GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program
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GIMP 2.8 is the result of three years of hard work and collaborative development. This version of GIMP is equipped with a wealth of new features, including some highly requested ones. Keep reading to find out exactly what GIMP 2.8 has to offer you in areas such as the user interface, tools, and plug-ins.
User Interface
Single-Window Mode
Single-window mode screenshot
GIMP 2.8 introduces an optional single-window mode. You can toggle between the default multi-window mode and the new single-window mode through the Single-window mode checkbox in the Windows menu. In single-window mode, GIMP will put dockable dialogs and images in a single, tabbed image window. The single-window mode setting is of course preserved if you quit and start GIMP again. Single-window mode removes the necessity for users of having to deal with multiple windows. Developers: Martin Nordholts, Michael Natterer Interaction Architect: Peter Sikking
Multi-Column Dock Windows
Multi-column dock windows screenshot
GIMP 2.8 allows dockable dialogs in a dock window to be placed in multiple columns. To create a new column in a dock window, drag and drop a dockable dialog on the vertical edges of the dock window. This is an appealing feature for multi-monitor users where one screen can have a big dock window with all the dialogs and the tools, while all images are on other displays. Developer: Martin Nordholts Interaction Architect: Peter Sikking
More Screen Real Estate For Dockable Dialogs
Removed docking bars screenshot
The docking bars have been removed and replaced with overlaid highlights. The dockable drag handle has been removed and the dockable menu button has been moved up to the tabs. A new Automatic tab style has been added which makes dockable tabs use the available space. Developer: Martin Nordholts
Save And Export
Save and export screenshot
A rather big conceptual change is that saving and exporting images now are clearly separated activities. Saving an image can only be done in the XCF format which is GIMP's native file format, able to save all kinds of information necessary for works in progress.
To export into other formats File->Export... needs to be used. This distinction makes it clearer if all available information is stored in a file, or not. There are some optimizations for alternative workflows such as opening a jpg, polishing it, and quickly exporting back to the original file. This conceptual change has also allowed us to get rid of the annoying dialogs that warned about the flatting of images when saving to non-layered formats. Developer: Martin Nordholts Interaction Architect: Peter Sikking
Layer Groups
Layer groups screenshot
For complex compositions, a flat layer structure is very limiting. GIMP 2.8 lets users organize their compositions better through the introduction of layer groups which allow layers to be organized in tree-like structures. Layer groups are fully scriptable through the GIMP plug-in API. Developer: Michael Natterer
Tools Drawn With Cairo
Tools drawn with cairo screenshot
All tools rendering on canvas have been ported to Cairo to provide smooth antialiased graphics and make GIMP's look and feel match modern users expectations. All but a few plug-ins have been ported over to Cairo as well. Additionally all tools now use an on-canvas progress indicator instead of the one in the statusbar. Developer: Michael Natterer
On-Canvas Text Editing
On-canvas text editing screenshot
Text editing with the Text Tool is now performed on-canvas instead of in a separate window. The editing on-canvas is rather sophisticated: apart from the usual text formatting features like font family, style and size selectors you get numeric control over baseline offset and kerning, as well as the ability to change text color for a selection. You can also use a combination of Alt and arrow keys to change baseline offset and kerning. This feature was originally developed during Google Summer of Code 2008 and heavily improved since. Developers: Daniel Eddeland, Michael Natterer
Keyboard Shortcut Changes
Since the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+E and Ctrl+Shift+E have been repurposed for the image export mechanisms, new keyboard shortcuts have been setup for 'Shrink Wrap' and 'Fit in Window', namely Ctrl+J and Ctrl+Shift+J respectively. Developer: Martin Nordholts
Simple Math In Size Entries
Math in size entries screenshot
Enhancements have also been made to the size entry widget, which is used for inputting most of the x, y, width, height parameters. For example, in the scale dialog it is now possible to write '50%' in the Width field to scale the image to 50% of the width. Expressions such as '30in + 40px' and '4 * 5.4in' work, too. Developer: Fredrik Alströmer
Tools & Plug-ins
Brush System Improvements
Brush system improvements screenshot
The brush dynamics engine has been expanded considerably, making almost all aspects of the brush engine drivable by a multitude of inputs, all of them configurable with their own response curve.
Because of the expansion, dynamics were separated from tool options and converted into a resource in their own right. The Google Summer of Code 2009 Advanced GUI for Brush Dynamics project was the start of its development. Developers: Alexia Death, Michael Natterer, Zhenfeng Zhao
Tool Preset Improvements
You can now save existing state of any tool as a preset and give it a meaningful name. The presets are accessible from a new Tool Presets dockable dialog and additionally can be tagged so that you can easily manage a lot of presets.
This new feature completely replaces the previously existing tool presets system to a new level of accessibility. It also makes it possible to distribute tool presets just like any other resource because each preset is saved as an individual file. Developers: Michael Natterer, Alexia Death
Cage Transform Tool
Cage transform tool screenshot
A completely new Cage transform tool has been added thanks to the excellent work of one of our Google Summer of Code 2010 students. The tool implements an innovative approach to free transformation and makes it possible to easily warp parts of objects using an adjustable user- defined polygonal frame. Developer: Michael Muré
File Plug-Ins
A plug-in for loading JPEG2000 images has been added, as well as plug-ins for X11 Mouse Cursor files and fundamental OpenRaster (.ora) import and export support. Added RGB565 support to the csource plug-in. Developers: Aurimas Juška, Takeshi Matsuyama
A Cairo based PDF exporter was implemented. While being somewhat simplistic the exporter saves text, embedding fonts into the final PDF file, and attempts to convert all flat filled areas to vector objects. Developer: Barak Itkin
Last, but not least, a Web-page plug-in was added to render any web page into an image using Webkit. Developer: Mukund Sivaraman
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