A Few Things About Gimp

This is the configuration file on my system (from the screenshot I provided) that is responsible for the two "wings". It should be called /home/user/.config/GIMP/2.10/sessionrc. ("user" should be the name of the account you use to log into Linux OS.)

Code: 
# GIMP sessionrc
#
# This file takes session-specific info (that is info, you want to keep
# between two GIMP sessions).  You are not supposed to edit it manually, but
# of course you can do.  The sessionrc will be entirely rewritten every time
# you quit GIMP.  If this file isn't found, defaults are used.

(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-empty-image-window")
    (position 200 100)
    (size 640 480))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-single-image-window")
    (position 0 0)
    (size 1366 699)
    (open-on-exit)
    (aux-info
        (left-docks-width "188")
        (right-docks-width "205")
        (maximized "yes"))
    (gimp-toolbox
        (side left)
        (book
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-tool-options"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-device-status"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-image-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))))
    (gimp-dock
        (side right)
        (book
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-brush-grid"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-pattern-grid"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-font-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-document-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-gradient-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true"))))
        (book
            (position 378)
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-layer-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-channel-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-vectors-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true"))))))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-image-new-dialog")
    (position 477 97))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-open-dialog")
    (position 178 0)
    (size 981 699))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-operation-tool-dialog")
    (position 756 218))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-export-dialog")
    (position 213 0)
    (size 999 699))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-save-dialog")
    (position 188 0)
    (size 1008 686))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-toolbox-color-dialog")
    (position 0 59))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-preferences-dialog")
    (position 226 76)
    (size 822 455))

(hide-docks no)
(single-window-mode yes)
(show-tabs yes)
(tabs-position 0)
(last-tip-shown 0)

# end of sessionrc

Actually what's relevant for those docks is the first two "session infos". This is a PITA for somebody not well-rounded with Scheme.

As I've said before, this particular file should be backed up, if you have a dock configuration that you're satisfied with. Then instead of having to nuke it after losing control of the mini-windows and whatever, and after quitting GIMP in disgust, it could be safely restored and restart the application.
 


wizardfromoz said:
Initially, it depends on the distro you are installing it on, and what the devs have tweaked.

Wiz
Click to expand...
Yup, that's affirmative.

With my LMDE6 install the docks are already in place each time Gimp is launched.
When Gimp is launched in Debian 12 the docks were not present and had to be reset.
And Slackware 15 Stable those docks are not in place either. I'll rectify that at next boot.
 
wendy-lebaron said:
This is the configuration file on my system (from the screenshot I provided) that is responsible for the two "wings". It should be called /home/user/.config/GIMP/2.10/sessionrc. ("user" should be the name of the account you use to log into Linux OS.)

Code: 
# GIMP sessionrc
#
# This file takes session-specific info (that is info, you want to keep
# between two GIMP sessions).  You are not supposed to edit it manually, but
# of course you can do.  The sessionrc will be entirely rewritten every time
# you quit GIMP.  If this file isn't found, defaults are used.

(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-empty-image-window")
    (position 200 100)
    (size 640 480))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-single-image-window")
    (position 0 0)
    (size 1366 699)
    (open-on-exit)
    (aux-info
        (left-docks-width "188")
        (right-docks-width "205")
        (maximized "yes"))
    (gimp-toolbox
        (side left)
        (book
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-tool-options"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-device-status"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-image-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))))
    (gimp-dock
        (side right)
        (book
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-brush-grid"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-pattern-grid"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-font-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-document-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-gradient-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true"))))
        (book
            (position 378)
            (current-page 0)
            (dockable "gimp-layer-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-channel-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true")))
            (dockable "gimp-vectors-list"
                (tab-style automatic)
                (preview-size 32)
                (aux-info
                    (show-button-bar "true"))))))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-image-new-dialog")
    (position 477 97))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-open-dialog")
    (position 178 0)
    (size 981 699))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-operation-tool-dialog")
    (position 756 218))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-export-dialog")
    (position 213 0)
    (size 999 699))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-file-save-dialog")
    (position 188 0)
    (size 1008 686))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-toolbox-color-dialog")
    (position 0 59))
(session-info "toplevel"
    (factory-entry "gimp-preferences-dialog")
    (position 226 76)
    (size 822 455))

(hide-docks no)
(single-window-mode yes)
(show-tabs yes)
(tabs-position 0)
(last-tip-shown 0)

# end of sessionrc

Actually what's relevant for those docks is the first two "session infos". This is a PITA for somebody not well-rounded with Scheme.

As I've said before, this particular file should be backed up, if you have a dock configuration that you're satisfied with. Then instead of having to nuke it after losing control of the mini-windows and whatever, and after quitting GIMP in disgust, it could be safely restored and restart the application.
Click to expand...
Found the .config/GIMP/2.10/sessionrc on my system.
How do I back that sessionrc up?
 
