1GIMPRC(5) File Formats Manual GIMPRC(5)
3
7 gimprc - gimp configuration file
8
10 The gimprc file is a configuration file read by GIMP when it starts up.
11 There are two of these: one system-wide one stored in
12 /etc/gimp/2.0/gimprc and a per-user $HOME/.gimp-2.4/gimprc which may
13 override system settings.
14 Comments are introduced by a hash sign (#), and continue until the end
16 of the line. Blank lines are ignored.
17 The gimprc file associates values with properties. These properties
19 may be set by lisp-like assignments of the form:
20 (property-name value)
22 where:
24 property-name
26 is one of the property names described below.
27 value is the value the property is to be set to.
29 Either spaces or tabs may be used to separate the name from the value.
31
33 Valid properties and their default values are:
34 (temp-path "${gimp_dir}/tmp")
37 Sets the folder for temporary storage. Files will appear here
39 during the course of running GIMP. Most files will disappear
40 when GIMP exits, but some files are likely to remain, so it is
41 best if this folder not be one that is shared by other users.
42 This is a single folder.
43 (swap-path "${gimp_dir}")
46 Sets the swap file location. GIMP uses a tile based memory allo‐
48 cation scheme. The swap file is used to quickly and easily swap
49 tiles out to disk and back in. Be aware that the swap file can
50 easily get very large if GIMP is used with large images. Also,
51 things can get horribly slow if the swap file is created on a
52 folder that is mounted over NFS. For these reasons, it may be
53 desirable to put your swap file in "/tmp". This is a single
54 folder.
55 (num-processors 1)
58 Sets how many processors GIMP should try to use simultaneously.
60 This is an integer value.
61 (tile-cache-size 1024M)
64 When the amount of pixel data exceeds this limit, GIMP will
66 start to swap tiles to disk. This is a lot slower but it makes
67 it possible to work on images that wouldn't fit into memory oth‐
68 erwise. If you have a lot of RAM, you may want to set this to a
69 higher value. The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B',
70 'K', 'M' or 'G' which makes GIMP interpret the size as being
71 specified in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no
72 suffix is specified the size defaults to being specified in
73 kilobytes.
74 (interpolation-type cubic)
77 Sets the level of interpolation used for scaling and other
79 transformations. Possible values are none, linear, cubic and
80 lanczos.
81 (plug-in-path "${gimp_dir}/plug-ins:${gimp_plug_in_dir}/plug-ins")
84 Sets the plug-in search path. This is a colon-separated list of
86 folders to search.
87 (module-path "${gimp_dir}/modules:${gimp_plug_in_dir}/modules")
90 Sets the module search path. This is a colon-separated list of
92 folders to search.
93 (interpreter-path "${gimp_dir}/interpreters:${gimp_plug_in_dir}/inter‐
96 preters")
97 Sets the interpreter search path. This is a colon-separated
99 list of folders to search.
100 (environ-path "${gimp_dir}/environ:${gimp_plug_in_dir}/environ")
103 Sets the environ search path. This is a colon-separated list of
105 folders to search.
106 (brush-path "${gimp_dir}/brushes:${gimp_data_dir}/brushes")
109 Sets the brush search path. This is a colon-separated list of
111 folders to search.
112 (brush-path-writable "${gimp_dir}/brushes")
115 This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
117 (pattern-path "${gimp_dir}/patterns:${gimp_data_dir}/patterns")
120 Sets the pattern search path. This is a colon-separated list of
122 folders to search.
123 (pattern-path-writable "${gimp_dir}/patterns")
126 This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
128 (palette-path "${gimp_dir}/palettes:${gimp_data_dir}/palettes")
131 Sets the palette search path. This is a colon-separated list of
133 folders to search.
134 (palette-path-writable "${gimp_dir}/palettes")
137 This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
139 (gradient-path "${gimp_dir}/gradients:${gimp_data_dir}/gradients")
142 Sets the gradient search path. This is a colon-separated list
144 of folders to search.
145 (gradient-path-writable "${gimp_dir}/gradients")
148 This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
150 (font-path "${gimp_dir}/fonts:${gimp_data_dir}/fonts")
153 Where to look for fonts in addition to the system-wide installed
155 fonts. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
156 (default-brush "Circle (11)")
159 Specify a default brush. The brush is searched for in the spec‐
161 ified brush path. This is a string value.
