Hello @Reptorian
GIMP can be used for art.
Yeah. I totally agree.
Jehan is the current lead developer of GIMP; together with Aryeom (a painter by trade) they are the mainteners of the ZeMarmot project, which is a 2D animation free movie.
(EDITED)
Good one ⌠âOKâ, the classic âeverybody knowsâ acronym, unlike UX, NDE, etc.
Good point about English-based too.
The entire problem you are describing here is fixed in upcoming v3.0. Vignette gets applied as a layer effect you can tweak at any time later. No need to create extra layers.
By the way, the âfeatures nobody usesâ in that particular submenu include âDrop Shadowâ. So I donât think your summary is anywhere near correct.
Besides, you can search for a filter you need. Just press / and start typing. Many larger apps have a search function now, that list includes Photoshop.
UX is an industry term, didnât think people would have issue with it but I see your point about how it can cause a lack of focus on the topics at hand.
But yeah Iâm recommending they get rid of all of the stuff you regularly use. Or at the very least put counters on what tools are being used and figure out if people are actually using it. The app to me doesnât have enough focus on the core use cases âŚ
I may not have been clear earlier since I was just starting the conversation and wasnât explicitly outlining what should be removed. That said, drop shadow is essential, but something like the Distorts submenu feels unnecessaryâmany other apps donât bother with that kind of feature. On the other hand, those same apps offer a wide range of color-altering filters, which GIMP is lacking. Thatâs the kind of functionality that should be prioritized instead. At the very least add counters to track usage and figure out what people are trying to use the most. But to me one should just look at all the image editing apps and get an idea of what should be considered the bread and butter of the app. 2 cents.
Maybe that is the issue? Itâs trying to be everything. ?
GIMP should be the top image editing app, making it effortless to brighten, enhance, sharpen, add shadows, vignettes, and color filters (which are currently missing). It should enable striking black-and-white effects, selective colorization, smart cropping, and intelligent upscaling with minimal loss. The UI should focus on core image manipulations without unnecessary complexity. Unfortunately, the developers seem disconnected from the most commonly used features and broader industry trends.
The eraser tool is a prime example of needless frustration. A user shouldnât need to understand âalpha channelsâ just to erase something. Despite troubleshooting, it still didnât workâan infuriating experience that highlights poor UX design. Apple and Google succeed because they prioritize intuitive usability, not needless complexity.
Iâve loved GIMP for years, but I wouldnât recommend it today. I joined this group not to be a jerk, but because I care. However, many responses suggest that veteran users accept GIMPâs learning curve as a badge of pride rather than a flaw. The reality is, most users just want to edit images without hurdles. There are mobile apps that achieve incredible results with minimal effort, making GIMP feel outdated.
I know venting wonât win hearts and minds, but I hope you can see that my criticism comes from a place of passionâand that GIMP has an opportunity to evolve into something truly exceptional.
Lens Distortion and Polar Coordinates are actually useful. You will find them in every other major image editor.
Case in point: https://helpx.adobe.com/si/photoshop/how-to/use-polar-coordinates-filter.html
Your tactic wonât work. You donât get volunteers to do stuff for you by being angry at them whatever your excuse is. If I was on the receiving end here (and I was, for many years), Iâd probably tell you something along the lines of âIf you donât write code and canât contribute filters, would you at least volunteer to do a filters review and make a proposal?â. Fortunately, I donât have to deal with this anymore, so you might as well continue being angry.
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In Filters perhaps, but there is a whole Colors menu full of these.
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I think most of that can be done with Gâmic, available as a plug-in for GIMP.
Youâre just stating your own use case and suggesting its the main one. How do you know itâs the most important one? The things youâre mentioning sounds more like a photo filter app youâd have on your phone? Software like gimp and PS are way over the top for only such tasks.
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Apple and google succeeded because they can afford to pay teams of people to work on things full time. Both of those companies products have more project managers than gimp has developers. If you think they win because of their prioritization skills, you are sadly mistaken.
Being in the unenviable position of being compared to billion dollar companies that invest millions and millions in their products is sad.
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Apple and google succeeded because they can afford to pay teams of people to work on things full time.
Not to mention that GIMP works on pretty much every platform including Linux whereas, for instance, Adobe products donât 
Having a software (e.g. GIMP) which is supposed to run on every platforms (Windows - MacOS - Linux - BSD etc ) is a real nightmare in terms of development.