It's in ~/.config/ , so any method you currently use to backup or snapshot your Home will cover it.

Wiz
 
Last edited:
Always welcome, Alex. Just remember if you change your settings to something you really want to keep, cover that with your backup/snapshot solution. :)
 
I've been "playing" with Gimp on and off for a couple of weeks now. I try and follow this or that tutorial and get hopelessly lost and frustrated in very short order.
When I open the program, the screen looks nothing like any of the examples. The box in the upper left with the tool symbols is not in color, there are only a couple of rows of tools. The box on the right side of the screen is pretty much empty. One tutorial had me open a new file, make a box and change background / fore ground color. But when I click the arrow to swap the colors, nothing happens.
I didn't think I was that slow on the uptake, but this is giving me fits.
 
Danbor said:
I've been "playing" with Gimp on and off for a couple of weeks now. I try and follow this or that tutorial and get hopelessly lost and frustrated in very short order.
When I open the program, the screen looks nothing like any of the examples. The box in the upper left with the tool symbols is not in color, there are only a couple of rows of tools. The box on the right side of the screen is pretty much empty. One tutorial had me open a new file, make a box and change background / fore ground color. But when I click the arrow to swap the colors, nothing happens.
I didn't think I was that slow on the uptake, but this is giving me fits.
Click to expand...
The manual is most helpful. If that's difficult at this point for you just search what you don't understand.


Also, the tutorials are good and teach you good stuff.
www.gimp.org

GIMP - Tutorials

The tutorials page.
www.gimp.org www.gimp.org

I haven't joined any the Gimp Forums yet however; you can learn a lot from Forums.

https://discourse.gnome.org/tag/gimp

https://www.gimp.org/discuss.html

Nice website
https://discuss.pixls.us/c/software/gimp/24
 
In this screenshot I've drawn a red arrow to the square that's full of the orange color. That's the foreground.
Where the blue cursor is in the screenshot (the background) to change that click on it.
To change the paint brush color, text or anything else click on the color box under the "Hinting" box.

Do one thing at a time Danbor and you'll be a lot less frustrated.:)
Horse in Gimp.png_001.png
 
@Danbor :-

The thing with the GIMP is that it, AND Photoshop, are BOTH what are known as "raster graphics editors"; they essentially both cover the same range of functions/functionality. The reason people used to using one are always taking potshots at, and complaining about the other comes down to one thing....

Humans are most definitely creatures of habit. We get "set" in our ways over time, and regular routine is mostly preferred. Although these two apps will mostly do the same things, the way they go about them are sufficiently different that it's enough to disrupt the "routine" - or 'work-flow' - of anyone who's heavily invested in one or the other.......you need to learn, & absorb, the "new" way of doing the same thing that you can probably do in your usual one with your eyes closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

I bought the CS2 Photoshop suite, back in the day. I've also been using the GIMP for ages, initially in the notoriously "buggy" Windows port, then later in its native Linux environment. Runs way better under the latter of course, but I'm so used to both of them that I'm able to switch from one to the other (if I want, or need to), mid-way through any project, and carry on without missing a beat.......CS2 was the very last suite from Adobe that seems to function more or less correctly under WINE, so I still use it, despite being Windows-free for almost a decade.


Mike. :)
 
Oh, I'll get there. Like a lot of people, I want to use the thing for what I want to do with it without learning the whole thing. But it looks like I'll just have to start at page one and go through the whole manual and every tutorial before I try to use it for what I want to do.
I don't have a single creative bone in my body and have no interest in "creating" anything. The only reason I installed the thing is that I have a lot of old photographs that I scanned and I want to clean and sharpen them. That's it.
So far, I've learned that it's not that easy. I need to learn the jargon for this type of program. :D For instance, when MY brain sees the word "dock", it means somewhere to tie up a boat, still not exactly sure how that comes into play here, but I'll get there. I'm used to following a tutorial where I can look at the picture to see where the button it wants me to click is located. Can't do that with the Gimp tutorials, the screen layout in the picture doesn't look like the one in the tutorial.
The tip Alexzee posted points out what I mean. The area where he has the top arrow I have. The area where he has the bottom arrow doesn't match what's on my screen. Mine shows a header titled "Move" with a couple of icons and some radio buttons. To the right of the picture in the example, there is an area in white, with a bunch of weird shapes and some more little boxes under that. I have none of that, just the screen length box with a few icons at the top.
Don't take it wrong, I'm not complaining, just frustrated. I'll have to start at the top and work down. The tips and tutorials for actually doing what I want to do all assume knowledge I don't have yet so I need to learn how to do things I'll never do before I learn the things I do want to do. Such is life! :D
 
Last edited:
MikeWalsh said:
Humans are most definitely creatures of habit.
Click to expand...

