Hi, everyone. Have you been waiting forever for the single window mode?
I have.
I dl portable GIMP v2.6.8 this morning. This particular version is supposed to have the single window mode but I can't find it. Under Ubuntu, v2.6.8 has it under the WINDOW pulldown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkKG8j9faBA, http://www.ubuntuhq.com/content/singlewindow-confirmed-gimp-28-and-more ...). How do we get this in the portable windows version, 2.6.8?
I've tried both the plugins available here in portable apps (background window thingie one and the photoshop one) but they're both completely useless and just buggered up the whole thing.
Help, pls! I really want to go over to Linux and until I can do so, weaning myself off Window$ apps by going in the meantime to the Linux apps' Window$ equivalents is going to be a big help.
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The single-window mode is slated for 2.8.
The article states that it is for 2.8, which hasn't even released anything yet.
The Youtube video is for a trunk release (unstable development release) of 2.7, which is basically dedicated to the development of 2.8.
We have version 2.6.8, which is the latest stable release, so it won't have single window.
I know, I'm a little impatient for the next release of GIMP, but it looks like we need to wait a little longer.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
Is 2.7 very unstable? It might be worth looking into it just to start getting used to the app.
I got mixed up with the numbers must admit. I had a sort of dyslexic moment, somehow, confusing 2.8 with 2.6.8 ...
Even if 2.7 is no go, is there another way besides the Photoshop layout plugin or the background window thing that are both found here in portable apps to work around this, to me, design flaw? I really find the floating windows a pain because you have to click on them all the time to bring them back into focus. And they don't dock/snap to the background like so many other programs do. And putting the boxes as "on top" is no fix because then they block the interface where the picture goes . Just bad planning all the way around. There should be the option to do either.
Anyway, any ideas would be welcome. Sometimes this is why open source is such a pain! I absolutely love the concept, but to get anything achieved in a timely manner ... esp. if you're not able to contribute anything as you're not a programmer ...
It means that it hasn't gone through the normal beta and release testing, and is a work in progress. It might actually be stable, but they can't call it that without proper testing.
You won't see a portable version of this, because 99% of the time, beta version of apps aren't released here. There are a few exceptions, such as Audacity, but that's because of specific issues that break the app in the official release.
This IS a big issue with GIMP users, and a point of argument between developers of the app for years. However, as you pointed out, they have conceded that a single window should at least be an OPTION in the future versions.
I use GIMP almost exclusively, and there's a few things you can do to make the windows more manageable. First, open GIMP and arrange the toolbox and the main window to the sizes you want. Put the Toolbox on the right - that's important, because new image windows are added in the top left. Make it so the main window and the toolbox don't overlap.
Now, you can save these positions.
Go to Edit>Preferences...Tool Options. UNCHECK the box that says "Save tool options on exit", then click the button that says "Save Tool Options Now"
Go to ...Window Management, and do the same.UNCHECK the box that says "Save window positions on exit", then click the button that says "Save Window Positions Now".
Where it says Window Manager Hints: I choose "Utility", because it keeps the Toolbox on top in a logical way.
Now, every time you open GIMP, the windows will be in these positions.
One of the other things that bothered me was I kept accidentally removing the Layer or Tool tabs from within the Toolbox. You can set up the tabs you want and lock them in place by clicking on the little button with the left-pointing triangle (Configure this tab). I like to set up Tools, Layers, Paths, Undo History, Document History, and Images. The last one is great because if you lose track of the images you've been working on, you can select the one you want from that tab.
So, like you, I'm waiting on the next release, but hopefully these tips will help you deal with the version we have until then.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
That was a big help. Thanks. I've been trying to move over to GIMP for a few years now but kept leaving it, frustrated, after a few hours each new time I installed it.
But this time I may have gotten things so that I can live with it. A few peeves, even when maximizing via shortcut, GIMP doesn't want to maximize properly that I can see, but I wrote a script that would launch it then maximize the window. Stupid GIMP since I still have to give focus to the toolbox the first time but at least, I'm further ahead. With all your tips, I figured out how to have just _ONE_ tools window on the side. If I have to live with annoying floating tools, at least there's only one of them now.
