GIMP 2.9, GimpPaintStudio and GURM - the ultimate GIMP set-up!

damo · 2017-08-18 03:45:08

HowTo: Set up GIMP 2.9, GIMP Paint Studio and GIMP Unified Resource Manager

[This is a complete rewrite of a similar HowTo on the Crunchbang forum]

I like to run Gimp Paint Studio which installs a bunch of pre-sets (tools, workspace, brushes etc) which is great for digital painting, but doesn't suit other stuff I like to do.

Previously I installed the various new rc files, then adjusted the Preferences: the problem with that is all the extra brushes, gradients, patterns etc which I wouldn't usually use. I could move them all to my gimp-resources directory and load them as needed with GURM (GIMP Unified Resource Manager), but then I'd have to re-set the workspace as well.

GIMP is was notorious for being slow to load after you have added downloaded brushes, gradients, patterns... but at least the new tool filters in GIMP-2.9 make it easier to keep track of them. I still prefer the GIMP Unified Resource Manager (GURM) though, and it really helps the workflow.

So this is how to set up GIMP so that you can start it with whatever preferences you have previously chosen, and also be able to start it with the GIMP Paint Studio workspace, tool presets etc. Then you can use GURM to manage all the resources, so that they don't need to be loaded at startup and clog up the dialogs with stuff you may rarely use....

Install GIMP 2.9 (Development version)

Remember this is a Development version, so be prepared for crashes, especially with some of the gegl operations. NB the xcf format cannot be opened by older GIMP versions

GURM and GIMP-GPS work fine with GIMP 2.8 from the Stable repos, but if you want high bit-depth support, the enhanced gegl operations, a variety of interface themes and icons, and MyPaint brushes, then you need GIMP 2.9. @stevep has packaged this from the gimp-edge sources, for both jessie and stretch, so install it by first adding the OBS repo as described here.

For Debian 9, for example, first add the repository and the apt key as necessary (as root):

echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevepassert/Debian_9.0/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gimp.list 

wget -nv http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevepassert/Debian_9.0/Release.key -O Release.key
apt-key add - < Release.key
apt-get update

The babl and gegl libraries are needed (installing gegl should bring them in as dependencies), so install them, and GIMP 2.9. If you also want the MyPaint brushes, which are now available for GIMP 2.9, get that as well:

apt-get install gegl gimp gimp-gmic gimp-data-extras mypaint

If you want some extra goodies (a variety of plugins) then also get the "gimp-plugin-registry" package.
_________________________________________________________________________

Setting up the GIMP directories

Create a gimp-resources directory (call it what you like ) and copy in all the sub-directories from ~/.config/GIMP/2.x/ (This also has the advantage that if you re-install or upgrade you just need to point GIMP here instead of having to reinstall your resources again. I have mine in a separate data partition.)

I have sub-dirs within that to store my saved or downloaded resources, so for example:

gimp-resources
        brushes
            gimp-default-brushes
            clouds
            grunge
            splatter
            water
            vegetation
        gradients
            gimp-default-gradients
            metallic-gradients
            my-gradients
        patterns
            gimp-default-patterns
            my-patterns
        scripts
        plug-ins
        etc
            etc

Some of these are what will appear in the GURM tabbed dialog later...

Now you can delete the contents of those ~/.config/GIMP/2.x/ subdirs (really!).
______________________________________________________________________

Setting up GURM - the GIMP Unified Resource Manager

A GIMP plug-in script to manage installed resources - just load what is needed:
* Brushes
* Dynamics
* Fonts
* Gradients
* Palettes
* Patterns
* Plug-ins
* Scripts

gurm-scrot.png?raw=true

The original v0.7 worked OK, and was forked and extended by someone else as v0.8. This was buggy (and designed for Windows), so I have made GURM v0.9, which I hope has a lot of improvements and is "Linux-centric".

Download GURM v0.9 from github. Setup instructions are in the 'INSTALL' file.

___________________________________________________________________

Setting up GIMP Paint Studio

Gimp Paint Studio
GPS is a collection of brushes and accompanying tool presets. Tool presets are simply saved tool options, a highly useful feature of GIMP.
The goal of GPS is to provide an adequate working environment for graphic designers and artists to begin to paint and feel comfortable with GIMP from their first use. Later the user will change these settings based on his own workflow preferences and understanding of GIMP.
But it is also an attempt at something more. It is also an independent initiative to push for the increased awareness that GIMP is not only useful for cropping photos, adjusting colour balances and make minor website graphics.
GIMP is also an excellent tool for digital painters, creating completely new works of art from scratch, a capacity that is not always fully realized by the default setup, until now. Developers are working on more features for next releases.
The GPS's collected artistic media presets and brush collection is one step on the way towards making GIMP a more pleasant environment for digital artists.

