1GIMP(1) GIMP Manual Pages GIMP(1)
2
6 gimp - an image manipulation and paint program.
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11 gimp [-h] [--help] [--help-all] [--help-gtk] [-v] [--version]
12 [--license] [--verbose] [-n] [--new-instance] [-a] [--as-new] [-i]
13 [--no-interface] [-d] [--no-data] [-f] [--no-fonts] [-s] [--no-splash]
14 [--no-shm] [--no-cpu-accel] [--display display] [--session <name>] [-g]
15 [--gimprc <gimprc>] [--system-gimprc <gimprc>] [--dump-gimprc] [--con‐
16 sole-messages] [--debug-handlers] [--stack-trace-mode <mode>]
17 [--pdb-compat-mode <mode>] [--batch-interpreter <procedure>] [-b]
18 [--batch <command>] [filename] ...
19
23 GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is used to edit and
24 manipulate images. It can load and save a variety of image formats and
25 can be used to convert between formats.
26 GIMP can also be used as a paint program. It features a set of drawing
28 and painting tools such as airbrush, clone, pencil, and paint brush.
29 Painting and drawing tools can be applied to an image with a variety of
30 paint modes. It also offers an extensive array of selection tools like
31 rectangle, ellipse, fuzzy select, bezier select, intelligent scissors,
32 and select by color.
33 GIMP offers a variety of plug-ins that perform a variety of image
35 manipulations. Examples include bumpmap, edge detect, gaussian blur,
36 and many others. In addition, GIMP has several scripting extension
37 which allow for advanced non-interactive processing and creation of
38 images.
39 GIMP ships with a second binary called gimp-console. This binary is a
41 console-only version and behaves as if gimp was called with the
42 --no-interface command-line option.
43 On platforms with the D-Bus message bus system, GIMP will by default
45 check if an instance is already running in this user session. If it
46 detects that, it will pass all filenames given on the command-line to
47 the already running GIMP instance and quit.
48
52 GIMP accepts the following options:
53 -h, --help
55 Show GIMP command-line options.
56 --help-all
58 Show all command-line options.
59 --help-gtk
61 Show GTK+ command-line options.
62 --help-gegl
64 Show GEGL command-line options.
65 -v, --version
67 Output version information and exit. When combined with the
68 --verbose option, version information about libraries used by
69 GIMP is shown as well.
70 --license
72 Output license information and exit.
73 --verbose
75 Be verbose and create information on standard output.
76 -n, --new-instance
78 Do not attempt to reuse an already running GIMP instance.
79 Always start a new one.
80 -a, --as-new
82 Open filenames passed on the command-line as new images, don't
83 set the filename on them.
84 -i, --no-interface
86 Run without a user interface.
87 -d, --no-data
89 Do not load patterns, gradients, palettes, or brushes. Often
90 useful in non-interactive situations where startup time is to
91 be minimized.
92 -f, --no-fonts
94 Do not load any fonts. No text functionality will be available
95 if this option is used.
96 --display display
98 Use the designated X display.
99 -s, --no-splash
101 Do not show the splash screen.
102 --no-shm
104 Do not use shared memory between GIMP and its plug-ins.
105 Instead of using shared memory, GIMP will send the data via
106 pipe. This will result in slower performance than using shared
107 memory.
108 --no-cpu-accel
110 Do not use CPU accelerations such as MMX or SSE even if GIMP
111 detects that your CPU provides this functionality.
112 --session <name>
114 Use a different sessionrc for this GIMP session. The given ses‐
115 sion name is appended to the default sessionrc filename.
116 -g, --gimprc <gimprc>
118 Use an alternative gimprc instead of the default one. Useful in
119 cases where plug-in paths or machine specs may be different.
120 --system-gimprc <gimprc>
122 Use an alternate system gimprc file.
123 --dump-gimprc
125 Output a gimprc file with default settings.
126 --debug-handlers
128 Enable debugging signal handlers.
129 -c, --console-messages
131 Do not popup dialog boxes on errors or warnings. Print the mes‐
132 sages on the console instead.
133 --stack-trace-mode {never|query|always}
135 If a stack-trace should be generated in case of fatal signals.
136 --pdb-compat-mode {off|on|warn}
138 If the PDB should provide aliases for deprecated functions.
139 --batch-interpreter <procedure>
141 Specifies the procedure to use to process batch events. The
142 default is to let Script-Fu evaluate the commands.
143 -b, --batch <command>
145 Execute <command> non-interactively. This option may appear
146 multiple times. The <command> is passed to the batch inter‐
147 preter. When <command> is - the commands are read from standard
148 input.
149
153 GIMP respects a number of environment variables.
154 DISPLAY to get the default host and display number.
156 GIMP2_DIRECTORY
158 to get the name of the personal GIMP directory. If unset
159 .gimp-2.6 is used. If this is an absolute path, it is used as
160 is. If it is a relative path, it is taken to be a subdirectory
161 of the home directory.
162 GIMP2_DATADIR
164 to get the base location for data files such as brushes and
165 patterns. If unset /usr/share/gimp/2.0 is used.
166 GIMP2_LOCALEDIR
168 to get the base location for translations. If unset
169 /usr/share/locale is used.
170 GIMP2_PLUGINDIR
172 to get the base location for plug-ins and modules. If unset
173 /usr/lib64/gimp/2.0 is used.
174 GIMP2_SYSCONFDIR
176 to get the location of configuration files. If unset
177 /etc/gimp/2.0 is used.
