After two decades, GIMP 3.0 has arrived with high-resolution compatibility and extensive improvements

by DTM | Posted on
  • GIMP 3.0 revamps the interface for high-resolution screens
  • Keeps projects compatible with older versions
  • Extensive testing ensures a bug-free GIMP 3.0

After two decades of anticipation, the latest version of popular image editor GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is finally set to be released soon.

As a popular, free, and open source Photoshop alternative, GIMP has been a reliable tool for users since its inception in 1995.

The transition from GIMP 2.x to 3.0 marks a major milestone in the software’s long history, bringing modernized features and improvements while maintaining the familiar experience users have come to expect.

GIMP 3.0 release

The leap from GIMP 2.x to GIMP 3.0 has taken far longer than users initially expected, largely due to the complexity of maintaining an open source project with contributions from a large global community of developers.

GIMP has remained on version 2.x for over 20 years, with incremental updates introducing small yet important improvements over time.

Starting with the release of GIMP 2.0 in 2004, subsequent versions like 2.4X (2007), 2.6X (2008), and 2.8X (2012) kept the software relevant in a changing digital landscape. The most recent 2.10X update, released in 2018, has been in use for the past six years.

GIMP 3.0 is now expected to be released in late December 2024 or early January 2025.

Despite the long wait, the release of GIMP 3.0 is expected to deliver a host of modern features that will make the software more user-friendly and capable of handling the needs of today’s graphic designers.

One of the most noticeable changes in GIMP 3.0 is the new user interface. While the layout remains familiar to long-time users, the design has been smoothed out and optimized for high-resolution displays. This is a critical improvement, as older versions of GIMP often struggled with scaling issues on larger, modern screens. In GIMP 3.0, many icons have been converted to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), ensuring that they retain their quality no matter the display resolution.

Another major focus of the GIMP 3.0 update is compatibility. The GIMP development team has worked extensively to ensure that projects created in earlier versions of the software will remain usable in the new release. This includes stabilizing the public GIMP API (Application Programming Interface), which will make it easier to port plugins and scripts from GIMP 2.10 to GIMP 3.0.

As GIMP has grown over the years, users have come to rely on a wide array of third-party plugins, so this backward compatibility will be essential for a smooth transition.

As with any major software update, GIMP 3.0 is undergoing extensive testing. The release candidate has been made available to the community for feedback, allowing users to report any bugs or issues they encounter.

According to the development team, the speed of the final release depends on the nature of the bugs found. Small, easily fixable bugs could lead to a swift final release, while more significant issues could prompt a second release candidate for further testing.

Via Tom’s Hardware

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