GIMP Gets an Interface Makeover in New Version 2.6

by Sam Dean - Oct. 01, 2008Comments (6)

We've written about GIMP, the outstanding open source graphics program originally developed at U.C. Berkeley, several times before. The application has had a robust community of developers behind it for years, and now a new version 2.6 is downloadable. Here's what's under the hood in the update, including a whole slew of interface enhancements.

You can find the release notes for version 2.6 here. According to the developers:

"GIMP 2.6 is an important release from a development point of view. It features changes to the user interface addressing some often received complaints, and a tentative integration of GEGL, the graph based image processing library that will eventually bring high bit-depth and non-destructive editing to GIMP."

Many of the more important user interface changes are shown on the release notes page. You can pan beyond image borders now, and the Toolbox and Docks are more flexible. You can also make use of many new kinds of brush dynamics when working with images.

GIMP 2.6 also has many enhancements aimed at plug-in developers, including better handling of errors in plug-ins. The application has a thriving community of plug-in developers, and advanced users make significant use of the many plug-ins.

 

If you're new to GIMP, there are many good tutorials online for getting going with it, in addition to many tutorials found on the GIMP.org site. HowtoGimp is a good place to start. It features general tutorials on how to use the application, and very targeted lessons on granular topics such as images and effects. Also check out Gimp-Tutorials.net, which includes video tutorials and much more. This collection of 22 GIMP tutorials is also worth looking into for creating specialized effects.


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6 Comments
 

As fas as I am concerned (together with others who would love to see Gimp having a usable interface some day) there is no change whatsoever that improves usability. It is almost all the same, just a few menu items moved to a different place, which actually will not be liked by most of the hard-core Gimp activists as they will have to change their use habits.

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As fas as I am concerned (together with others who would love to see Gimp having a usable interface some day) there is no change whatsoever that improves usability. It is almost all the same, just a few menu items moved to a different place, which actually will not be liked by most of the hard-core Gimp activists as they will have to change their use habits.

0 Votes

So, nothing much has changed then. Sad enough. I love the Gimp, since I am unwilling to shell out hundrets of dollars for Photoshop, but require near that of functionality.

The interface of the Gimp is the thing that drives off most people that have not used it for 10 years or more and don't notice it anymore.

If you are one of those people, please go check out Gimpshop, a hack that makes Gimp look almost 100% like Photoshop, they moved the menus around, so if you know Photoshop, you can actually find things. Go check it out and see if it fixes your woes. It helped alleviate mine a little.

One thing that a Gimp proponent (i.e. somebody that thinks that the Gimp is fine and dandy the way it is and that the interface "is fine, if you only RTFM and stop behaving like a PITA Photoshop fanboy" *grin*: Ok, please explain to me: what the heck is the purpose of the Gimp not sporting its own workspace? I mean the thing that the windows are all floating around. It is no problem when Gimp is the only program running, but if there are others, you get a total mess: Since Gimp consists of about 4 windows, you have to go and make sure they are topmost. Now I have always wondered what the thinking behind this is. Somebody thought this up I suppose and had a reason for it. What is it? I really can't see it.

Markus

0 Votes

So, nothing much has changed then. Sad enough. I love the Gimp, since I am unwilling to shell out hundrets of dollars for Photoshop, but require near that of functionality.

The interface of the Gimp is the thing that drives off most people that have not used it for 10 years or more and don't notice it anymore.

If you are one of those people, please go check out Gimpshop, a hack that makes Gimp look almost 100% like Photoshop, they moved the menus around, so if you know Photoshop, you can actually find things. Go check it out and see if it fixes your woes. It helped alleviate mine a little.

One thing that a Gimp proponent (i.e. somebody that thinks that the Gimp is fine and dandy the way it is and that the interface "is fine, if you only RTFM and stop behaving like a PITA Photoshop fanboy" *grin*: Ok, please explain to me: what the heck is the purpose of the Gimp not sporting its own workspace? I mean the thing that the windows are all floating around. It is no problem when Gimp is the only program running, but if there are others, you get a total mess: Since Gimp consists of about 4 windows, you have to go and make sure they are topmost. Now I have always wondered what the thinking behind this is. Somebody thought this up I suppose and had a reason for it. What is it? I really can't see it.

Markus

0 Votes

What is it? I really can't see it.


Markus


---me neither


0 Votes

Please donate your old boxes to a church-group or some needy student in these hard times! To comply with the law, and with Microsoft's leasing policy, you can now replace Microsoft OS with the free (download from the net) Ubuntu OS, which can be set to erase the hard drive of all traces of the “illegal to give away ” Microsoft system and your private information, before donation! Now, explain to your lucky recipient that all the manuals they will ever need are available for free on the internet! Just ask for them in Google! OpenOffice, which is installed already is plenty adequate for homework assignments and with a little exploring, everything else can work well too! Happy computing!


0 Votes
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