Hi,
It’s been a while since I last posted this and the old link have gone - thought it was time for a reminder how to do it for all those new to Gimp.
Ever wished Gimp looked more like Photoshop? tired of the default ugly layout that appears to have no thought put into it? well, look no further - with just a few little mods, you’ll have this:
I wish the Gimp devs would take note of how it could be, real shame… anyhu I digress
Note: I’m using elementary OS (elementaryos.org) which is based on Ubuntu, so ht emethod here applies to both, and probably other distros, but I haven’t checked
First up you’ll require a recent version of Gimp, as I write I think the Software Centre is only offering 2.6 which is missing some important features to us. So if you don’t know how to, here’s how to download the latest Gimp offering 2.8+, enter the Terminal and add this PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa#otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gimp
(Please replace the remove the ‘#’ above with a ‘:’, as I can’t get rid of the smiley that keeps appearing in the BA forum)
This will also update through your elementary Update Manager as the Gimp improves, so it’s a handy way to be bang-up-to-date. The only issue you may have as that as my post ages over time, the PPA may not be available, but there will aways be another to replace it – just do a search online if you’re stuck.
If you want to disable the PPA, you can do it easily by opening up the Software Centre, go to menu item 'Edit; and choose “Software Sources”. Move over to the second tab titled “Other Software” and uncheck the PPA - easy as beans on toast without an egg.
Here’s the download link for the icon set:
As Photoshop has icons In the Tool Panel that can change if you hold them down, you’ll have to approximate the layout to your taste in Gimp. Here’s my Layout that I chose:
The ‘.gimp-2.8’ directory is located in your Home folder, but it’s hidden, so just press CTRL+H to toggle the hidden folders.
Gimp UI:
1) If you prefer Single-Window mode (as in the screenshot), select it now in the menu “Windows”.
2) To get the Tool Palette narrower you’ll need to drag the Brushes away from the panel. I prefer a minimal layout and really only use the Layer and History Palette, but feel free to add/remove what you like. This is one of the big annoyances with Gimp’s default layout – there’s just too much on show at once and those brushes take up way too much space!
3) The Canvas colour also needs to be adjusted as it’s not dark gray, to change this, head into ‘Preferences’ under the “Edit” menu and change 'Appearance” >‘Custom padding colour’ and also ‘Custom Padding Mode’ Having a dark canvas is easier on the eyes after you’ve been playing with gimp for several hours. Plus it makes it less distracting when working with photos or images.
4) Now you can jig around your Tools in ‘Preferences’>Toolbox>Tool Configuration to suit.
5) I increased the Layer Thumbnail size, but that’s up to you.
6) Now if only I could get rid of that silly message under the tools palate “You can drop dockable dialogs here” oh hum.
I also hate the Splash screen in Gimp, as do many other users – there’s other slpashes available online – it’s looks so unprofessional, so I threw a quick one together myself for you to use.
If you wish to use it, replace the one in usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/
For elementary OS:
Start by opening up your file manager (Pantheon-Files) and copy (CTRL+C) the ‘gimp-splash.png’ image, then in the Terminal type:
gksu pantheon-files /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/
This will open up Elementary Pantheon files manager as root, so be careful!
Type your password, re-name the original “gimp-splash.png” to something like “gimp-splash-old.png, then simply paste the new one in with CTRL+V.
For Ubuntu etc:
Just follow the procedure above and use ‘nautilus’ or whatever other file manager you use instead of ‘pantheon-files’
When you’re all done I hope it inspires you to use Gimp more and also not feel like you’re using a second class app compared to Photoshop – there’s a lot of cool features in Gimp that Photoshop doesn’t have out of the box – Gimp, love it, use it and be inspired!
Jay.