capture One; great for cameras that are not supported by Capture One natively and unlike other Hot Folder functionality in other programs C1 captures everything coming in quickly and imports all images as active. Many cameras can be controlled via the program and if the camera has live view, similar functionality can be enabled in Capture One. Plus, live view allows superimposing an overlay; great for cover shooting. There's also a overlay mask that shows wether a shot is in focus or not. And many other functions and design decision that help with ease of use.
Pro Extremely robust color editing
A huge amount of color editing options, with the ability to modify overall, to extremely targeted ranges. Especially robust support for editing skin tones.
Pro Clean and sharp default processing
Straight imports seem a bit sharper and more dynamic than many other RAW editors.
Pro Very intuitive Irs, easier to use and raw conversion using Sony seems better
Cons
Con Unintuitive interface
GIMP doesn't embrace OS X application design, thus Mac users might have a hard time wrapping their heads around GIMP's interface.
Con Less features than other programs
Being a free program, it shouldn't be surprising that it has limited features. For those needing more advanced features for something more professional, GIMP just isn't for you.
Con Lacks adjustment layers
Adjustment layers offer a non-destructive way of combining different photo manipulations. Without adjustment layers the only way to see changes is by irreversibly editing the image.
They are promised in future updates.
Con Poor performance
Con Expensive
Has hefty price tag, although both license and subscriptions are on offer.
Con Doesn't support color checkers
Unfortunately, there's no way to create color profiles using the Color Checker Passport.
Con Asset management could be better
While it does have asset managment, it isn't as robust or intuitive as some of the competition, like Lightroom in particular.
