Just used GIMP 2.8 for the first time and what a head ache if I had any hair I’ll be pulling it out, I do admit am used to Photoshop. But why has the simplest of task taken 10mins. Is there any interface friend (FREE) package that’s similar to Photoshop out there. As I can see GIMP leading me to drink again. (any excuse lol)
What do you need it for?
Krita is a great alternative, focuses mainly on painting and texture art so far. For a solid photo editing app you can try Getpaint.net
Theres also photoline (commercial) and Manga Studio (which isnt just about manga, but is a general purpose variation of PS of sorts).
There’s Paint Tool SAI for illustration, MyPaint for drawing… tons more.
As far as free open source goes, I lean a bit in the Krita direction but thats primarily due to the feel of their brush engine.
I use gimp and have used Photo Shop I have found many things I can do faster in Gimp. A big part is your familiarity. Still I bought a Pen Tablet a Wacom tablet and it came with Photo shop. Its the not the full c4 or c5 type package but if Gimp is what you were using this would work just as well and you would be familiar with it. If You can spend a little I suggest looking at that. If you can’t spend any money then SaintHaven listen to, I would.
Hi I mainly use to use Photoshop and that was for editing, drawing, photos etc Its just that that was installed on my previous hard drive (RIP) and as it was a hooky instal its gone 
So its mainly to do the stuff I used to do and textures when I get to that level of Blendering. So thanks for the Krita reference as money is tight at the moment (am also a tight arse anyways) and could do with a better graphics card, and is it worth getting a tablet for Blender?
Tablet for use Blender not really but for use in Photo Shop or Gimp it is for me. So I would say yes.
You can download Photoshop CS2 for free at Adobe, if you like. Adobe doesn’t seem to care whether users with or without a CS2 license grab it.
Otherwise, I can heartily recommend Photoline - the layer system is even better than Photoshop, and it can use both Krita and Gimp in a “plugin” mode (the latest betas can, at least). It’s very affordable (59 euro), and updates are 29euro, I believe.
Btw, the latest beta introduces the option to work in a dark interface.
Hello
the “The Gimp” program its a very powerful one ( and open source, and free), you can’t feel “confortable” with only some hours of work!
Anyway, you can try this “thing”:
http://www.gimpshop.com/
Bye
Any new software is going to have a learning curve. MyPaint is nice, but its interface isn’t exactly the same as Photoshop (or GIMP) either. If you like photoshop (and made heavy use of its features), I’d suggest you suck it up and get used to GIMP, because it’s the only comperable open source alternative. If you are just looking for a good paint program, however, Krita or MyPaint or PaintToolSAI are all excellent. But you are going to be stuck with a learning curve for all of them.
Also for an image editor you dont need to download check out http://pixlr.com/editor/
It runs through the browser.
Here are some handy tips on how to make GIMP more like Photoshop:
I’ve used PS in a production environment since version 3 and know it backwards. I play with GIMP on occasion and have found similar results. It’s because we’re not familiar with GIMP. If I’d used it for the length of time I’ve been using Ps then I’m sure that I’d be just as fast. You can get pretty much the same results in either program, you just have to take a different path. The key to any program is familiarity.
I never like gimp before. but the new version - mainly the image brush(layered image brush) completely changed my view . Now i use only gimp. Main problem is we are used to photoshop, 3dsmax etc for long time (in my case more than 15 years) suddenly trying new programs and its menus, shortcuts etc it is making big confusion. Never blame the tools, get more practice with menus.
I used GIMP for years before switching to Photoshop. I wouldn’t go back if you paid me.
I used Photoshop since version 4 before switching to Photoline a year ago. I would not go back if you presented Photoshop CC on a golden platter to me. 
Paint.NET all the way. It’s not very well known but I find it to be much better than Gimp. Obviously, it’s not as good as photoshop, but you can’t get much better than this for free. Aside from the corny name, I think this is the way to go for sure. http://www.getpaint.net/download.html