GIMP 2.99.12 is a big milestone towards GIMP 3.0
Recently the release of the new version of GIMP 2.99.12 was announced, a version that continues the development of the functionality of the future stable branch of GIMP 3.0 and in which the transition to GTK3 was made, native support for Wayland and HiDPI was added.
This new version shows a significant change The code base was cleaned, a new API for plugin development was proposed, caching was implemented, support for selecting multiple layers was added, among other things.
Main novelties of GIMP 2.99.12
In this new version presented by GIMP 2.99.12 it is highlighted that se you have enabled a new theme by default, available in light and dark versions, combined in a single theme. The new theme is implemented in gray tones and is created using a CSS-like style definition system used in GTK 3.
Besides that, the capabilities of the on-screen pinch gesture have been expanded. In addition to zooming with your fingers, now it is also possible to rotate the canvas while zooming in. With a pinch or mouse wheel, you can also rescale image thumbnails in docked panels (layers, channels, outlines).
Added support for uploading images in WBM formatP, as well as to import and export in the ANI format used for animated mouse cursors, in addition to also highlighting the improved support for PSD, SVG, GIF, PNG, DDS, FLI image formats and added support for additional layer masks and duotone overlay images in PSD.
For animated GIFs, the “Number of repeats” option has been implemented, while for PNGs, an option has been added to optimize the palette size, allowing you to reduce the palette as much as possible. For the DDS format, work with 16-bit masks is provided, and support for images with a 16-bit channel is added.
On the other hand, the data used in the simulation of color spaces is saved directly in XCF files that store image data. Simulation data used in test profiles, rendering intents, and black point compensation was previously lost after restarting the program session.
Tool pointer settings have been reorganized and moved from the “Image Windows” tab to the “Preferences > Input Devices” tab. Improved handling of the “Show brush outline” option when the “Show pointer for drawing tools” option is disabled. Improved implementation of point cursor mode for touch screens, now working correctly on dark and light backgrounds.
It is also highlighted that added ability to use alternate scaling behavior, which is enabled via the “Preferences > Canvas Interaction” menu. If the previous algorithm provided a continuous increase or decrease of the scale according to the time of mouse movement (while holding down the Ctrl key and the middle mouse button), then the new algorithm does not take into account the duration of the movement, but the distance the mouse moved (the more movement, the more scale changes).
Of the other changes that stand out in this new version:
- An additional parameter has been added to the settings that controls the dependency of the zoom change on the speed of the mouse movement.
- The “Line Art Detection Fill” mode has been redesigned and reorganized into the “Flat Fill” tool. A new option “Stroke Edges” has been added.
- Added a tab to the welcome dialog to view release notes and a list of notable enhancements.
- Initial support for the CMYK color model was implemented and many aspects related to color conversion and display were revised.
- A visual switch has been added to the status bar to quickly switch between normal mode and the test used to assess the color rendering sample.
- When you enable the CMYK simulation profile, many tools, including the eyedropper, sampler dots, and color picker, are converted to display colors in the CMYK color space.
- Improved support for CMYK in code related to exporting and importing images in JPEG, TIFF, and PSD formats.
If you are interested in being able to know more about it about this new released version, you can check the details In the following link.
How to install GIMP on Linux?
For those who are interested in being able to install this new version of GIMP on their systems, They should only have the support to be able to install applications from Flatpak.
Just run the following command to install the application on your systems:
flatpak install flathub org.gimp.GIMP
Yes already have GIMP installed by this method, they can update it by running the following command:
flatpack update
When you run it, you will be shown a list of the applications installed by Flatpak that have an update. To proceed, just type "Y".