After a year of development, GIMP 3.2.0, the graphics editor, has been released. Builds have been released for Linux (AppImage, Flatpak is coming), Windows, and macOS.
Among the most significant improvements in GIMP 3.2:
- Added support for Link layers, which allow you to attach external image files as separate layers. In GIMP, non-destructive editing mode is applied to Link layers, i.e. manipulations with Link layers do not affect the state of the linked source images.
For example, if you add an SVG file as a link layer, then after editing this file in the vector graphics editor Inkscape, the layer content in GIMP will be automatically synchronized with the state of the edited file. At the same time, if you scale or rotate the content of the link layer in GIMP, these changes will not affect the quality of the original image.
In the future, they plan to add the ability to link not only entire images, but also individual layers, i.e., as link layers, it will be possible to link selected layers from a separate XCF file.
- Support for vector layers has been added, allowing you to create shapes with specified fill and stroke properties. Data is stored in vector format, allowing you to change shape paths at any time, select a different fill or stroke color, and apply transformation tools to the layer non-destructively. To create a vector layer, create a shape using the Path tool and click the Generate Vector Layer button for the shape. You can then, for example, rotate or scale the vector layer without losing the quality of the original shape.
- Added support for the new brush format used in the digital painting program MyPaint 2.0. MyPaint's brush engine now takes into account the scale and rotation of the canvas when painting, which allows it to more accurately simulate real brush strokes. GIMP has been updated with over 20 new brushes from the Dieterle set included in MyPaint Brushes 2, including brushes for drawing arrows and posterization.
- Options have been implemented for rendering brush, font, and palette thumbnails using the background and foreground colors of the active design theme. For example, when selecting the dark design mode, brushes can now be displayed in a light color on a dark background, rather than just on a white background.
- The MyPaint brush tool now has a Gain slider that lets you control how pressure is applied to your brushes, such as simulating a harder or softer brush pressure when painting with a mouse.
- Added the ability to apply filters non-destructively to channels, similar to how it is already implemented for layers. The Channels panel now has an Fx column and the ability to edit, regroup, delete and merge filters. Refactoring of the implementation of non-destructive image editing has been carried out, which has simplified further expansion of functionality and code maintenance, as well as getting rid of some errors.
- The CMYK Color Selector interface has an Ink Coverage (the amount of ink applied to paper in one place) calculation. When preparing an image for printing, this parameter allows you to estimate whether the threshold values in printing systems are exceeded (for example, too much Ink Coverage may cause smearing or may not be suitable for the type of paper used).
- A new blending mode for painting, Overwrite, is introduced, allowing you to directly replace pixels in the painting area without mixing the brush's transparency values with existing pixels. The mode is primarily intended for use with the Pencil tool and can be used for pixel art when you want to achieve uniform opacity that is not affected by the transparency levels of the source area.
- The text tool now has an option to control the direction of the outline. For example, the outline around letters can be directed inward, outward, or both.
- The ability to move the text editor pop-up window above the canvas without changing the position of the editable area itself has been implemented. Code refactoring has resolved issues with text rendering at very high resolutions. A keyboard shortcut for pasting unformatted text from the clipboard has been added (assigned to Shift + Ctrl + V by default), similar to the previously added keyboard shortcuts for bold, italic, and underline formatting.
- An additional design theme "System Colors" has been added, when selected, the colors in the interface are automatically adjusted to the settings of active system themes in Linux and Windows, and are updated when the system theme is changed.
- Added GEGL Filter Browser, an interface for navigating filters based on the GEGL (Generic Graphics Library) library. Using GEGL Filter Browser, you can view a list of available GEGL operations (filters) and information on how to use them.
- The tool for creating and editing text layers now supports the keyboard shortcuts "Ctrl + B", "Ctrl + I" and "Ctrl + U" for applying bold, italic and underline. The text outline color is now changed in real time immediately after changing the color in the color selection window, without waiting for confirmation of the selection.
- The new interface of the Animation Playback plugin is presented, designed in the style of video players such as VLC. Instead of a progress indicator, a slider is used, allowing you to move to the desired frame.
- System settings for disabling animated effects have been taken into account.
- In the fields for entering values with size in the grid and monitor resolution settings dialogs, it is allowed to use mathematical expressions, for example, "3 * 92cm".
- Changes have been made to simplify future porting to GTK4. For example, GtkTreeView has been moved away from GtkListBox.
- Added the ability to quickly return to the previous tool using a keyboard shortcut (by default, assigned to Shift + X). Although GIMP technically treats filters (such as Brightness-Contrast) as tools (such as Rotate and Brush), for the sake of intuitiveness, this keyboard shortcut will only switch between states displayed in the interface as tools.
- It is now possible to open multiple images by dragging and dropping files onto the image tab bar.
- Added the ability to drag and drop color swatches from the applied color history. Previously, this was not possible due to the focus shifting to the buttons in the corresponding window.
- For 64-bit GIMP builds, the maximum size of temporary brushes and templates has been increased from 1024 pixels to 8192 pixels. For 32-bit builds, the limit remains unchanged.
- Added the ability to load curves and levels presets used in Photoshop filters and use them in GIMP filters.
- Opening of any image formats packed into archives compressed by algorithms supported by GIMP is now possible (previously, such support was available for compressed files in XCF format).
- Added support for loading RAW images from cameras using the ART application (AnotherRawTherapee, a fork of RawTherapee).
- Added support for exporting palettes in kpl format for use in the Krita graphics editor.
- The ability to import animated images in APNG format has been implemented.
- Added support for loading multilayer images in OpenEXR format.
- Added support for export in JPEG 2000 format (previously only import was supported).
- Added support for importing and exporting images and textures in the TIM format used in games for the Sony Playstation 1 console.
- Added support for importing and exporting OpenRaster images that use extensions to remember selected and locked layers.
- Added support for the OTA Bitmap (Over The Air Bitmap) format, which was used to encode black and white images on older Nokia phones.
- Added support for importing images in the following formats: AVCI (Advanced Video Coding), JIF (Jeff's Image Format, an extended version of GIF), HRZ, PAA, PVR (PowerVR), SFW93A, SFW94A and HEJ2 (JPEG 2000 in a HEIF container), as well as importing pat files with Photoshop templates.
- Added a new SVG export plugin that allows you to include raster layers in PNG or JPEG format.
- Added the ability to export vector images in PDF format.
- Support for the TIFF format has been expanded, for which the ability to load data on layer visibility, blending modes, and color tags has been implemented.
- Added support for exporting images in the PSB format, used in Photoshop and differing from the PSD format in that it can handle very large images with a resolution exceeding 30000 pixels. When importing PSD/PSB, recognition and conversion of the application of non-destructive filters Drop Shadow and Inner Shadow are provided.
Source: opennet.ru
