Seashore: Freeware Image Editing for Mac
There has been a lot of activity in the OS X image editor realm lately. From new applications competing with Photoshop like Pixelmator and Acorn, to specialized tools like Skitch and Picturesque, there is no shortage of applications for the Mac consumer. Free image editors however, are difficult to come by. There is always the vulnerable venerable GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), but few have the patience to figure out its foreign interface and deal with the quirks of working in a X11 environment. For those Mac users who crave a free native cocoa image editor, Seashore is the answer.
We reviewed Seashore back in June but I thought it deserved another look. Seashore is an open source image editor based off GIMP, but don’t let that four letter acronym scare you. While Seashore leverages some of the GIMP’s powerful open source technology, Seashore is 100 percent Cocoa and integrates perfectly with OS X.
Most tools you’d expect from an image editor can be found in Seashore: a respectable brush engine, selection tools, layers, filters, and even a clone stamp tool. Unlike its distant cousin the GIMP, the tools are laid out in a logical and straightforward interface. There are some inconsistencies, commands you expect to be in the menu bar appear in the options pallet and vice versa, but for the most part the interface is well designed. Small details like tool instructions at the bottom of the options pallet and a spectacular 53 page user guide make Seashore especially easy to learn for beginners.
There are a few wonky things about Seashore however. Unlike nearly every other image editor, Seashore does not show live previews of effects and filters. You have to click on a preview bottom to have the effect rendered. And while the effects render quickly, the entire process seems pretty archaic, especially now that we’ve seen the instantaneous possibilities of Core Image. Another major downside of Seashore are the text tools. The level of control you have is extremely limiting, you can’t even re-edit text once you’ve placed it in an image. On a related note, there are no vector tools in Seashore what-so-ever.
In an age where specialized tools are on the rise, is there any room for Seashore? I think so. For the user who wants to experiment with image manipulation without the constraints of iPhoto, Seashore preforms valiantly.
Seashore is free and open source, runs great on Leopard, and can be downloaded from the developer’s site.
The vulnerable GIMP, or venerable?
@Adam: Yup that sounds better. Thanks and edited.
Thanks. Might try seashore, currently a PS user on my macbook pro, but need something for my macbook at home.
As a Windows escapee, I was looking for something to replace Paint. I tried Seashore based on the June review and found that not only is it a great Paint replacement, but it has lots of additional functionality. Sure, I’d like to see more flexibility, but hey, it’s free!
folks into seashore but looking for something a little bit lighter but equally all-apple should check out chocoflop.com (still free and still under dev, but running fine on tiger…)
[...] here for [...]
Hmm, nice but not as nice as LiveQuartz wich does live effects via core image, re-editable text, is free and has just been updated for Leopard. I haven’t had a chance to use it much yet, but it seems pretty good. Check it out at http://www.livequartz.com. (I have no affiliation with the author, but I think his software is worth a good look.)
I liked chocoflop quite a bit, i fact, i like it better than Pixelmator, but development is quite slow. If chocoflop was feature complete, stable and free, it would be my choice. But since it is none of those, my vote goes to LiveQuartz (for now at least).
[...] http://macapper.com/2007/11/15/seashore-freeware-image-editing-for-mac/ [...]
You left “spectacular 53 page user guide” out there like an orphan.
Where do you get it?
[...] app, and is great if you don’t have the time to learn the huge monster, that can be GimpShop. Our Review | [...]
Help! I can’t get seashore to work on my macbook. Can someone please help. This is how far I get: I download it from the site and than I get this box on my screen that is called ‘Seashore Code’ with inside a document called ‘License’a link to the seashore website and a file named ‘Seashore’. I don’t know what to do next? XXX Applechick
As a new Mac user, I am having the same issue as Applechick with Seashore not seeming to fully install into the applications. Can anyone help with the install process, please? I love what I hear about Seashore and am anxious to try it out. TIA.
how do i actually download this?
i cnt find were i get it from
Well I was wondering, can seashore blend 2/3 images together?
Hey..guys…well
this is a question i wanna ask but..
How do you use the clone???
Without “live preview” Seashore is nearly impossible to work with. Can´t anyone fix that soon please?
No line tool? How do you make straight and curved lines?