1GIMP(1) GIMP Manual Pages GIMP(1)
2
6 gimp - an image manipulation and paint program.
7
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 extensions
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 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10 is used. If this is an absolute
160 path, it is used as is. If it is a relative path, it is taken
161 to be a subdirectory of $XDG_CONFIG_HOME.
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 GIMP2_CACHEDIR
180 to get the location for caches files. If unset the system
181 default for per-user cached files is used.
182 GIMP2_TEMPDIR
184 to get the location of temporary files. If unset the system
185 default for temporary files is used.
186 On Linux GIMP can be compiled with support for binary relocati‐
188 bility. This will cause data, plug-ins and configuration files
189 to be searched relative to the location of the gimp executable
190 file unless overridden by the environment variables mentioned
191 above.
192
196 GIMP's data files are stored in /usr/share/gimp/2.0, where ${dataroot‐
197 dir} is set on install, but is typically /usr/share. GIMP's system-wide
198 configuration files are stored in /etc/gimp/2.0, where ${prefix} is
199 typically /usr.
200 Most GIMP configuration is read in from the user's init file, $XDG_CON‐
202 FIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gimprc. The system wide equivalent is in
203 /etc/gimp/2.0/gimprc. The system wide file is parsed first and the user
204 gimprc can override the system settings. /etc/gimp/2.0/gimprc_user is
205 the default gimprc placed in users' home directories the first time
206 GIMP is run.
207 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/devicerc - holds settings for input devices
209 together with the tool, colors, brush, pattern and gradient associated
210 to that device.
211 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gtkrc - users set of GIMP-specific GTK+ con‐
213 fig settings. Options such as widget color and fonts sizes can be set
214 here.
215 /etc/gimp/2.0/gtkrc - system wide default set of GIMP-specific GTK+
217 config settings.
218 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/menurc - user's set of keybindings.
220 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/parasiterc - Stores all persistent GIMP par‐
222 asites. This file will be rewritten every time you quit GIMP.
223 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/sessionrc - This file takes session-specific
225 info (that is info, you want to keep between two GIMP sessions). You
226 are not supposed to edit it manually, but of course you can do. This
227 file will be entirely rewritten every time you quit GIMP. If this file
228 isn't found, defaults are used.
229 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/templaterc - Image templates are kept in
231 this file. New images can conveniently created from these templates. If
232 this file isn't found, defaults are used.
233 /etc/gimp/2.0/unitrc - default user unit database. It contains the unit
235 definitions for centimeters, meters, feet, yards, typographic points
236 and typographic picas and is placed in users home directories the first
237 time GIMP is ran. If this file isn't found, defaults are used.
238 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/unitrc - This file contains your user unit
240 database. You can modify this list with the unit editor. You are not
241 supposed to edit it manually, but of course you can do. This file will
242 be entirely rewritten every time you quit GIMP.
243 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins - location of user installed plug-
245 ins.
246 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/pluginrc - plug-in initialization values are
248 stored here. This file is parsed on startup and regenerated if need be.
249 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/modules - location of user installed mod‐
251 ules.
252 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/tmp - default location that GIMP uses as
254 temporary space.
255 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/brushes - system wide brush files.
257 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/brushes - user created and installed brush
259 files. These files are in the .gbr, .gih or .vbr file formats.
260 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/curves - Curve profiles and presets as saved
262 from the Curves tool.
263 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gimpressionist - Presets and user created
265 brushes and papers are stored here.
266 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/levels - Level profiles and presets as saved
268 from the Levels tool.
269 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/palettes - the system wide palette files.
271 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/palettes - user created and modified palette
273 files. This files are in the .gpl format.
274 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/patterns - basic set of patterns for use in GIMP.
276 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/patterns - user created and installed gimp
278 pattern files. This files are in the .pat format.
279 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gradients - standard system wide set of gradient
281 files.
282 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gradients - user created and installed gra‐
284 dient files.
285 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/scripts - system wide directory of scripts used in
287 Script-Fu and other scripting extensions.
288 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/scripts - user created and installed
290 scripts.
291 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gflares - system wide directory used by the gflare
293 plug-in.
294 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gflares - user created and installed gflare
296 files.
297 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/gfig - system wide directory used by the gfig plug-
299 in.
300 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gfig - user created and installed gfig
302 files.
303 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-splash.png - the default image used for
305 the GIMP splash screen.
306 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-logo.png - image used in the GIMP about
308 dialog.
309 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/tips/gimp-tips.xml - tips as displayed in the "Tip
311 of the Day" dialog box.
312
316 GIMP comes with a default image for the splash screen but it allows
317 system administrators and users to customize the splash screen by pro‐
318 viding other images. The image to be used with the splash screen is
319 chosen as follows:
320 1. GIMP tries to load a random splash screen from the directory
323 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/splashes.
324 2. It then falls back to using $XDG_CON‐
326 FIG_HOME/GIMP/2.10/gimp-splash.png.
327 3. If the user didn't install any custom splash images, a random
329 image is picked from /usr/share/gimp/2.0/splashes.
330 4. As a last resort, GIMP uses the default splash image located at
332 /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-splash.png.
333
337 Any bugs found should be reported to the online bug-tracking system
338 available on the web at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/issues.
339 Before reporting bugs, please check to see if the bug has already been
340 reported.
341 When reporting GIMP bugs, it is important to include a reliable way to
343 reproduce the bug, version number of GIMP (and probably GTK+), OS name
344 and version, and any relevant hardware specs. If a bug is causing a
345 crash, it is very useful if a stack trace can be provided. And of
346 course, patches to rectify the bug are even better.
347
351 The canonical place to find GIMP info is at https://www.gimp.org/.
352 Here you can find links to just about many other GIMP sites, tutorials,
353 data sets, mailing list archives, and more.
354 There is also a GIMP User Manual available at https://docs.gimp.org/
356 that goes into much more detail about the interactive use of GIMP.
357 The latest versions of GIMP and the GTK+ libs are always available at
359 https://download.gimp.org/.
360
364 Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and the GIMP Development Team.
365 With patches, fixes, plug-ins, extensions, scripts, translations, docu‐
367 mentation and more from lots and lots of people all over the world.
368
372 gimprc(5), gimptool(1),
373Version 2.10.22 March 23 2008 GIMP(1)