162 (default-pattern "Pine")
165 Specify a default pattern. This is a string value.
167 (default-palette "Default")
170 Specify a default palette. This is a string value.
172 (default-gradient "FG to BG (RGB)")
175 Specify a default gradient. This is a string value.
177 (default-font "Sans")
180 Specify a default font. This is a string value.
182 (global-brush yes)
185 When enabled, the selected brush will be used for all tools.
187 Possible values are yes and no.
188 (global-pattern yes)
191 When enabled, the selected pattern will be used for all tools.
193 Possible values are yes and no.
194 (global-palette yes)
197 When enabled, the selected palette will be used for all tools.
199 Possible values are yes and no.
200 (global-gradient yes)
203 When enabled, the selected gradient will be used for all tools.
205 Possible values are yes and no.
206 (global-font yes)
209 When enabled, the selected font will be used for all tools.
211 Possible values are yes and no.
212 (default-image
215 (width 420)
216 (height 300)
217 (unit pixels)
218 (xresolution 72.000000)
219 (yresolution 72.000000)
220 (resolution-unit inches)
221 (image-type rgb)
222 (fill-type background-fill)
223 (comment "Created with GIMP"))
224 Sets the default image in the "File/New" dialog. This is a
226 parameter list.
227 (default-grid
230 (style intersections)
231 (fgcolor (color-rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000))
232 (bgcolor (color-rgba 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000))
233 (xspacing 32.000000)
234 (yspacing 32.000000)
235 (spacing-unit inches)
236 (xoffset 0.000000)
237 (yoffset 0.000000)
238 (offset-unit inches))
239 Specify a default image grid. This is a parameter list.
241 (undo-levels 5)
244 Sets the minimal number of operations that can be undone. More
246 undo levels are kept available until the undo-size limit is
247 reached. This is an integer value.
248 (undo-size 64M)
251 Sets an upper limit to the memory that is used per image to keep
253 operations on the undo stack. Regardless of this setting, at
254 least as many undo-levels as configured can be undone. The
255 integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which
256 makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilo‐
257 bytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the
258 size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
259 (undo-preview-size large)
262 Sets the size of the previews in the Undo History. Possible
264 values are tiny, extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large,
265 huge, enormous and gigantic.
266 (plug-in-history-size 10)
269 How many recently used plug-ins to keep on the Filters menu.
271 This is an integer value.
272 (pluginrc-path "${gimp_dir}/pluginrc")
275 Sets the pluginrc search path. This is a single filename.
277 (layer-previews yes)
280 Sets whether GIMP should create previews of layers and channels.
282 Previews in the layers and channels dialog are nice to have but
283 they can slow things down when working with large images. Pos‐
284 sible values are yes and no.
285 (layer-preview-size medium)
288 Sets the preview size used for layers and channel previews in
290 newly created dialogs. Possible values are tiny, extra-small,
291 small, medium, large, extra-large, huge, enormous and gigantic.
292 (thumbnail-size normal)
295 Sets the size of the thumbnail shown in the Open dialog. Possi‐
297 ble values are none, normal and large.
298 (thumbnail-filesize-limit 4M)
301 The thumbnail in the Open dialog will be automatically updated
303 if the file being previewed is smaller than the size set here.
304 The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G'
305 which makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes,
306 kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the
307 size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
308 (install-colormap no)
311 Install a private colormap; might be useful on 8-bit (256 col‐
313 ors) displays. Possible values are yes and no.
314 (min-colors 144)
317 Generally only a concern for 8-bit displays, this sets the mini‐
319 mum number of system colors allocated for GIMP. This is an
320 integer value.
321 (color-management
324 (mode display)
325 (display-profile-from-gdk no)
326 (display-rendering-intent perceptual)
327 (simulation-rendering-intent perceptual)
328 (simulation-gamut-check no)
329 (out-of-gamut-color (color-rgb 0.501961 0.501961 0.501961))
330 (display-module "CdisplayLcms"))
331 Defines the color management behavior. This is a parameter
333 list.
334 (color-profile-policy ask)
337 How to handle embedded color profiles when opening a file. Pos‐
339 sible values are ask, keep and convert.
340 (save-document-history yes)
343 Add all opened and saved files to the document history on disk.
345 Possible values are yes and no.
346 (transparency-size medium-checks)
349 Sets the size of the checkerboard used to display transparency.
351 Possible values are small-checks, medium-checks and large-
352 checks.
353 (transparency-type gray-checks)
356 Sets the manner in which transparency is displayed in images.
358 Possible values are light-checks, gray-checks, dark-checks,
359 white-only, gray-only and black-only.
360 (snap-distance 8)
363 This is the distance in pixels where Guide and Grid snapping
365 activates. This is an integer value.
366 (marching-ants-speed 200)
369 Speed of marching ants in the selection outline. This value is
371 in milliseconds (less time indicates faster marching). This is
372 an integer value.
