We recently wrote an article about video editing software to improve your product demos. Another side to this is image editing software.
Recent studies show that consumers would rather be told and shown information about a product rather than having to read it themselves. A product demo can do just this. A good product demo is able to draw in potential buyers and clients and increase your sales output. In this way, product demos fall under marketing, but it’s also a great tool for sales reps to use when introducing a new product.
An important facet of a good product demo is that it draws attention to a product’s most important features. When it comes to showcasing a product, the right image can really sway customers’ opinions. That’s where image editing software comes in. Basic photography can give you a good picture of the product, but with the added benefit of image editing, it can give you a great picture of your product.
While there are a multitude of image editing software, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, we present to a comparison of the best — Photoshop and GIMP.
Adobe Photoshop CC
Adobe Photoshop CC has already become almost synonymous with image editing. This piece of software is a go-to for illustrators, designers, and photographers alike. In that same vein, it has what you need to polish up that product demo. If you have a few still shots that would look better had it not been for the lighting, angle, and background, then Photoshop has you covered. Furthermore, Photoshop can be used as a lite video editing app. Sure, it doesn’t have the same amount of power in that regard, but Adobe’s integration between its products lends power to this. While Adobe Photoshop CC comes with a hefty price, if you are already a user of Adobe’s other programs, getting the whole suite might suit you just fine.
Photoshop works on a layer-based editing system that allows for the most amount of freedom and creativity. Layering, masking, and retouching are but some of Photoshop’s more basic features. The latest Photoshop includes automated “neural filters” which handles groups of editing features with a single click of a button. Skin smoothing and sky replacement are but some of the features offered that can enhance the mood of an image or even change it entirely. With some of the features seeming a bit daunting without prior experience to a similar software, Adobe Photoshop CC carries with it tutorial assets and videos to allow beginners to quickly grasp the basics of what it has to offer.
GIMP
With Adobe dominating a large portion of the digital media editing sphere, other products have come out to challenge them. GIMP is one such image editing software. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program which doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but backs it up with a plethora of image editing features to compete against Photoshop. With almost as many features as Photoshop, GIMP stands strong as a free alternative.
That’s right, GIMP is an open-source software meaning it is free to use and developed over time by many different developers. Due to this, GIMP suffers a bit in the accessibility department, but it is well-documented, and anyone can learn. While this software doesn’t compare to Photoshop’s automated editing features, all it takes is one willing developer to implement it in GIMP.
While GIMP isn’t as easy to learn as Photoshop, it is both on par with it and free to use. The amount of investment needed to learn such a software may well be worth it if one isn’t ready to spend money on Adobe’s products. However, the lack of accessible and robust integration with other media editing software doesn’t work in GIMP’s favour.