We're also very much an "us vs. them" creature. This is especially evident in the subjects that are taboo on this site. Acceptance and inclusivity are very modern concepts and not everyone is on board. Some of us have issues overriding our lizard brains and "us vs. them" has been a useful survival trait in the past.

(The above was worded carefully to avoid violating any of the rules. I am not immune to the rules.)

Our lizard brain (basal ganglia) instincts can be pretty compelling.
 
Gimp does have a learning curve. As does Linux.

I think the key here is getting knowledge and that means putting in some time and learn new things. Once the new knowledge is obtained we can not only apply it but use wisdom along with it and Bob's your uncle.

----Learning new things and putting fourth those new practices over-rides those deeply ingrained compelling instincts.----.
 
Spent the entire day reading the user manual. Not all the way through it yet. Though a good many terms are beyond my ken, and much of it won't be retained in my sieve of a brain, I'm at least finding my way around the interface.
 
Danbor said:
Spent the entire day reading the user manual. Not all the way through it yet. Though a good many terms are beyond my ken, and much of it won't be retained in my sieve of a brain, I'm at least finding my way around the interface.
Click to expand...
It's like anything, mate. The more you use something, the more "automatic" things become. I have to assume this is the precise reason many folk prefer to stick with one app OR t'other.......because their "work-flow" HAS become 'automatic'.

Fortunately, I've never had to use computers for work. I'm three-parts retired now, and all the years I was in gainful employment I never had any need for the things. Everything I know about them is totally self-taught, out of sheerest interest.....it's never been anything other than a 'hobby' for me, although I became absolutely fascinated by the things at the start of the "home computer revolution" in the very early 80s.

And that fascination has remained. The graphic design side of things stems from my 'major', if you like, interest during 'A'-level toward the end of secondary education. I may not have done so well in English Lit., but my Art 'A'-level was passed with flying colours..... :p


Mike. ;)
 
Same here, learning to do anything at all with Gimp is a hobby. I grew up on a farm, before computers were a thing. Then 14 years in uniform. I was involved with programming a bit after that, programming CNC machines. The machines read the code, but the code was generated by the human brain and typed into the machine, no CAD/CAM software. Spent the rest of my working like as an over the road trucker, ( I don't work and play well with civilians ). In that time span, I experimented with Commodore 64, IBM XT, then AT running DOS. I remember spending big bucks on a 300 baud modem to access local bulletin boards. The last time I was stationed in Germany I bought an Amiga 500 from a local. Sharp learning curve there as the OS and keyboard was in German. ;) Never had a "desk job" with or without a computer.
Now that I'm retired, I try to keep my brain elastic by learning new things.
 
Danbor said:
Same here, learning to do anything at all with Gimp is a hobby. I grew up on a farm, before computers were a thing. Then 14 years in uniform. I was involved with programming a bit after that, programming CNC machines. The machines read the code, but the code was generated by the human brain and typed into the machine, no CAD/CAM software. Spent the rest of my working like as an over the road trucker, ( I don't work and play well with civilians ). In that time span, I experimented with Commodore 64, IBM XT, then AT running DOS. I remember spending big bucks on a 300 baud modem to access local bulletin boards. The last time I was stationed in Germany I bought an Amiga 500 from a local. Sharp learning curve there as the OS and keyboard was in German. ;) Never had a "desk job" with or without a computer.
Now that I'm retired, I try to keep my brain elastic by learning new things.
Click to expand...
I tried learning the basic's of German and it was challenging to say the least.
Desk job's with a pc in front of you all day is incredibly recursive and I hated it.

My cousin was a road trucker too. Didn't see him much once he started full time.

Have fun with Gimp and enjoy the holiday.
 
Well I found that in the tutorials they assumed I understood the jargon they were stating and this was not the case. I after trial and many an error figured out what I wanted to accomplish and that was making animated avatars. I wish someone would make a tutorial that goes slowly and clearly explains what each function is accomplishing. I have wine installed on my machine and use other apps to accomplish what I want rather than trying to figure out how to use gimp to accomplish the same thing. Now don't take me wrong gimp for a free program can obviously do quiet a bit I just wish it was less frustrating to figure out how to do so.
Always,
Wildman
 
The tutorials and the users manual both often times use terms and acronyms that are meaningless to this layman, true. And I have to get away from it and take a break for a while when my eyes start glazing over, but I'm chugging along. :D
I'm getting ready to start reading chapter 10 of the users manual. Most of the first nine chapters are useless to me, I'll never create a brush or create layers and paths or channels. Not going to write text or make logos or icons but reading about them all gave a better overview of the program.
Chapter 10 starts to get into my reason for installing Gimp, Sharpening and cleaning up photographs.
Of course this chapter is dealing with digital camera photos, but I'm hopeful that a later chapter gets into what I have, scanned images of old film photos. Time will tell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 885 (members: 4, guests: 881)

Latest posts

Top