GIMP 3.0 RC1: New version enters the home straight
Long awaited, the first release candidate is now available: GIMP 3.0 RC1 has been published. This brings some improvements.
(Image: c't / lmd)
The new GIMP version 3.0 is approaching – and the project has now released the first release candidate. This could become the final version, but the developers are hoping for feedback and bug reports from the testers so that the 3.0 release is as error-free as possible.
(Image:Â c't / lmd)
In a news article, the GIMP project explains the new features since version 2.10. These include visual revisions: The icon, called the "Wilber logo", dates back to 2008 and has now been modernized somewhat. This also applies to the icons in the program – GTK3 allows the vector graphics to be scaled more cleanly. Previously, raster graphics were mostly used. The new SVG graphics therefore look much better on high-resolution displays.
Significant improvements under the hood
The new welcome dialog is designed to display images created by artists using GIMP, but also offers quick access to display settings such as switching to dark mode, scaling settings and more. A lot has also happened on the technical side. The support of color spaces has been significantly improved. The completion of the public API is interesting for programmers. The replacement of previous GimpRGB structures with GeglColor structures that support color management stands out.
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After the GTK3 toolkit removed support for this, the developers themselves have now programmed an implementation that allows users to scroll through the tabs of dockable dialogs using the mouse wheel. The plug-ins have essentially been adapted to the new APIs, but have also received bug fixes for some very old bugs as well as a few minor enhancements. GIMP can now also handle BMPs with 64 bits per pixel, TIFFs can now also be imported in Autodesk sketchbook format.
(Image:Â c't / lmd)
GEGL version 0.4.50 also offers new effects, such as Inner Glow, Bevel and GEGL Styles. There are also improvements and bug fixes for the extended color space support. babl has received new conversion processes for color spaces, which should speed up the performance of some filters. The news article goes into further minor changes and also provides some statistics for those interested. A precise timetable is not yet available.
However, the roadmap lists a few points that should be ticked off before the final 3.0 release of GIMP: The API redesign for scripts and plug-ins is still listed as "in progress", as is Wayland support, the extended color space support called "Space Invasion" and the documentation.
(dmk)
