Can GIMP replace Photoshop?

What about Inkscape?

I cut my teeth on GIMP back in the day, it's got a lot of the same functionality of Photoshop but is a little more limited in what it can do (and I find the interface more clunky). But if you're just starting out with digital art, GIMP is a great place to do it- the shortcuts are different but a lot of the concepts and tools are very similar to what you would find in Photoshop.

Although to be honest, the sooner I got my hands on Photoshop, the happier I was.

Actually I don't think so it can. Each software of adobe specially Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator & Indesign (in the field of graphic design) are quite powerful & industry standard than any other tools available either free or paid right now in the world. Now the question is why? Because their features, ability to do integrate with each other (exp: While you working for a magazine layout design you can easily switch from adobe indesign to adobe Photoshop & adobe Illustrator whenever you want & that is really cool ) & in terms of retouching & manipulation Adobe Photoshop still become number one till now. GIMP is a good tool but it don't have so many detail option & features like Photoshop. Some other software like affinity design also tried to make a competition with adobe Photoshop but they failed actually from my perspective.  

The more tools you have in your tool box the better. If you can afford adobe cc then get it. I use multiple platforms to design each has there own pros and cons but the more you use the more scope you get.I use photoshop, gimp, gravit designer, vectr and inscape. But at the end of day its all personal preference.  

It is good to go for an open source software as the cost of professional applications are increasing day by day. However, when it comes to working in a team with some designers are based on another country and using Photoshop the issues appear with the compatibility of opening the source design file sent by a designer created in the latest version of Photoshop (PSD).

I'd say Inkscape and Gimp all the way, it's not the program you use that makes you a professional.. it's how you use it. Yes, Adobe's programs are more filled with useful tools, but you have to pay for them (and usually for a high price, while Inkscape is totally free and Illustrator is less customizable, especially as regards keyboard shortcuts).

For example, many artists use Photoshop but their artworks almost look the same, while if you use Gimp you're more free and what you do is more unique, same goes for Inkscape, imho. Or you can use a combination of MyPaint + Gimp  to make artworks for a better brushing.

Gimp and Inkscape may be lacking of certain features (such as custom brushes in Inkscape or a proper palette editor/saver/loader in Gimp), but if you know how to tweak such features and have some patience (Inkscape seems slower than photoshop), they're just the same thing.

The only problem is file formats and compatibility, in my opinion SVG is the perfect format because it also supports transparent gradients, which I haven't seen supported on Illustrator, and it can be also viewed on any browser. But if the customer requires AI, EPS or Adobe-specific formats, then you can use a converter or get Illustrator because converters may not be as precise as Illustrator, so you can save the design in SVG, open it with Illustrator and save it as AI/EPS/PDF, etc... up to your and customer's preference, I guess.

nice info!

Photopea could be a better choice if you're looking for a free Photoshop. A perfect alternative to Photoshop or Gimp. 

Hello! I don't like GIMP. Better use Photoshop. Anyway if you not a professional you can still use GIMP

Nice to see this topic b/c most of the professional's still use GIMP