GIMP needs testers urgently
GIMP is preparing to unleash a revolutionary new update—a high-performance, modern UI powerhouse designed to dismantle Adobe’s stranglehold on the industry.
To deliver the final blow to subscription-based creative tools, GIMP desperately needs testers right now.
Linux AppImages:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/jobs/7011657/artifacts/browse/build/linux/appimage/_Output/
Windows installer:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/jobs/7011659/artifacts/browse/build/windows/installer/_Output/
Linux Snap:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/jobs/7011658/artifacts/browse/build/linux/snap/_Output/
macOS:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/jobs/7011661/artifacts/browse/build/macos/dmg/_Output/
Windows MSIX:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/jobs/7011660/artifacts/browse/build/windows/store/_Output/
Just open the software and do random stuff.
Open different files
Use the text tool
Put an image in black and white
Convert files from one format to the other
If you spot any bug, please report it here:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/work_items/16712
Stop funding the corporate machine. Take back your software, test the build, and help launch the new era of open-source creation
101 replies
I used to use Photoshop and indesign prolifically
to shitpostto do great art work in the 2000s. I took a good decade and a half off and decided to go Gimp instead of a new version of Photoshop this year. I’m at about 80% of what I could smoothly do with Photoshop, and honestly I love it.I don’t think I could have made the switch if I didn’t take a super mega long break, though.
It's opening up PS and ID after the break and realising the application you once knew inside-out have changed so much, may as well learn a new one instead.
Sounds like op overstates the changes to GIMP 3.2
My main issue with Gimp is that it does work well, but it takes me forever to find where the features are
@spacegoat @borosilicate Are you familiar with the action search feature? If you type '/', it pulls up a search box to find and use features. It also shows the menu path & associated keyboard shortcut.
Not an excuse to stop improving the UI, but I've found it to be really helpful myself.
Didn’t know about this! Thank you!
That is my annoyance as well, especially since I took photoshop classes for a couple years in school. But i figure, every time I use GIMP i remember where stuff is a bit better and I get faster at using it.
Long live the PhotoGIMP guy.
i am in favour of them just doing this. the experience is a mess. affinity via wine worked much better for me.
(ps: maybe a rust rewrite? just kidding.... unless.. )
Why the urgency? You're linking to a normal, patch release. Did GIMP devs say something? Are you a GIMP dev?
GIMP wants to release 3.2.6 and they're looking for stuff they need to do to improve from 3.2.5
They released 3.2.6 on the 10th per the blog post.
Which, given the size and complexity of GIMP, likely means that they were already in the process of wapping it up by the time OP made this post
how recently can i have installed it? like, yesterday? HOW DO I DRAW A CIRCLE
GIMP is meant more for retouching photos, not drawing shapes. If you mostly want to draw shapes from scratch, you probably want something like Krita or Inkscape instead.
But if you really must draw a circle in GIMP, you make a circular selection and then fill it in with the bucket fill tool.
Then why is there a brush tool which has stars and sparkles? Even the screenshot software Spectacle and Flameshot can draw circles effortlessly. Something this trivial is downright silly not to have as a feature. Every year I have a moment where I decide "okay, I'm gonna do this in GIMP", but then get so pissed off because something that should take less than five seconds takes ten minutes and tutorial, whereafter I go back to Photopea.
Edit: I just discovered Pixelitor which now obviates my need for Photopea/GIMP. My review on AlternativeTo:
GIMP and Adobe Photoshop are image editing programs. If you want to create your own vector images from scratch you use Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator
Circles ≠ Vectors. Sometimes I want to edit images by drawing circles around things. I'm actually serious, e.g., indicating locations where there is a leak and such. Freehand circles look ridiculous and unprofessional without a drawing tablet.
But why not have the basic stuff like every other tool does?
Check out Pixelitor. I'm almost sad I only just discovered it. It has all the basic functionality I ever need, conveniently so.
This was consistently my experience as well, basic functionality in any other app is a hacky workaround and/or a tutorial
i usually draw a head and then remove the unnecessary lines
Friend, even GIMP dev themselves is currently adding shape tool.
GIMP official site listed 'Graphic Design Elements' as supported workflow, means shape tools is absolutely necessary.
Yeah, I should've revised my comment after I read the release notes.
I have used it to digitize and color drawings (i.e just take a picture of a pencil sketch and edit it).
If you zoom in, you can get pretty good detail, drawing just with a mouse.
That's a way different (and more well-suited) use-case because the edges are already there and you're just doing region selections and flood fills and whatnot. It's drawing the edges in the first place -- especially if they're geometric -- that GIMP isn't particularly good at.
Use ellipse select tool with a fixed aspect ratio of 1:1. Then Select -> Border and choose a width. Then fill it with a color.