Download the latest GPS (Aug 2013 tar.gz file: GPS Gimp Paint Studio 2.0)
Create an empty GPS directory - "~/.GIMP-GPS".
Copy the contents of the downloaded and unzipped brushes,palettes,gradients,patterns and tool-options directories into ~/.GIMP-GPS. The other config rc files will be created from defaults the first time this instance of GIMP is run.
Download the sessionrc file, and move it to ~/.GIMP-GPS, if you want to modify the GPS position and rearrange the windows on the GIMP's screen. This will set the layout of GIMP's windows to what the developer reckons is good for digital painting (you can reset them later anyway).
To use GURM with GIMP-GPS, move the contents of all the ~/.GIMP-GPS directories to your gimp-resources location; copy 'gurm.py' and 'gurm.ini' to ~/.GIMP-GPS/plug-ins (create it if necessary); adjust the filepaths, as described above in the INSTALL file.

____________________________________________________________________

Starting different instances of GIMP

Now for the sneaky bit What we want is to be able to run GIMP with the default installation, and also with the GPS presets and workspace. So we need to be able to point each instance of GIMP to its own gimprc settings.

Set the environment variable that GIMP looks for on startup to GIMP2_DIRECTORY=~/.GIMP-GPS when GPS is run
with a script...
```
#!/bin/bash
##
## set GIMP environment variable to path for Gimp with GimpPaintStudio presets
export GIMP2_DIRECTORY=~/.GIMP-GPS
## run new instance of GIMP
gimp -n &
```
Call it eg gimp-gps, put it in your path, and make executable

Set up your launcher or keybinds to start whichever version you choose: here's my Openbox rc.xml for example...

<!-- GIMP 2.9 -->
    <keybind key="W-g">
        <action name="Execute">
            <startupnotify>
                <enabled>true</enabled>
                <name>gimp</name>
            </startupnotify>
            <command>gimp -n</command>
        </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-A-g">
        <action name="Execute">
            <startupnotify>
                <enabled>true</enabled>
                <name>gimp-gps</name>
            </startupnotify>
            <command>gimp-gps</command>
        </action>
    </keybind>

If you find that the GIMP window is too high, the bottom is off the screen, and it can't be resized vertically...it is probably due to the extra colours dockable dialog in the Toolbox pane at the left side. Closing that dock should now allow resizing, and the new dimensions will be saved on exit.

_________________________________________________________________

Polishing

You can use different splash screens for each instance of GIMP
You can have any number of images(don't make them too small though) - GIMP will load one at random at startup, if there is more than one. Just put them in splashes (create it if it doesn't exist)
GPS settings
The next step is optional but will improve the overall usability of the user interface.
- Edit->Preferences->Toolbox: Activate the three ticks available there.
- Edit->Preferences->Tool Options: Under the Paint Options Shared Between Tools, disable three options (Brush, Pattern, and Gradient).
- Edit->Preferences->Image Windows/Mouse Pointers: Disable the “Show brush outline” option and make sure you have checked or enabled the “Show pointer for paint tools”.This will increase the speed of brushes when you are painting.

Happy GIMPing .....

GIMP GPS layout, and splash screen:

GIMP 2.9, with splash and GURM window:

Last edited by damo (2017-08-26 02:46:59)

Steve · 2017-08-18 11:17:25

Thanks damo, i will have to give this tutorial a try. Cheers.

stevep · 2017-08-25 01:46:44

I'm currently working to get the new multithreaded gimp-2.9.6 built in the same repo. I'm going to leave the current gimp 2.9.5 in there also, in case 2.9.6 has too many issues. The omgubuntu post said you can switch multithreading off in the new Gimp preferences, also--but the developers would prefer that users find the bugs in it.

Update: The 2.9.6 source from the GIMP download server needs to build on libpng-dev >= 1.6, and if that's backported to Jessie, it causes conflicts with all the other -dev packages that need the 1.2 version of that -dev package in Jessie. So I'm only able to build that 2.9.6 for Stretch.

I did update the 2.9.5 package to 2.9.5.151 from the gimp-edge PPA for both Jessie and Stretch, it's building right now.

Update 2: I had to add a "-std-gnu11" to the CFLAGS exported in the rules file for the 2.9.5.151 version to build for Jessie, but it did so successfully.

