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Gimp 2.8 for OSX Released

37

I've waited for this for YEARS: the Gimp is now finally available as a native OSX app! (Before, it was a clunky X-11 implementation). Even though most of the windows are non-standard and look a little awkward, this is a big step forward for Mac users.

About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

37 Comments

  1. I really, really want to go full open source, but until Gimp gets beyond 8-bit color depth, it's just not an option for professional work.

    • I think that if 20 people who bought PhotoShop had instead invested that money in developing the features they need in Gimp, that program would be just as cool as Blender very soon. The problem with projects like Gimp is that everyone just waits until something gets magically developed the way they want, and meanwhile they're continuing to spend money on the development of proprietary software (which is much less efficient in terms of progress divided by money spent on each program globally). We, the users, are responsible of development of open-source software in the same way as the core developers, because all the code is open.

      • But the devs decided to tackle the project first, so they should be the main engine to motivate the users to help them. They seem to be lacking that main force since 2.4x. And not everything that users make will officially get added (just like blender..). So that could end up being alot of wasted efforts, unless you want 830 different branches of a 100+ MB program where each has only 1 or 2 extra features.

        The least they could do is listen to the communities* most requested features (some of which have been added, so thanks) such as Basic Shape Drawing which has been asked (begged) for since atleast 2004 (it could all be done in 1 Poly Draw tool. specify the # of sides, colors, outlines, other info. then draw!).
        Or actual ALPHA colors in the color pickers. NOT the individual tools options. Heck, even Blender has Alpha in the color pickers. That way you can use alpha in all the plugins & filters & color tools.

        * (does GIMP even have a main forum? not a 1970's mailing list system,
        but an actual forum. GuG, last I was there, was full of trolls and was a
        HORRIBLE community).

        Apart from all that, I don't know of a free drawing tool that has as much handy features built-in. I've tried dozens of programs as an alternate. Nothing quite as good, IMO. Maybe in a couple years another program will surpass the snail-paced GIMP.

  2. I started the app, it crashed. I restarted the app load an image it crashed.

    It seems still to be extremely buggy at least on OS X ML.

  3. I used 2.8 on windows for 1,5 week, then i went back to 2.6
    The only interrest in 2.8 is the mesh deform tool wich is pretty useless because buggy. everything else is drawbacks. slower display, no portrait/landscape choice, unconvenient progressbar values, new save/export system with no choice possile in setup. Gimp team makes choices for users and cannot imagine user don't like it. THEY are the good and users reclaiming are the bad.
    At last but not least, i know 5 personnal and pros very frequent users of gimp. They all installed back the 2.6.
    too bad gimp takes this way away from users.

  4. It crashes every time I try to load it for me, then again I am just on lion. If it's meant to be used only on ML then when do we expect it to work for lion users?

    • On Snow Leppard it doesn't even open properly. All you get is the pop down menu, where you can hide or quit the app. That's it.

    • i love it, no matter which progress Gimp's team did, you have to . Between, you are on Blender 3D software creating image in RGB, show me an image/illustration you did and you have printed, pls.

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