I also set up a script to back up the config files once a month. So that should keep my covered till GIMP improves.
I think I can now concentrate on learning GIMP. I had a portable imaging app at the office that turned out to be infected. One of those situations where for 2 years it's shown up clean no matter where I was. So at least with GIMP, it's open source so if there are any problems, people can see behind-the-scenes what's going on and warn us. But I really need a powerful editor. They ask more and more of us at work without providing us with the tools we need. So, I'm forced to find them on my own.
At least I feel safer with portable GIMP. I think that's another reason why I like the concept, too.
Thanks once again. Now to figure out the rest of the challenges when moving to GIMP .
Just in case anyone is interested, I thought I'd share the script I created just now to maximize GIMP. Like a lot of portable apps, the splash window interferes with most maximizing commands (i.e., if you set a shortcut to maximize, apps won't maximize since the splash screen takes so long or interferes, or something ... ).
At any rate, I use a freeware scripting language called AutoIt (http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/index.shtml). What's cool about this app, if you don't know about it, is that once you install it the first time, you can then copy the install folder to a USB flash drive and it works pretty much standalone from there. You do have to associate the script AU3 files with it, but that just means that the first time you click on an AU3 script file on any new system, that you point Windows back to the AutoIt executable on your flash drive. Also, since AutoIt has relative path options as part of what you can script (i.e., terms like @scriptdir, @ProgramFilesDir, etc., etc.) it'll work off usb thumb drives excellently well no matter where you go.
At any rate, see the script below. If you have AutoIt or decide to use it, this script should work with most portable GIMP installations as long as any file names, etc., are changed to reflect differences in names/locations.
I docked all brushes, textures, etc., etc. to the panel/layout, whatever it's called in GIMP, called "Toolbox" so last line in script gives it focus so that it comes to the front after GIMP launches (via "WinActivate" command).
Make sure you leave "WinTitleMatchMode" mode in there at #2, that allows AI to use partial window titles. This is usually important since window titles can change depending on whether or not you have full paths set to display in Windows, etc., etc. Without it, this command rarely works since you have to then have the title typed in _exactly_ path and all, which then rarely coincides for long, esp. if you go from system to system with a flash drive.
Without further ado, here it is:
; ; AutoIt 3x ; #NoTrayIcon ; AutoIt's icon doesn't show in systray TraySetIcon("Shell32.dll", 274) ; changes the icon displayed in the systray AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 2) ; this allows partial window titles to be valid! ;================================================================================================================= $app2launch = @ScriptDir & "\GIMPPortable.exe" $windowTitle = "GNU Image Manipulation Program" ;================================================================================================================= ShellExecute($app2launch) ; launches GIMP Sleep(2000) ; gives a bit of time for launch to complete. Not strictly necessary, but a just in case. WinWaitActive($windowTitle) ; gives focus to the window title above of our choice. WinSetState($windowTitle, "", @SW_MAXIMIZE) ; maximizes the window above of our choice. Sleep(500) WinActivate("Toolbox", "") ; this should bring the GIMP Toolbox on top again after launch. Exit ; finishedSo far, it's working great for me. Will see if there is any tweaking necessary as time goes on. But it's great so far.
Cheers.
[Code moved into a pre block, mod SL]
I resisted using Gimp for a long time but eventually I became frustrated with not being able to find a comparable image editor that was portable, so I forced myself into a relationship with Gimp. It's still a love/hate relationship but the balance has shifted more towards love.
The GUI is horrible, but the information given above has inspired me to tinker a bit more with GIMP's settings to see if I further adjust it to my liking.
Good luck!
I love fielding these types of questions, because they make me find out new things about GIMP. About half of those suggestions I gave you I was already using, and the others I kind of knew about. By taking your challenge, I optimized my own GIMP experience!
Funny thing, I can't make head or tail out of Photoshop sometimes, but I can do almost everything I need with the GIMP - and I keep finding little gems every time I play with it.
Good luck! and check out the GIMP web site, there's a lot of good documentation there. Plus, there are quite a few tutorials all over the web, and a pretty big collection of plugins available at the GIMP registry.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.