Last edited by stevep (2017-08-25 05:33:30)

damo · 2017-08-25 14:57:42

^ For gimp (NB I changed the pin to 650)

apt-cache policy gimp
gimp:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.9.6-0obs
  Version table:
     2.9.6-0obs 650
        650 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevepassert/Debian_9.0  Packages
     2.9.5.151-0obs 650
        650 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevepassert/Debian_9.0  Packages
     2.8.18-1 600
        600 https://cdn-aws.deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 Packages

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 gimp : Depends: libmypaint (> 1.4.0~6) but it is not going to be installed

libmypaint:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.3.0-0bpo8.obs

EDIT: I'm not sure if this is recommended, but I used gdebi to install libmypaint(1.4) from gimp-edge, then did

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libmypaint-1.4.so.0 /usr/lib/libmypaint-1.3.so.0

Gimp 2.9.6 is now running

Last edited by damo (2017-08-25 15:32:40)

stevep · 2017-08-25 17:43:12

Whoops, thanks for catching that. Usually those kind of library dependencies are handled automagically in the build process by dh-shlibdeps--I'm not sure why it's been hardcoded into the dependencies by Otto. Maybe I can do some experiments to see what's really happening. I'm updating libmypaint in my repo to get it working as it is now, anyway.

damo · 2017-08-25 23:38:17

stevep wrote:

Whoops, thanks for catching that. Usually those kind of library dependencies are handled automagically in the build process by dh-shlibdeps--I'm not sure why it's been hardcoded into the dependencies by Otto. Maybe I can do some experiments to see what's really happening. I'm updating libmypaint in my repo to get it working as it is now, anyway.

Nice one - all is working now from the repo

stevep · 2017-08-26 17:31:22

Oddly enough, the 2.9.7~1 source just added to gimp-edge (is this between 2.9.6 and 2.9.7?) does not insist on the newer libpng-dev like 2.9.6 source that was directly downloaded from the GIMP website does. Maybe it's the regeneration of the configure stuff that the gimp-edge build does with autogen.sh?--that script is missing from the 2.9.6 source...

Any, that 2.9.7~1 version is now also in my repo for Jessie and Stretch.

damo · 2017-08-26 18:17:13

^ And it nearly broke my gimp! The packages were held back during an upgrade because libgimp2.0 wasn't upgradeable (IIRC, I'm not on the laptop ATM).

I've managed to reset everything to 2.9.6, and have put 2.9.7 on hold for now.

stevep · 2017-08-27 21:18:15

OK, I just removed all the multiple versions of GIMP and its build-deps of babl (libbabl) and gegl (libgegl) in favor of just having the latest versions, that seems to unconfused the OBS, and 2.9.7~1 now will install...at least in my test system.

damo · 2017-08-27 22:10:04

^ Nice one

$ gimp -v
GNU Image Manipulation Program version 2.9.7

Also, the commit version appears on the image window background as expected. With 2.9.6 it was showing as "Unknown"

dove · 2017-09-16 20:28:46

when I try to open gimp I get

GIMP requires BABL version 0.1.30 or later.
Installed BABL version is 0.1.28.

and could now get BABL 0.1.30 complied from source because of locked

install: cannot create regular file '/usr/share/gtk-doc/html/babl/index-static.html': Permission denied

can anyone help or at help me back to 2.8 many thanx

stevep · 2017-10-12 18:53:18

I found a private repo by a packager that also has gimp-2.9.6, at least for Stretch, along with some other interesting packages, such as qt5ct for Stretch. The packaging seems first rate compared to some PPAs...the gimp-edge PPA is not so great.

https://repozytorium.mati75.eu/

brontosaurusrex · 2017-10-13 07:57:22

Anyone managed to do 2.9.6 appimage? (I got to about 80% before the procedure errorscraps-out with errors that are not understood by mua)
https://github.com/aferrero2707/gimp-appimage
https://brontosaurusrex.github.io/2017/ … e-builder/

Last edited by brontosaurusrex (2017-10-13 08:00:38)

stevep · 2017-12-27 23:59:04

Just upgraded babl, gegl, and added GIMP 2.9.9~3 for Jessie and Stretch in my multimedia OBS repo. GIMP 2.9.7 is still in the repo, and aptitude can probably downgrade to it if you ask it nicely, in the event you don't like the update.

Last edited by stevep (2017-12-27 23:59:52)

stevep · 2018-02-02 23:55:29

I took a look at the latest GIMP 2.9.9~7, and it now won't even build on Stretch without first backporting gobject-instrospection 1.54 (and first the libglib-2.0 2.54 that requires first). This is due to a call to `g_object_new_with_properties'in the GIMP code which first appears in gobject-introspection 1.54.

I was able to backport those two on Stretch, along with another new package, and build the GIMP there, but this may not be possible on a Jessie base. And I don't want to add those new backports to the multimedia repo, so I will probably split GIMP 2.99~7 and its build-depends for Stretch out into a separate repository.

I am able to build 2.9.9~7 in a Debian Buster repository, but that needed the addition of some python-gnome packages that aren't in testing for some reason or other. https://build.opensuse.org/package/show … media/gimp

Last edited by stevep (2018-02-02 23:56:29)

#1 2017-08-18 03:45:08