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Iâm basing importance on the host of other applications without any regard to Photoshop or how things âhave worked in the GIMP in the pastâ ⌠A user should be able to operate what I would deem core functionality (again based on what all the other apps can do) with ease .
Lots of people share this sentiment, but unfortunate this vague sentiment alone does not do anything to further its own goal of making gimp easier to use.
There is a repo where the gimp team is collection UX/UI feedback. If you have any feedback that is actually actionable, Iâd suggest you go to that repo and provide it. Otherwise weâre just flapping in the wind.
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Oh come on, the intent of my comment about Apple and Google was not to make a literal 1 to 1 comparison, no GIMP developers do not have the same resources as apple lol
Oh, oh. This kind of response is unlikely to endear you to admin (The Administation Team) âŚ
Iâve already read it, you just worry about yourself 
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Here we go againâŚ
TLDR: If it really is that bad and you know you can do better, then get coding. Complaining will get you nowhere and only serve to demotivate the developers.
A little history lesson:
If memory serves, GIMP started out as someoneâs student project and was never intended to become anything more than that. In any case, the design had some serious limitations that meant things such as CMYK support and non-destructive editing (including adjustment layers) were very hard or even impossible to add. Despite those limitations the developers somehow managed to make it into something rather competent.
Speaking of developers, while I donât know what the situation is today, for the longest time the core team was something like three people. Three spare time hobbyist developers working on modernising the core so that the adjustment layers and CMYK brigades could eventually get their toys, while also upgrading the GTK version (thatâs not fun), fixing bugs and adding new features relevant to other users. It was a gargantuan task that still isnât fully finished, but which has finally gotten to the point that version 3.0 can be released. Along the way, various âdrive-byâ contributors have also added features, but typically because it was something they needed for themselves (they had an itch to scratch). I wouldnât be surprised if the waves filter was the result of such a need.
And here you are, rather strongly suggesting that your use-case is the only relevant one (as far as I can tell, that would be adding vignettes and not much else) and so the developers should effectively drop whatever they are doing in order to make life easy for you, at the expense of everyone that donât care about vignettes. But really, other than an entitled demand to add telemetry (which is generally frowned upon in open-source) so that the devs can prove your claims for you, you donât seem to have much in the way of constructive suggestions on how to turn GIMP into this mean vignette-making machine. I can tell you for a fact that no open-source maintainer will be convinced by that kind of argument and that the only thing it will achieve is making them annoyed with you. You want them to take you seriously? Stop complaining and start contributing. Like with all open-source projects.
Some relevant reading:
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I had a feeling thatâs what you think GIMP is for. I would describe those features as part of photo development. Programs like darktable and RawTherapee are closely aligned with photo development. In my view, âmanipulationâ in GNU Image Manipulation Program sounds more âaggressiveâ than photo development. Thatâs why I believe GIMP is intended to be an image alteration/creation program. Note the distinction between âphotoâ, which is specific to images created by cameras, and âimageâ, which is more broad.
Curious what the official purpose of GIMP is, I went to gimp.org. It start off with
The Free & Open Source Image Editor
Ok, that fits with your wording. However, âimage editorâ is a broad term and is used loosely. Letâs see if there is clarification on what is meant by âimage editorâ.
Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist, GIMP provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done.
Well, that aligns with my interpretation of âimageâ. What about âeditorâ?
High Quality Photo Manipulation
GIMP provides the tools needed for high quality image manipulation. From retouching to restoring to creative compositesâŚ
This is indicative of alteration and creation. No talk of photo development, but it lists two more use cases.
Original Artwork Creation
GIMP gives artists the power and flexibility to transform images into truly unique creations.
A bit vague, but the background image leaves no doubt that this is talking about digital painting and similar, i.e. image creation.
Now for the third and last use case.
Graphic Design Elements
Image creation again.
Maybe GIMP is not the program you think it is. The flexibility and overlap with similar use cases means you can use it to develop you photos, but youâre not necessarily going to have a good experience because it wasnât designed with that as the primary purpose.
Now, about the eraser. Perhaps there should be an option for the eraser tool to automatically add an alpha channel to the affected layer, but I disagree with your idea that users shouldnât have to understand alpha channels. Some image formats do not support alpha channels and this has caused confusion for some GIMP novices trying to export images with transparency. Understanding alpha channels is a must.
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