Platforms: Mac OS X (10.3 for most features, 10.4 or higher for full functionality)

Current version as of writing: 0.1.9

Having a BSD-based OS gives Apple some cool advantages. One of them is the ability to run a lot of native Unix and Linux apps. The only downside is that there can be a fair number of hoops to jump through in order to make that happen. A good example is GIMP. It’s a near Photoshop-level, professional image editor that has native Linux and Windows versions, but to get it to run on OS X, you’ll need to get X11 installed so that you can run X Windows-based programs. (X Windows is a Unix/Linux-based OS thing.) Some helpful Mac fans have stepped in to make getting GIMP up and running as easy as possible by providing a streamlined intaller, but some people are just naturally gonna be turned off by it all.

(As a side note, if you’re running Leopard, aka 10.5, you should actually be able to install and run GIMP directly because X11 is automatically a part of Leopard. The only downside is that it still doesn’t have that slick, naturally elegant look of native OS X apps.)

That leads us to Seashore, a native OS X (Cocoa-based to be precise) image editing app that’s built from GIMP code. If you’re also a PC user, Seashore is roughly akin to Paint.Net with respect to power, features and flexibility. For Mac-only users, you’ll find Seashore to be a big step up in flexibility and power from iPhoto. It doesn’t have professional users in mind like Photoshop or GIMP, but is plenty powerful for most chores. It’s a layer-based tool, which, in my mind, instantly puts it into the more power-user oriented category. But let me temper that comment by saying that it’s not hard to use. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Actually, if you’re new to layer-based image editors, Seashore is a great way to cut your teeth. Photoshop and GIMP are undoubtedly awesome, but for newbies they can be brutal. Because they’re so vast, weeding through the almost countless features and functions can make doing the simplest edits frustratingly time consuming. Seashore doesn’t make you feel like you’re spending hours spinning your wheels doing something that would’ve taken you two minutes in a program like MS Paint.

OK, so it’s easy to use, fast, native to OS X, and powerful enough for most tasks, what’s not to love? Well, there are a few weaknesses worth knowing about before investing your time (small investment though it may be) in learning the program. First, if you need advanced or flashy text editing, Seashore may not be able to keep up with you. Its text capabilities limit it to only some basic effects, and your control over them is a bit narrow. On the same lines, vector graphics functions are, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. While a full version of GIMP may not have the most robust vector graphics capabilities, they are there. Seashore, unfortunately, doesn’t (as of now) have much going on vector-wise. The good news: If you have no idea what vector graphics are and only plan on doing photo editing, you probably won’t notice that shortcoming at all!

If you’re an old hand at layer-based image editors (especially GIMP), Seashore is going to be a snap to pick up. But if this is your first dance, it’ll actually save you a lot of time in the long run to watch or read some tutorials. I’m a fan of video tutorials since you not only see things in action, but there also tends to be lots of helpful side comments by the videos’ makers that give you handy ideas for how to use what you’re learning in other scenarios. YouTube user Andy Roberts has put up two Seashore tutorials that can help you get up to speed.  Tutorial #1 Tutorial #2 Andy also has a blog where you can watch these tutorials and see his other videos.

If you grab Seashore or have previous experience, please drop by the comments section and let us know what you think of it.