Bringing Gimp to Figma level

I would like to contribute to the new Gimp UI layer. What is the best way to share some of the new designs with the community?

In my redesign I was aiming at complete relaunch of the tool with new UI, UX, and brand, but I’m happy to follow more iterative approach.

I shared the vision what Gimp could become in this case study:

Please let me know your thoughts and what’s the best way to add value to the new release?

Shared in this thread as well:

4 Likes

For me the name GIMP is not an issue, but I would encourage any improvement to the software which has appeared to become stagnant in its development.

@Tom_Parandyk Hi! We’ve recently set up a “GIMP UX” repository. We’re in the process of moving UX/UI issues from the code repo so there can be dedicated discussion. If you’re interested in contributing to GIMP’s design, that’d be a great place to start. The URL is Issues · Teams / GIMP / Design / GIMP UX · GitLab

I’ll note that we’re pushing hard to finish 3.0, so I wouldn’t expect any immediate changes - but we’re trying to build up a design team to make improvements after the 3.0 release.

3 Likes

interesting statement for a project that is close to a really major release. you people know how to motivate developers!

Kind of reminds me of the (US?) Continental Can Company logo, but given the letters maybe that’s unavoidable.

I stand corrected. I am told a major release is imminent. Good work to the developers. But in fairness to me it has been a long time that GIMP 3.0 has been talked about.

Rebranding

The problem with changing the name is that it’s not just the Gimp application, it’s the whole Gimp “ecosystem”: the app, but also the tutorials, the scripts, the plugins the various forums, the subreddit, Discord, StackOverflow tags, and all the answers in your favorite search engine or AI chatbot…(*) So either:

  • you go all out on the name change but it will take at least three years before the whole internet turns around, during which old Gimp users will look like this:

ConfusedTravolta

  • you just do a surface change, and well, for most things we will continue to talk about Gimp.

Of course you can suggest an program icon that’s not just the mascot. But then there are scores of very professional software around whose icon is the mascot: Linux, Gnu, OpenSuse, Docker, Python, Tomcat…

UX simplification

  • The “Open files” concept already exists, it is the “Images” dialog. and it also deals with images that aren’t files yet, and with images that exist in Gimp but aren’t displayed (temp images used in scripts).
  • How can I tell what are the current active colors/brush/pattern
  • How can I tell which of five “untitled” images is in the third tab, when I often have several such?
  • Where do I find all the info that is shown in the existing status bar (for instance, what tells you if you are editing the layer or its mask…)
  • How do I use Gimp with several screens
  • The current dialog tabs can show an icon, text, or both. When the icon is included, it is usually the current status (active palette, gradients, etc…), so you get a quick picture of your settings by just looking at the tab bar. This is also quite useful when helping other people (a screenshot tells a lot…).

The current UI is highly customizable, both in style (Themes and icon themes), and organization (location, features…). For the former, you can design a theme, make it available to the public, and see how popular it gets. For the latter, you can provide a sessionrc file with your own vision of the setup.

AI

T’is but a Small Matter Of Programming :slight_smile: Gimp can be extended with plugins, so be our guest…

(*) I personally own three sites with Gimp in the URL, and I daily check 8 other sites with Gimp in the URL.

4 Likes

Thank you @cmyk.student I will take a look and contribute where I can.
If there are tasks that you know of where UX/UI/Product design skills are needed please let me know. I will prioritize and contribute.

Agree. No rebrand is easy and there is more to be done to bring the community to love the idea.

Thank you for guiding me to the specific resources in theming customization @Ofnuts I will experiment and post updates

To answer your questions without getting into too many details, the layout I’ve shared was just a quick experiment. Your questions are valid and require proper systematic approach. Thank you for your answer