373 (resize-windows-on-zoom no)
376 When enabled, the image window will automatically resize itself
378 when zooming into and out of images. Possible values are yes
379 and no.
380 (resize-windows-on-resize no)
383 When enabled, the image window will automatically resize itself
385 whenever the physical image size changes. Possible values are
386 yes and no.
387 (default-dot-for-dot yes)
390 When enabled, this will ensure that each pixel of an image gets
392 mapped to a pixel on the screen. Possible values are yes and
393 no.
394 (initial-zoom-to-fit yes)
397 When enabled, this will ensure that the full image is visible
399 after a file is opened, otherwise it will be displayed with a
400 scale of 1:1. Possible values are yes and no.
401 (perfect-mouse yes)
404 When enabled, the X server is queried for the mouse's current
406 position on each motion event, rather than relying on the posi‐
407 tion hint. This means painting with large brushes should be
408 more accurate, but it may be slower. Perversely, on some X
409 servers enabling this option results in faster painting. Possi‐
410 ble values are yes and no.
411 (cursor-mode tool-icon)
414 Sets the type of mouse pointers to use. Possible values are
416 tool-icon, tool-crosshair and crosshair.
417 (cursor-updating yes)
420 Context-dependent mouse pointers are helpful. They are enabled
422 by default. However, they require overhead that you may want to
423 do without. Possible values are yes and no.
424 (show-brush-outline yes)
427 When enabled, all paint tools will show a preview of the current
429 brush's outline. Possible values are yes and no.
430 (show-paint-tool-cursor yes)
433 When enabled, the mouse pointer will be shown over the image
435 while using a paint tool. Possible values are yes and no.
436 (image-title-format "%D*%f-%p.%i (%t, %L) %wx%h")
439 Sets the text to appear in image window titles. This is a for‐
441 mat string; certain % character sequences are recognised and
442 expanded as follows:
443 %% literal percent sign
445 %f bare filename, or "Untitled"
446 %F full path to file, or "Untitled"
447 %p PDB image id
448 %i view instance number
449 %t image type (RGB, grayscale, indexed)
450 %z zoom factor as a percentage
451 %s source scale factor
452 %d destination scale factor
453 %Dx expands to x if the image is dirty, the empty string other‐
454 wise
455 %Cx expands to x if the image is clean, the empty string other‐
456 wise
457 %B expands to (modified) if the image is dirty, the empty
458 string otherwise
459 %A expands to (clean) if the image is clean, the empty string
460 otherwise
461 %l the number of layers
462 %L the number of layers (long form)
463 %m memory used by the image
464 %n the name of the active layer/channel
465 %P the PDB id of the active layer/channel
466 %w image width in pixels
467 %W image width in real-world units
468 %h image height in pixels
469 %H image height in real-world units
470 %u unit symbol
471 %U unit abbreviation
472 (image-status-format "%n (%m)")
476 Sets the text to appear in image window status bars. This is a
478 format string; certain % character sequences are recognised and
479 expanded as follows:
480 %% literal percent sign
482 %f bare filename, or "Untitled"
483 %F full path to file, or "Untitled"
484 %p PDB image id
485 %i view instance number
486 %t image type (RGB, grayscale, indexed)
487 %z zoom factor as a percentage
488 %s source scale factor
489 %d destination scale factor
490 %Dx expands to x if the image is dirty, the empty string other‐
491 wise
492 %Cx expands to x if the image is clean, the empty string other‐
493 wise
494 %B expands to (modified) if the image is dirty, the empty
495 string otherwise
496 %A expands to (clean) if the image is clean, the empty string
497 otherwise
498 %l the number of layers
499 %L the number of layers (long form)
500 %m memory used by the image
501 %n the name of the active layer/channel
502 %P the PDB id of the active layer/channel
503 %w image width in pixels
504 %W image width in real-world units
505 %h image height in pixels
506 %H image height in real-world units
507 %u unit symbol
508 %U unit abbreviation
509 (confirm-on-close yes)
513 Ask for confirmation before closing an image without saving.
515 Possible values are yes and no.
516 (monitor-xresolution 96.000000)
519 Sets the monitor's horizontal resolution, in dots per inch. If
521 set to 0, forces the X server to be queried for both horizontal
522 and vertical resolution information. This is a float value.
523 (monitor-yresolution 96.000000)
526 Sets the monitor's vertical resolution, in dots per inch. If
528 set to 0, forces the X server to be queried for both horizontal
529 and vertical resolution information. This is a float value.
