Hi all,
I don't know if anyone has tried this, yet, but I just starting using Inkscape as a bitmap (!) editor. The main reason for this was the task to isolate a (bitmap) object against its background. I've e basically used the Gimp until now, but my main problem was aliasing (or bad anti-aliasing) at the edges of the object(s).
Now I discovered that if the new background is just one color, Inkscape can be of tremendous help. Particularly the splines are amazingly easy to use, and if I am using the proper zoom factor, the results are way better than when using the Gimp. (I guess this technique is basically called "vector painting", and a few years ago there was an app from the now defunct company 'discreet' called 'paint*', which did just that, but 'paint*' was much more high-end than Inkscape, and you could even animate the splines.)
In addition, due to the incredible ease of use of Inkscape, the work flow is really a breeze! ;-) I can pan using the middle mouse button, maybe zoom in or out using '+' or '-', draw, pan again, and so forth.
Greetings,
Claus