I don't know if among you, there are still people who use Gimp but after more than 6 years of development, the first Release Candidate of GIMP 3.0 has finally been revealed! Seriously, this release marks a real turning point in the history of this free image editor which, since 1995, has been resisting proprietary solutions. Besides, when I was in high school, I used it a lot under Linux then one day I encountered Paint Shop Pro (it was for Windows) and since then my life as a professional graphic designer has never been the same, and unfortunately, I abandoned Gimp (which was also called “The Gimp” at the time).
So, what awaits us in this version that smells new?
Well, the first thing that jumps out at you: the interface has undergone its little internal revolution. More modern, more elegant, we feel that the devs have really racked their brains to concoct something clean for us. The little one Wilber (you know, the GIMP mascot) even gave itself a complete makeover after 16 years of good and loyal service.
The icons have also been brought up to date. HiDPI screens can finally breathe: no more blurring pixels, make way for vector icons that adapt to all resolutions. A certain Denis Rangelov even took on the mammoth task of recreating the Legacy icons in SVG. Result: even the “classic” theme shines brightly on your Retina screens.
But the most interesting thing is hidden under the hood. Color management has been completely redesigned. It's technical but fascinating: the devs have achieved the feat of modernizing the color processing while guaranteeing compatibility with old files. Hey, did you know that one of the very first Google logos was created with GIMP? Well this XCF file from 1998 still opens perfectly in GIMP 3.0 RC1, with an identical rendering!
For tinkerers and plugin developers, rejoice as the public API is finally stable and documented. Custom color structures have been replaced by the more efficient GeglColor, and new functions are being introduced. So if you are a dev, now is the perfect time to start porting your GIMP 2.10 plugins to version 3.0.
The big novelty that will delight photographers and graphic designers is the non-destructive filters. No more anxiety about having to definitively validate an effect! You can now stack filters and modify them as desired. And for those who prefer the old method, don't panic, a “Merge Filters” option allows you to immediately merge the effect after its application.
File formats are not left out. The support of BMP 64 bits makes its debut, and GIMP can now read layers of TIFF files created with Sketchbook. This is the kind of detail that makes the difference when working with different software.
GEGL, the image processing engine, is enriched with new filters created by Sam Lester: Inner Glow, Bevelet GEGL Styles. These little wonders are accessible via the GEGL Operations tool or by using the search shortcut “/”.
The community has also worked hard on translations so if you master a poorly represented language and want to contribute, know that GIMP is always looking for volunteer translators.
Regarding installation, several options are available to you:
- On Linux: flatpaks for x86 and ARM (64-bit)
- On Windows: universal installer (32/64-bit and ARM 64-bit) or MSIX package
- On macOS: DMG packages for Intel and Apple Silicon
- For the bearded: the source code is available for compilation
Be careful, however: this is a Release Candidate, therefore potentially unstable and the developers are counting on you to test and report any bugs. The more feedback from the community, the more stable the final version will be.
Speaking of the future, the team promises shorter development cycles after the release of GIMP 3.0. The goal is to release GIMP 3.2 within a year of the final version of 3.0.
In short, if you are curious to test this RC1 for yourself, do not hesitate to take a look at the official website.
Learn more about GIMP 3.0 RC1