530 (monitor-resolution-from-windowing-system yes)
533 When enabled, GIMP will use the monitor resolution from the win‐
535 dowing system. Possible values are yes and no.
536 (navigation-preview-size medium)
539 Sets the size of the navigation preview available in the lower
541 right corner of the image window. Possible values are tiny,
542 extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, huge, enormous
543 and gigantic.
544 (default-view
547 (show-menubar yes)
548 (show-rulers yes)
549 (show-scrollbars yes)
550 (show-statusbar yes)
551 (show-selection yes)
552 (show-layer-boundary yes)
553 (show-guides yes)
554 (show-grid no)
555 (show-sample-points yes)
556 (padding-mode default)
557 (padding-color (color-rgb 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000)))
558 Sets the default settings for the image view. This is a parame‐
560 ter list.
561 (default-fullscreen-view
564 (show-menubar yes)
565 (show-rulers yes)
566 (show-scrollbars yes)
567 (show-statusbar yes)
568 (show-selection yes)
569 (show-layer-boundary yes)
570 (show-guides yes)
571 (show-grid no)
572 (show-sample-points yes)
573 (padding-mode default)
574 (padding-color (color-rgb 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000)))
575 Sets the default settings used when an image is viewed in
577 fullscreen mode. This is a parameter list.
578 (activate-on-focus yes)
581 When enabled, an image will become the active image when its
583 image window receives the focus. This is useful for window man‐
584 agers using "click to focus".
585 Possible values are yes and no.
586 (space-bar-action pan)
589 What to do when the space bar is pressed in the image window.
591 Possible values are none, pan and move.
592 (xor-color (color-rgb 0.501961 1.000000 0.501961))
595 Sets the color that is used for XOR drawing. This setting only
597 exists as a workaround for buggy display drivers. If lines on
598 the canvas are not correctly undrawn, try to set this to white.
599 The color is specified in the form (color-rgb red green blue)
600 with channel values as floats in the range of 0.0 to 1.0.
601 (zoom-quality high)
604 There's a tradeoff between speed and quality of the zoomed-out
606 display. Possible values are low and high.
607 (default-threshold 15)
610 Tools such as fuzzy-select and bucket fill find regions based on
612 a seed-fill algorithm. The seed fill starts at the initially
613 selected pixel and progresses in all directions until the dif‐
614 ference of pixel intensity from the original is greater than a
615 specified threshold. This value represents the default thresh‐
616 old. This is an integer value.
617 (move-tool-changes-active no)
620 If enabled, the move tool sets the edited layer or path as
622 active. This used to be the default behaviour in older ver‐
623 sions. Possible values are yes and no.
624 (trust-dirty-flag no)
627 When enabled, GIMP will not save an image if it has not been
629 changed since it was opened. Possible values are yes and no.
630 (save-device-status no)
633 Remember the current tool, pattern, color, and brush across GIMP
635 sessions. Possible values are yes and no.
636 (save-session-info yes)
639 Save the positions and sizes of the main dialogs when GIMP
641 exits. Possible values are yes and no.
642 (restore-session yes)
645 Let GIMP try to restore your last saved session on each startup.
647 Possible values are yes and no.
648 (save-tool-options no)
651 Save the tool options when GIMP exits. Possible values are yes
653 and no.
654 (show-tips yes)
657 Enable displaying a handy GIMP tip on startup. Possible values
659 are yes and no.
660 (show-tooltips yes)
663 Show a tooltip when the pointer hovers over an item. Possible
665 values are yes and no.
666 (tearoff-menus yes)
669 When enabled, menus can be torn off. Possible values are yes
671 and no.
672 (can-change-accels no)
675 When enabled, you can change keyboard shortcuts for menu items
677 by hitting a key combination while the menu item is highlighted.
678 Possible values are yes and no.
679 (save-accels yes)
682 Save changed keyboard shortcuts when GIMP exits. Possible val‐
684 ues are yes and no.
685 (restore-accels yes)
688 Restore saved keyboard shortcuts on each GIMP startup. Possible
690 values are yes and no.
691 (menu-mnemonics yes)
694 When enabled, GIMP will show mnemonics in menus. Possible val‐
696 ues are yes and no.
697 (last-opened-size 10)
700 How many recently opened image filenames to keep on the File
702 menu. This is an integer value.
703 (max-new-image-size 128M)
706 GIMP will warn the user if an attempt is made to create an image
708 that would take more memory than the size specified here. The
709 integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which
710 makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilo‐
711 bytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the
712 size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
713 (toolbox-color-area yes)
716 The toolbox-color-area property has no description. Possible
718 values are yes and no.
