Need Linux help

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I have a HD which I bought as back-up back in December. I am wondering which build of Linux would be compatible with the following programs, Photoshop, Manga Studio EX 4.0 and Corel painter. Thanks for your time

As far as I know, none of them. Windows-only apps don't run in Linux. Fortunately, there are free alternatives to just about every commercial program (aside from games).

You can try emulating them with Wine.

http://appdb.winehq.org

Usually, I install the programs via terminal

wine file.exe

Wine usually installs the files to /home/*user*/.wine/drive_c where .wine is a hidden folder. It is also installed in your start menu.

To start via terminal, simply cd to the folder (for example, if program files - cd /home/*user*/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/application\ folder/)

Then use the following command to emulate the program - wine file.exe

Voila!

I would recommend Fedora 12 as it's the distribution I use. However, for beginners, the following distros are excellent:

Ubuntu Ultimate Edition (Use KDE instead of Gnome)

PCLinuxOS

Freespire (note that it has little security, if any)

You would mostly be talking alternatives rather than compatibles.

Photoshop - Gimp will open and edit PSD files directly, but is not 100% compatible. The next version of Gimp should preserve all layer groups and all channels.

Manga Studio EX 4.0 - I recollect seeing one of the Ubunchu http://seotch.wordpress.com/ubunchu/ contributors describing some Linux manga software, but I can't find the link. People recommend a combination of Blender http://www.blender.org/ Inkscape http://www.inkscape.org/ Pencil http://www.pencil-animation.org/ and Synfig http://www.synfig.org/ for similar work.

Corel painter - would be back to Gimp or Artrage http://www.artrage.com/ Art Weaver http://www.artweaver.de/ or MyPaint http://mypaint.intilinux.com/

There are some nice new features and filters in the latest Inkscape http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php?lang=en

Photoshop 7.0 works well with Wine.

http://max.limpag.com/2007/05/27/instal ... ntu-linux/

I don't recommend Linux for image editing, because while the tools aren't bad, they aren't Photoshop. I can see everybody else on this thread rolling their eyes now.

Oh, looks like yet another "computer expert" got mixed up in this Linux hype machine.

Trust me, Linux as a consumer desktop OS just doesn't cut it, compared to Windows 7.

Oh Seven. You are the panacea for all the worlds ills.

I agree, gimp isnt near to photoshop's level, its missing quite a few important features, but for what its worth it does do a few things better, and I would consider it on the whole better than paint shop pro. GIMP is my primary image editor for websites personally, I see no issue with using gimp for advanced editing, but to recap, gimp is not photoshop and has a while to go still.

As far as the original poster's needs, wine is not a great solution, it may work and suit your needs fine, but it is a last resort. If you intend to run a specific operating system, its often alot better to use the applications that are available for it natively. If this is unacceptable for you, you should evaluate your needs and ask why do you want to run Linux. Is it for a practical purpose? For education or curiosity? How will you use it differently from what you already use?

Linux is for servers and specialized platforms requiring it. In other words, actual computers. Not the toys (consumer desktop computers) you get on Facebook with and play World of Warcrap with.

Ubuntu just makes the toy "computers" even more useless than they already are. Sure, you can get on the Internet and use some mediocre open-source programs and hope that you don't make that small mistake that requires reinstalling because you don't know some commands that you would have to Google for days on end for because you are not a Linux user.

Silly peeps, Linux is for IT professionals!

Windows 7 does what you want it to do like Windows has always does without demanding that you install dependencies or enter a bunch of text into a command prompt like we are running MS DOS here! Get real!

That's what I run (PS 7) in Freebsd under wine. No issues. Still hard to believe that a full install of Photoshop is smaller than the newest Adobe Reader(not that I use it, just sayin)

Agreed. I'm seeing what appears to be a revolt against bloatware (e.g. Windows 7) though and I'm hoping it lasts.

Agreed.

Also, what do you think of cinepaint?

I heard it's the only (potential) professional grade editor for Linux. Gimp is not professional grade and would require an overhaul to be (e.g. it's limited to 8-bit channels and adding 16 or 32 bit support would qualify as an 'overhaul'). Beyond that, I don't know how it stacks up against recent versions of Photoshop.