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Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

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Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#41

Post by billfruit »

10729287 wrote: post #2

I really want Gimp to succeed. It's a software I've been trying to use since more than 20 years now but the UX is so clunky.... and different than Photoshop. Muscle Memory is a thing. I'm moving my main machine from macOS to Linux (which I also used partially since 20years), moving from a mac mini M1 to a lovely Lenovo M75Q-1 and so far the experience has been great. I'm a (enthusiast) photographer and I have big hop…

In a recent attempt to use Gimp for a small project, a few features I found were lacking:

1. Viewing the layer boundaries of all layers. Very helpful in seeing the total layout of the project.

2. Select multiple layers and do operations like move/align.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#42

Post by hulitu »

Theizestooke wrote: post #15
prox wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love Gimp to succeed but Gimp is made by coders for coders (as you might expect from a open source program) and not by visual artists for visual artists. I don’t have a lot of hope. For years I have been using Affinity and it’s been really good, haven’t looked back. Unfortunately it’s not on linux.

They could start with a name change.

> They could start with a name change.

Yes. Peacock will be fine. It is a wonderful bird.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#43

Post by pjmlp »

soulofmischief wrote: post #31
pjmlp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to draw lines and geometric shapes, without having to deal with paths, like in any other sane graphical program. Has this been finally sorted out?

Inkscape is an SVG editor. It's in the name. I for one love having a tool with semantics so close to the format, instead of dealing with Illustrator's nonsense. Sometimes Illustrator is the right tool, but as a web developer, Inkscape is the only sane tool for manipulating SVG.

The point is this a solved problem in every other paint program out there since Xerox, no one is asking for drawing SVG.

But it never gets sorted out due to whatever ideologic feeling Gimp developers have with offering only paths as option.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#44

Post by amelius »

bobek wrote: post #8
amelius wrote: post #4

> As with GIMP 2.10, GIMP 3.0 ships with a Python interpreter embedded and will not use the system Python. This is great and I wish this was the same with other tools, like Kicad, Freecad and Inkscape.

FreeCAD actually uses python for scripting. The console is a python repl. https://wiki.freecad.org/Python

Well the question is if it relies on the system Python, or if it ships its own version.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#45

Post by tux3 »

threeducks wrote: post #40
snvzz wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different focus. Krita is for free drawing, gimp is a photoshop replacement. I do agree they probably would benefit from trying Krita.

I often hear that Krita has a different focus, but does it lack anything that GIMP has? (disregarding obscure features like bell pepper brush)

(And I'm sure someone has ported the pepper brush as well!)

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#46

Post by hiccuphippo »

krapp wrote: post #25
n3storm wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also remember for million time they will never use it because it doesn't have exact keys as their proprietary contents kidnapper software.

I don't know... it seems to me that most of the complaints about Gimp come from people who actually use it, because people who never use it wouldn't have anything to complain about. It also seems odd to assert that non-contributors have no right to complain on a forum where most people, most of the time, complain about things they have no direct knowledge of nor a hand in making.

I actually use it. I don't mind the keybindings, they make more sense than Photoshop's or Krita's to me. The complains are from people that want Photoshop for free and Gimp is not that.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#47

Post by xandrius »

prox wrote: post #5
10729287 wrote: post #2

I really want Gimp to succeed. It's a software I've been trying to use since more than 20 years now but the UX is so clunky.... and different than Photoshop. Muscle Memory is a thing. I'm moving my main machine from macOS to Linux (which I also used partially since 20years), moving from a mac mini M1 to a lovely Lenovo M75Q-1 and so far the experience has been great. I'm a (enthusiast) photographer and I have big hop…

I would love Gimp to succeed but Gimp is made by coders for coders (as you might expect from a open source program) and not by visual artists for visual artists. I don’t have a lot of hope. For years I have been using Affinity and it’s been really good, haven’t looked back. Unfortunately it’s not on linux.

Same here. Affinity is great, it has some quirk and some basic features are scattered around the UI without seemingly much thought.

But every time I have to use Gimp is just a pain, feels like going back in time.

For such a complex tool, UX is and will always remain king. That's why many people miss even something as simple as the Mac Preview tool, it does its job nicely and neatly. It doesn't do much but for basic stuff is quick and straightforward.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#48

Post by xandrius »

ludston wrote: post #12

As is tradition, all threads about an open source project must be kicked off with non-contributers putting shit on it unconstructively.

As tradition, the developers see themselves as gods on earth who cannot be given any sort of feedback without hurting their ego.

Many other open source tools are beloved and used despite their flaws. Gimp is not built for anyone who isn't truly invested in it, making it a niche piece of software.

And the direction of 20 years of a software can tell what kind of contributions would be acceptable for people. I don't think anyone coming in a redoing the whole UI would well accepted, given how little care is given to the same old feedback.

Re: Writing a Gimp 3.0 Plugin

#50

Post by 2mlWQbCK »

RugnirViking wrote: post #17
amelius wrote: post #4

> As with GIMP 2.10, GIMP 3.0 ships with a Python interpreter embedded and will not use the system Python. This is great and I wish this was the same with other tools, like Kicad, Freecad and Inkscape.

Doesn't Inkscape use its own python? I feel like I've found its python a couple times when searching for venvs on windows

It probably ships with python on some platforms. Pretty sure it does on Windows.

But it does not really have a python API. Most (all?) extensions that ship with Inkscape are written in python, and it comes with some base classes and helper modules to make those extensions. But the "API" is basically "we send the current document to the extension's stdin, and whatever comes out as stdout becomes the new document". The extension, written in Python or something else, is responsible for handling all the quirks of SVG (a mix of subsets of two or more of the SVG specs) and (the current version of) Inkscape's additions to SVG.

It is quite painful. I have maintained a couple of third-party extensions written in python since back in Inkscape 0.99.x days (ca 2007). Had to do several annoying major rewrites. Since there is no real API you depend on whatever happens to be in those helper classes, rarely documented and never stable. One of my extension, as do some of the first-party extensions, have to rely on launching Inkscape as a sub-process to perform some work, since there is no way to call in to the running Inkscape. If there was a real API you could have functions to call to query about the boundaries of objects, and other functions to apply changes to objects, that could use internal implementations that are already existing and that can do those things. But the way it works now (and always worked in Inkscape) is that you have to take care of everything yourself, more or less, maybe helped by some of the included helpers if you are lucky to find something that does something similar to what you want to do.

Pretty much done with this. I stopped officially supporting new Inksape versions. I just tell users that the next time Inkscape messes with their not-really-API my extensions will be dead. I can still run them with old Inkscape in some virtual machine. Maybe I will re-implement everything if I find an application that has strong backwards-compatibility goals.

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