719 (toolbox-foo-area no)
722 The toolbox-foo-area property has no description. Possible val‐
724 ues are yes and no.
725 (toolbox-image-area no)
728 The toolbox-image-area property has no description. Possible
730 values are yes and no.
731 (theme-path "${gimp_dir}/themes:${gimp_data_dir}/themes")
734 Sets the theme search path. This is a colon-separated list of
736 folders to search.
737 (theme "Default")
740 The name of the theme to use. This is a string value.
742 (use-help yes)
745 When enabled, pressing F1 will open the help browser. Possible
747 values are yes and no.
748 (show-help-button yes)
751 When enabled, dialogs will show a help button that gives access
753 to the related help page. Without this button, the help page
754 can still be reached by pressing F1. Possible values are yes
755 and no.
756 (help-locales "")
759 Specifies the language preferences used by the help system. This
761 is a colon-separated list of language identifiers with decreas‐
762 ing priority. If empty, the language is taken from the user's
763 locale setting. This is a string value.
764 (help-browser gimp)
767 Sets the browser used by the help system. Possible values are
769 gimp and web-browser.
770 (web-browser "firefox %s")
773 Sets the external web browser to be used. This can be an abso‐
775 lute path or the name of an executable to search for in the
776 user's PATH. If the command contains '%s' it will be replaced
777 with the URL, else the URL will be appended to the command with
778 a space separating the two. This is a single filename.
779 (toolbox-window-hint normal)
782 The window type hint that is set on the toolbox. This may affect
784 how your window manager decorates and handles the toolbox win‐
785 dow. Possible values are normal, utility and keep-above.
786 (dock-window-hint normal)
789 The window type hint that is set on dock windows. This may
791 affect the way your window manager decorates and handles dock
792 windows. Possible values are normal, utility and keep-above.
793 (transient-docks no)
796 When enabled, dock windows (the toolbox and palettes) are set to
798 be transient to the active image window. Most window managers
799 will keep the dock windows above the image window then, but it
800 may also have other effects. Possible values are yes and no.
801 (cursor-format pixbuf)
804 Sets the pixel format to use for mouse pointers. Possible val‐
806 ues are bitmap and pixbuf.
807 (fractalexplorer-path "${gimp_dir}/fractalex‐
810 plorer:${gimp_data_dir}/fractalexplorer")
811 Where to search for fractals used by the Fractal Explorer plug-
813 in. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
814 (gfig-path "${gimp_dir}/gfig:${gimp_data_dir}/gfig")
817 Where to search for Gfig figures used by the Gfig plug-in. This
819 is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
820 (gflare-path "${gimp_dir}/gflare:${gimp_data_dir}/gflare")
823 Where to search for gflares used by the GFlare plug-in. This is
825 a colon-separated list of folders to search.
826 (gimpressionist-path "${gimp_dir}/gimpressionist:${gimp_data_dir}/gim‐
829 pressionist")
830 Where to search for data used by the Gimpressionist plug-in.
832 This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
833 (script-fu-path "${gimp_dir}/scripts:${gimp_data_dir}/scripts")
836 This path will be searched for scripts when the Script-Fu plug-
838 in is run. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
839
842 Strings of type PATH are expanded in a manner similar to bash(1).
843 Specifically: tilde (~) is expanded to the user's home directory. Note
844 that the bash feature of being able to refer to other user's home
845 directories by writing ~userid/ is not valid in this file.
846 ${variable} is expanded to the current value of an environment vari‐
848 able. There are a few variables that are pre-defined:
849 gimp_dir
851 The personal gimp directory which is set to the value of the
852 environment variable GIMP2_DIRECTORY or to ~/.gimp-2.4.
853 gimp_data_dir
855 Base for paths to shareable data, which is set to the value of
856 the environment variable GIMP2_DATADIR or to the compiled-in
857 default value /usr/share/gimp/2.0.
858 gimp_plug_in_dir
860 Base to paths for architecture-specific plugins and modules,
861 which is set to the value of the environment variable
862 GIMP2_PLUGINDIR or to the compiled-in default value
863 /usr/lib64/gimp/2.0.
864 gimp_sysconf_dir
866 Path to configuration files, which is set to the value of the
867 environment variable GIMP2_SYSCONFDIR or to the compiled-in
868 default value /etc/gimp/2.0.
869
872 /etc/gimp/2.0/gimprc
873 System-wide configuration file
874 $HOME/.gimp-2.4/gimprc
876 Per-user configuration file
877
880 gimp(1), gimptool(1), gimp-remote(1)
881GIMP Manual Pages Version 2.4.5 GIMPRC(5)