178 On Linux GIMP can be compiled with support for binary relocati‐
180 bility. This will cause data, plug-ins and configuration files
181 to be searched relative to the location of the gimp executable
182 file unless overridden by the environment variables mentioned
183 above.
184
188 GIMP's data files are stored in /usr/share/gimp/2.0, where ${dataroot‐
189 dir} is set on install, but is typically /usr/share. GIMP's system-wide
190 configuration files are stored in /etc/gimp/2.0, where ${prefix} is
191 typically /usr.
192 Most GIMP configuration is read in from the user's init file,
194 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gimprc. The system wide equivalent is in /etc/gimprc.
195 The system wide file is parsed first and the user gimprc can override
196 the system settings. /etc/gimprc_user is the default gimprc placed in
197 users' home directories the first time GIMP is run.
198 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/devicerc - holds settings for input devices together
200 with the tool, colors, brush, pattern and gradient associated to that
201 device.
202 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gtkrc - users set of GIMP-specific GTK+ config set‐
204 tings. Options such as widget color and fonts sizes can be set here.
205 /etc/gimp/2.0/gtkrc - sytem wide default set of GIMP-specific GTK+ con‐
207 fig settings.
208 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/menurc - user's set of keybindings.
210 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/parasiterc - Stores all persistent GIMP parasites. This
212 file will be rewritten every time you quit GIMP.
213 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/sessionrc - This file takes session-specific info (that
215 is info, you want to keep between two GIMP sessions). You are not sup‐
216 posed to edit it manually, but of course you can do. This file will be
217 entirely rewritten every time you quit GIMP. If this file isn't found,
218 defaults are used.
219 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/templaterc - Image templates are kept in this file. New
221 images can conveniently created from these templates. If this file
222 isn't found, defaults are used.
223 /etc/gimp/2.0/unitrc - default user unit database. It contains the unit
225 definitions for centimeters, meters, feet, yards, typographic points
226 and typographic picas and is placed in users home directories the first
227 time GIMP is ran. If this file isn't found, defaults are used.
228 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/unitrc - This file contains your user unit database.
230 You can modify this list with the unit editor. You are not supposed to
231 edit it manually, but of course you can do. This file will be entirely
232 rewritten every time you quit GIMP.
233 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/plug-ins - location of user installed plug-ins.
235 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/pluginrc - plug-in initialization values are stored
237 here. This file is parsed on startup and regenerated if need be.
238 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/modules - location of user installed modules.
240 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/tmp - default location that GIMP uses as temporary
242 space.
243 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/brushes - system wide brush files.
245 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/brushes - user created and installed brush files. These
247 files are in the .gbr, .gih or .vbr file formats.
248 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/curves - Curve profiles and presets as saved from the
250 Curves tool.
251 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gimpressionist - Presets and user created brushes and
253 papers are stored here.
254 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/levels - Level profiles and presets as saved from the
256 Levels tool.
257 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/palettes - the system wide palette files.
259 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/palettes - user created and modified palette files.
261 This files are in the .gpl format.
262 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/patterns - basic set of patterns for use in GIMP.
264 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/patterns - user created and installed gimp pattern
266 files. This files are in the .pat format.
267 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gradients - standard system wide set of gradient
269 files.
270 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gradients - user created and installed gradient files.
272 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/scripts - system wide directory of scripts used in
274 Script-Fu and other scripting extensions.
275 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/scripts - user created and installed scripts.
277 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gflares - system wide directory used by the gflare
279 plug-in.
280 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gflares - user created and installed gflare files.
282 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gfig - system wide directory used by the gfig plug-
284 in.
285 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gfig - user created and installed gfig files.
287 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-splash.png - the default image used for
289 the GIMP splash screen.
290 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-logo.png - image used in the GIMP about
292 dialog.
293 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/tips/gimp-tips.xml - tips as displayed in the "Tip
295 of the Day" dialog box.
296
300 GIMP comes with a default image for the splash screen but it allows
301 system administrators and users to customize the splash screen by pro‐
302 viding other images. The image to be used with the splash screen is
303 chosen as follows:
304 1. GIMP tries to load a random splash screen from the directory
307 $HOME/.gimp-2.6/splashes.
308 2. It then falls back to using $HOME/.gimp-2.6/gimp-splash.png.
310 3. If the user didn't install any custom splash images, a random
312 image is picked from /usr/share/gimp/2.0/splashes.
313 4. As a last resort, GIMP uses the default splash image located at
315 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-splash.png.
316
320 Any bugs found should be reported to the online bug-tracking system
321 available on the web at http://bugzilla.gnome.org/. Before reporting
322 bugs, please check to see if the bug has already been reported.
323 When reporting GIMP bugs, it is important to include a reliable way to
325 reproduce the bug, version number of GIMP (and probably GTK+), OS name
326 and version, and any relevant hardware specs. If a bug is causing a
327 crash, it is very useful if a stack trace can be provided. And of
328 course, patches to rectify the bug are even better.
329
333 The canonical place to find GIMP info is at http://www.gimp.org/. Here
334 you can find links to just about many other GIMP sites, tutorials, data
335 sets, mailing list archives, and more.
336 There is also a GIMP User Manual available at http://docs.gimp.org/
338 that goes into much more detail about the interactive use of GIMP.
339 The latest version of GIMP and the GTK+ libs is always available at
341 ftp://ftp.gimp.org/.
342
346 Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and the GIMP Development Team.
347 With patches, fixes, plug-ins, extensions, scripts, translations, docu‐
349 mentation and more from lots and lots of people all over the world.
350
354 gimprc(5), gimptool(1),
355Version 2.6.11 March 23 2008 GIMP(1)