Like yeah, it is 3 steps instead of having a dedicated "Shapes" tool with a bunch of options that would do the same. But GIMP is kind of built around selections, you do need to learn to use them if you ever want to use GIMP effectively. It's about as important as understanding layers.
https://krita.org/
Use the ellipse selection tool, hold shift as you make your section to keep it 1:1, selection to path, fill/stroke as needed?
Release notes:
https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.2.html
Is there an OG post to reference here?
BRING OUT THE GIMP
You called, we came.
You came, i came, it was a real mess.
Such pain, Such pleasure.
Who in the comments is an Adobe employee?
This isn't Reddit.
Hello, this is Tim Adobe. Don't worry, we are working hard to make sure we remain the best. There's currently a team trying to figure out wtf a "gnu" is while another team figures out the maximum price increase our customer base will accept to give us a good budget to work with (previous profits were used on boats for executive team and some pizzas from the cheapest place my executive assistant could find with free delivery). Is Mr GIMP interested in selling?
bends over
Test me, baby
Ive been a gimper since university.
Where is this quoting from?
I think they are quoting themselves. I'm fairly sure they've posted this exact thing before, for other versions of GIMP
Linux releases are done via Flatpak, both mainline and development. I don't think Gimp itself would be linking to a snap package.
I meant that OP was quoting themself. I'd be rather surprised if they have anything to do with the GIMP project
I've been daily driving gimp for over a decade now.
But these "revolutionary update" headlines are tiring. I've been listening that since 2.0, each minor patch is a "revolutionary gimp update". You go excited to see what they added and most of the time is nothing that important.
Non destructive editing was probably the only "revolutionary" thing that was done in these last 10 years. And that's ok, the development pace is what it is.
@daniskarma @cm0002 Stable releases in general (like 3.2.x) are not intended to be "revolutionary" - I've learned that people don't like it when you make too many changes. :)
3.x releases are where the bigger changes happen.
"Brothers in arms, take up this rightful jihad against the Adobe scourge and throw every able man, woman, and child into this holy battle to make our voices heard. Lift up your hearts and let it be known that we the people shall no longer be oppressed by this hateful regime, and shall bring about the light of hope in a dying world by casting our lot into the boiling pot of battle-tested warriors, and right all the wrongs in the universe..."
I am going to get slammed here ... but GIMP is just way too complex to use. Maybe the new UI will be better, but the old UI is not just clunky or slightly bad ... it is UNUSABLE by normal people.
Draw a circle in GIMP. Draw a square. Yea ... how long did that take to figure out?
Sit anybody in front of Photoshop for the first time and it will be the same.
The UI of modern Photoshop is now insanely bloated.
It'll take them as long just to boot the program, and every time they change tools they'll have to wait for it to catch up
New Ui announced, testers needed. What do you do? Complain about the old UI. Smart.
I dont care about it to test it. I just use Krita.
You just wanted to shit on something.
You want MS Paint.
God no.
Tux paint.
I guess I am not a normal person then. I have been using GIMP happily for more than 20 years now. FWIW, I rarely need to draw circles.
I’ve used GIMP in the past. I don’t understand it, but it’s free and can do stuff so I’m not going to complain.
But I’d also say that using/being good at GIMP is solidly not “normal” lol. And being on Lemmy is even less normal, so here we are.
Yeah it's literally not for you. Its like opening up cad (engineering tool) and complaining that there's a learning curve. My good friend is a graphic designer. I tried to get them to use gimp when they couldn't pay for photoshop anymore but it sounded like they just wanted to rip their hair out because of how behind photoshop it is. Gimp needs the basic features that are expected from photoshop for people to be willing to transition. You would be better off trying a graphic design bootcamp.
I will try to convince them to test it out but they just got access to photoshop again so it's unlikely they'll want to touch gimp anytime soon😮💨
I am a graphic designer. Used to build ads for Autotrader magazines. Its a very difficult program.
Change the name. 😄 Edit: Imp is right there. If you miss 3 syllables of GNU Imp, try Photobash. Make it obvious.
App is great, name is terrible but the devs like it and don't want to entertain the idea of renaming.
Perhaps if people keep suggesting a rename, it'll happen eventually. It is a shame that it has the name it has.
Yeah, how do they expect people to talk about it in professional contexts?
Usually they do it without being either a bunch of children or prissy pearlclutchers about it.
It's not about being childish, prissy, or clutching pearls. It's about how in a professional setting, image and reputation matters. And if the name of the software you use might damage either of those in the eyes of others, it can be risky to say you use it.
I've heard stories from people who say they've been to conferences or networking events where someone seemed interested in their work, and asked what they used. When they tell them Gimp, the person walks away and never contacts them.
If you're a freelancer especially, losing potential clients and contracts over the name of your software is a serious issue that many people can't afford to ignore.
Maybe it is because GIMP has a reputation of being lesser than the professional software, or they think the artist is being cheap for not using commercial options.
