When the Gimp development team started to work on Gimp 3.0 in 2020, it probably did not think that it would take five years to release the new version.
Gimp 3.0 is a major update that has been in the making for seven years, since the release of Gimp 2.10. The open source image editor is a popular alternative to commercial applications like Adobe Photoshop.
Highlights of the update are support for non-destructive effects, interface improvements, and the new GTK3 library, which improves scaling and tablet support. There is also an optional welcome dialog on start and improved color space management.
The release notes are available already, but download servers have not been updated yet. It may take a while before downloads become available officially.
Updated GTK3 user interface
The update to GTK3 brings several improvements along with it. Apart from better user interface scaling on high-resolution displays, it is also improving tablet input support.
Linux users may notice that GIMP 3.0 runs natively on Wayland now. An option to switch to X11 is still available, however.
Non-destructive layer effects
One of the big changes is support for non-destructive layer effects. Previously, adding a filter would have it merged automatically to the layer. This prevented you from making edits, as you had to use the undo function to do so.
Filters stay active in GIMP 3.0, which means that you can edit most filters without having to revert your work each time.
GIMP users who prefer the classic way can use the merge filters option when applying a filter to bring back the old functionality.
The team notes that the new filter effects can be saved “to XCF and reloaded for further editing” next to that.
Color space management
GIMP 3.0 offers extensive support for RGB color spaces beyond sRGB thanks to improved babl and GEGL libraries integrations.
The team notes:
For example, if you load an image with an AdobeRGB color profile, that information will be retained in all aspects of GIMP – allowing you to make whatever edits you need without losing color space information. This update also lays the groundwork for future CMYK and LAB image color modes.
Closing Words
GIMP 3.0 is a big update that improve things for users of the open source image editor in several meaningful ways. You can check out the full release notes, linked above, for additional release information.
Pretty amazing–a free and open source image editor that competes and maintains a near equal status with Adobe.