A release candidate of the upcoming GIMP 3.2 release is now available for download and testing.
GIMP 3.2 will be next major release of the free, open-source raster image editor, arriving a mere 8 months after the huge 3.0 milestone as a result of a new accelerated release schedule.
Though not stable, GIMP development builds provide avid users and developers with the opportunity to test new features and provide feedback on how things are progressive.
Below, I run-through what’s new in this GIMP 3.2 release candidate specifically. The GIMP 3.1.2 & 3.1.4 development builds also added plenty of new features. If you haven’t been tracking development, it’s worth checking out their change sets too.
GIMP 3.2 RC1 Highlights
Adding text to images is a key task, so the GIMP 3.2 RC improves working with the Text Editor tool.
The On-Canvas text editor UI can now be dragged and repositioned on screen; pasting text and removing formatting can be done using Shift + Ctrl + V shortcut; and backend changes made to support text rendering ‘on very large dimensions’.
Switching between tools is also easier. Pressing Shift + X switches between the active tool and the previously selected tool, and vice versa – handy for all kinds of situations. This shortcut, like many that are available in GIMP, is configurable.
GIMP doesn’t support adjustment layers in the same way other image editors do (it has a Layer Effect options). For people switching from Photoshop or Affinity software, that change can be jarring – to GIMP 3.2 meets users’ half-way.
It’s possible to ‘simulate adjustment layers with layer groups’ in GIMP 3.2 by creating an empty layer group, setting it to pass through and then applying filters to it. And these pseudo-adjustment layers support masking too.
Other changes of note:
- New astronomy splash screen
- Link and vector layers bug fixes
- Open multiple images with drag and drop on the image tab bar
- New design for image toggle buttons
- Colour Selector updates automatically when valid Hex colours typed in
- Document History dockable is now multi-selection aware
- Double clicking a vector layer activates the Path tool on it
- Dark mode support in installer (Windows)
- MacOS app menu improvements
Beyond that, GIMP 3.2 RC1 adds support for new image formats have been added, and updates existing formats:
- Exporting of vector layers to SVG
- Importing of PowerVR texture files
- Importing compressed images (including hgt.zip)
Rounding things out is a solid set of security patches to cover various vulnerabilities and snafus. More details on those, and this release in general, in the release announcement.
Download GIMP 3.2 RC1
You can download GIMP 3.2 RC1 from the official website, where AppImage, Flatpak and Snap builds are available for Linux users on 64-bit x86 and ARM systems, and installers for Windows (including ARM) and macOS.
Ubuntu users who don’t have the stable version of the Snap installed, can also install this preview from the Snap Store (the GIMP Snap is now officially maintained by the project itself).
Open a terminal and run:
sudo snap install gimp --channel=preview/stable
Alternatively, open the App Center on Ubuntu, seek out the GIMP Snap listing, and choose the preview channel from the channel selector at the top of the store listing.
If you give it a spin, let me know what you think.