One weird thing about the name for me is that the lanyard or boondoggle string that kids do at camp is named gimp in some places and no one around here knows that it is a slur in other places.
If someone presents work that a person is impressed with, it shouldn't matter to that person if the software they used is perceived as inferior.
Also, I think it's more likely that a person simply hasn't heard of GIMP, rather than having heard that it has a reputation for anything.
I had no clue, I've never heard of that. What region is this in?
It's not just a slur though. That's what I understood it as for a long time, but then I found out that it's also a thing in the kink/bondage community. Apparently it's what they call a dude wearing leather straps on his torso and a leather face mask that covers his eyes and sometimes mouth. I think it's a submissive role? I don't know much about it though.
But yeah so I can see how saying that in a professional setting could be off-putting to some colleagues...
there exist people in the world who don't speak english
Yeah no fucking shit, that doesn't change a goddamn thing though, does it?
It's free software. You're assured the 4 freedoms. Put up or hack up. If you want GIMP the same but with another name, that's a fairly easy fork to make. You do not need to reaffirm your dis-empowerment, wishing on eventuality.
Why's it a shame it has the name it has?
It's a great name. It's fun. It's whimsical. It's practical. It says exactly what it is. Where's the shame?
And speaking as someone with several ailments that give me a gimpy walk, I feel seen, having the already-homonymous word gimp extended to yet another meaning. ... Is the objection to the name coming from those who are yet to comprehend the concept of homonyms and extend that comprehension more broadly to things they'd not prior considered to be homonyms?
Please do not change the name.
There's nothing wrong with it whatsoever. ~ I feel seen (with my gimpy walk), with that homonym out there. It's a strong positive.
Also, what an ugly book-burning history-rewriting miscrediting to try hush an advocacy of freedom, when [ironically] that freedom's right there, availing you the solution (that does not seek to impose any doubleplus goodspeak), in that you can just fork it, and rename it, yourself, if that's the issue you have with it.
.... Also... I've never heard it called GNU Imp. Gimp, or GNU Image Manipulation Program, or the gimp. That's just silly. ... And why's Imp considered an improvement? What's the benefit? What itch would it scratch?
o7 Doing my civic duty in the fight to keep digital art in artists' hands.
If they could make it as dummy proof as Macromedia Fireworks from the 2000s, they would make transitioning creative work in Linux a bit easier. And this is coming from a Linux user since 2008.
You mean Inkscape? I think that's more Inkscape's wheelhouse.
I regularly use both. Inkscape and Gimp could benefit from ux improvements that ease newbies in, with intuitiveness being front and center.
@pnwpixel @psycotica0 We welcome feedback! We even have a dedicated UX design now to collect and discuss it: https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work/_items
https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work_items
Thanks, I just got signed up and I'll get some ideas over to you folks :)
My profile: https://gitlab.gnome.org/mattwebb.dev
I've been using GIMP for years and have become use to it. However, the interface still needs to be redesigned.
Wellllll that's exactly what they're looking for testers for right now
The UX changes in the release notes are welcome, but in the grand scheme, pretty minor. I actually find it much better than it was a decade ago, but still prefer Krita's UI by a significant margin.
Gimp would really benefit from a total UI overhaul, honestly.
PhotoGIMP is a great start, been using it for years at this point
What do you think this announcement want you to test?
@Ertain @cm0002 We have a UX repo for people to post design issues & discuss improvements. Anyone is welcome to contribute feedback, which we try to implement as we can: https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work/_items :)
https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work_items
Thank you for telling us.
all of the download links are outdated
Yeah... I'll stick with 2.10. It's responsive.
Have you even tested the new version? How do you know it's not responsive?
I have tried various versions in the 3 series. Several times. Across several distros. And several arrangements of useflags in gentoo. The new new point version? probably not yet. Have they changed the toolkit or done some magic to change it to be as responsive as the 2 series? If not, seems a safe bet it'll still be noticeably laggy like all prior versions in the 3 series.
Is this the year I finally learn how to use GIMP?
A big part of my work is testing software, especially UI, and making Devs ragecry.
Do they want someone to test a new name? I'm tired of waiting.
Professional Image Manipulation Program
lol, it is GNU Image Manipulation Program
I don't know what you've heard about me
But you can't get a dollar outta me
No caddilac, no perms you can't see,
That I'm a motherfucking Professional Image Manipulation Program
Dunno why you're getting downvotes
No thank you, I am good. My dreams are bad enough, I don’t need to punish myself with trying to use this user interface.
That's exactly what changed 😩 Do you read?
Not by anywhere near enough. Come on guy. If GIMP actually released a revolutionary UI/UX revamp you'd be reading about it on every birdcage-liner tech news site in existence. Early rants about GIMP UX are old enough to be done with college.
love how the post is trying to speak to me like some kind of ww2 propaganda poster, then tells me to test like i work for them. this tone is def gonna make me help out...or not.