for Windows GNU Image Manipulation Program Skip to page contents [ News | Screenshots | Features | Downloads | Documentation | Get Involved ][ Plug-in Registry | GIMP Development ] [ Donations ] [ GIMP for Microsoft Windows This page is obsolete, please see the downloads page. Mailing Lists If you want to discuss features, tips, tricks or contribute to the development of GIMP, then we have several useful mailing lists and IRC channels for you. GIMP User The original (mostly unix based) user list. GIMP Developer The GIMP developer list. GEGL Developer The GEGL developer list. GIMP Web The GIMP web list. GIMP Docs The GIMP documentation list. Mailing lists are an important communication channel between contributors and users of GIMP. Be considerate and respectful. The code may change in the future, followed by a notification to subscribers. Please use these sources to check for information on the project, roadmap, feature requests, bug reports etc Bug tracker. We also suggest checking archives of the mailing lists for existing discussions.
Raster Images versus Vector Images These two formats are quite different from one another, yet they contrast and complement one another when used appropriately for the desired final output method. Raster images are created through the process of scanning source artwork or "painting" with a photo editing or paint program such as Corel PhotoPAINT or Adobe PhotoShop. Vector images are created through the process of drawing with vector illustration programs such as CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator. The word "vector" is a synonym for line. Raster Images A raster image is a collection of dots called pixels. Resolution The resolution of a raster image or scanned image is expressed in terms of the dots per inch or dpi. Take a 300 dpi bitmap and increase the size in a graphics program, and presto - you have created a bad case of the "jaggies". Color With any scanned color image, a large number of colors will be required to render a raster image reproduction of the original source artwork accurately. -----> Continued below
for Unix GNU Image Manipulation Program Skip to page contents [ News | Screenshots | Features | Downloads | Documentation | Get Involved ][ Plug-in Registry | GIMP Development ] [ Donations ] [ GIMP for Unix This page is obsolete, please see the downloads page. IRC Channels Several IRC channels and mailing lists are available for discussing GIMP-related topics. IRC offers real-time communication, but be aware that there may be long periods of silence in the channels when other users are busy or away from their keyboards. When you join the GIMP IRC channels, please do not ask if somebody can help you. If you have a question, ask directly and then wait patiently to see if someone answers. Other recommendations can be found at the bottom of this page. The official GIMP IRC channels are on GIMPNet (irc.gimp.org) and have existed for more than 10 years. The main support channel for GIMP users. This is the main GIMP channel, created in early 1997. A channel devoted to this web site and related GIMP sites. Being an abbreviation of "gimp social", this channel is for the GIMP people, and anything but GIMP is ontopic here.
Development How You Can Help GIMP is Free Software and a part of the GNU Project. In the free software world, there is generally no distinction between users and developers. As in a friendly neighbourhood, everybody pitches in to help their neighbors. Please consider the time you give in assistance to others as payment. Ways in which you can help: program new features, report bugs (errors in the program), debug existing features, add documentation, translate GIMP to your own language, translate the documentation, write tutorials, participate in the UI brainstorm, improve this web site, make artwork for GIMP used in or with GIMP, let people know you used GIMP for your artwork, give away copies of GIMP, help others to learn to use GIMP, etc. As you can see, anyone can help. Development Status The team is currently busy working on v2.10. Porting internals of GIMP to GEGL is mostly done, but more plugins have to be ported to GEGL, and GEGL needs to be made faster. Bug Reports Web Development Hacking
GIMP Script-Fu changes in GIMP 2.4 (migration guide) - Script-Fu Migration Guide Since version 1.0 of GIMP, it has included a powerful scripting language which permits extending the program's capabilities and simplifying repetitive tasks. This scripting language, called "Script-fu", was based upon the Scheme programming language and implemented the SIOD interpreter written by George J. Carrette while he was a professor at Boston University in the late 80s. This Script-fu interpreter based upon Carrette's SIOD has served GIMP extremely well over the last decade -- thousands of scripts have been written and shared by GIMP users -- but it is starting to show its age and therefore the GIMP development team has decided to replace it with a more modern Scheme interpreter called TinyScheme. Though this switch has required an extensive effort on the part of GIMP developers (particularly Kevin Cozens) and some significant changes to the internals of the GIMP code, there should be very little visible change to GIMP users. Setting an undeclared variable Constructing a pair
Documentation GNU Image Manipulation Program Skip to page contents [ News | Screenshots | Features | Downloads | Documentation | Get Involved ][ Plug-in Registry | GIMP Development ] [ Donations ] [ Documentation GIMP User Manual GIMP comes with a built-in help system. The user manual for the GIMP 2.8 release is available in several languages: Tutorials Tutorials on gimp.org Books Books about GIMP GIMP User FAQ Frequently Asked Questions Configuration GIMP Manual Pages GIMP Documentation for Developers and Script Authors GIMP Script-Fu documentation - Script-Fu and plug-ins for The GIMP Simon Budig One of the big advantages of The GIMP is the fact that it can be easily extended with new functionality. However, it is not easy to find documentation about this. I will cover the default scripting extension Script-Fu and some details for programming plug-ins in C. The PDB (Procedural DataBase) is the most important interface to access the image manipulation functions of The GIMP. Each plug-in enters its functionality into the PDB, which enables it to be used by other plug-ins or scripts. Writing a binding for a programming language – for example Scheme or Perl – just requires mapping the PDB onto the syntax of the target language and providing access to the various parameter types. A typical PDB entry contains this information (this is a screenshot of ): You can see that a function can have different types of input and output parameters.