- GIMP 3.0 updates the interface for high-resolution displays
- Keeps projects compatible with older versions
- Extensive testing ensures bug-free GIMP 3.0
After twenty years of waiting, the latest version of the popular image editor GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) will finally be released soon.
As a popular, free and open source Photoshop alternative, GIMP has been a reliable tool for users since its inception in 1995.
The transition from GIMP 2.x to 3.0 marks an important milestone in the software’s long history and brings modernized features and improvements while maintaining the familiar experience users have come to expect.
GIMP 3.0 version
The jump from GIMP 2.x to GIMP 3.0 has taken much longer than users initially expected, largely due to the complexity of maintaining an open source project with contributions from a large global community of developers.
GIMP has remained at version 2.x for over 20 years, with incremental updates introducing small but important improvements over time.
Starting with the release of GIMP 2.0 in 2004, subsequent versions such as 2.4X (2007), 2.6X (2008), and 2.8X (2012) kept the software relevant in a changing digital landscape. The most recent 2.10X update, released in 2018, has been in use for the past six years.
GIMP 3.0 is expected to be released in late December 2024 or early January 2025.
Despite the long wait, the release of GIMP 3.0 is expected to bring a host of modern features that will make the software more user-friendly and able to meet the needs of today’s graphic designers.
One of the most noticeable changes in GIMP 3.0 is the new user interface. While the layout remains familiar to long-time users, the design has been smoothed out and optimized for high-resolution screens. This is a crucial improvement, as older versions of GIMP often suffered from scaling issues on larger, modern screens. In GIMP 3.0, many icons have been converted to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), ensuring they maintain their quality regardless of screen resolution.
Another major focus of the GIMP 3.0 update is compatibility. The GIMP development team has worked extensively to ensure that projects created in previous versions of the software remain usable in the new release. This includes stabilizing the public GIMP API (Application Programming Interface), making it easier to port plugins and scripts from GIMP 2.10 to GIMP 3.0.
As GIMP has grown over the years, users have come to rely on a wide variety of third-party plugins, so this backward compatibility will be essential for a smooth transition.
As with any major software update, GIMP 3.0 is extensively tested. The release candidate has been made available to the community for feedback, allowing users to report any bugs or issues they encounter.
According to the development team, the speed of the final release depends on the nature of the bugs found. Small, easily fixed bugs can lead to a quick final release, while larger issues can lead to further testing of a second release candidate.
Via Tom’s hardware