

GIMP Single-Window Mode Almost Ready, Hardware Acceleration Planned  - Garbage
http://ostatic.com/blog/gimp-single-window-mode-almost-ready-hardware-acceleration-planned

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exDM69
Am I the only one who actually likes GIMP's multi-window interface? It works
great with multiple displays. I've seen people do amazing things with GIMP,
using a combination of keyboard shortcuts and clever use of the toolbox - in
the hands of a skilled craftsman, it's an excellent and fast tool to use.

Of course I've been using GIMP since it was still in it's infancy and I've
never used Photoshop, so I didn't have a trouble adjusting.

It's still cool that they implement the single window mode, since it's been
one of the prime source of complaints from photoshoppers and people migrating
from other software.

~~~
callahad
I've found that the multi-window mode feels best when you're using a Linux
window manager that allows you to move a window by holding a modifier key and
clicking anywhere on the window.

But if you can's easily grab and move the floating palettes around, using the
GIMP becomes more of an exercise in window positioning than in image
manipulation.

~~~
stuaxo
On windows - AltDrag makes life easier in a lot of situations, couldn't live
without it now!

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CrLf
Single-window mode has been one of the most requested features for GIMP. Fact:
when it finally comes, no one will care (they never did).

Actually, the multi-window interface is much better when you have virtual-
desktops (everywhere but Windows) or multiple screens.

Pixelmator on the Mac is a multi-window application (like most Mac apps are)
and I don't see anyone complaining about it.

The problems are:

1\. GIMP isn't Photoshop;

2\. When a window is clicked, all windows should come to the foreground (more
precisely, all palettes).

For 1. there's not much that can be done. Whatever the application, if it has
to do with graphics, people will complain about this (everyone will complain
that it is missing a certain Photoshop feature, up to the total of Photoshop
features). At the same time, they will complain about Photoshop itself, and
trying to be more like Photoshop isn't going to work, uncanny valley style.

As for 2... It's a window manager problem actually. On the Mac, again,
Pixelmator does this just fine and it works great.

~~~
jamesteow
I tend to agree.

My background: I've been using Photoshop for about fifteen years nearly
everyday.

Just to be more informed, I decided to download Mac version of GIMP.

What I like: \- Feels much more nimble, lightweight

\- Seems like it has most of core tools I need

What prevents me from using it: \- The interface seems really unfinished. I
think that's what I like about Pixelmator: it's polished and looks somewhat
similar to Photoshop's layout

\- The shortcuts are all different. I'm not even sure I can customize the
shortcuts in some of the contexts as even some of the ones in Photoshop are
sort of built in. That alone would be a huge deterrent as I rarely click on
any interfaces.

\- Layer effects and smart objects. I know they are in the Roadmap but without
them, I can't re-use elements others or I have made from Photoshop and it does
effect image creation.

\- Masking is a little kludgy. When I imported my PSDs with shape masking,
they all disappeared. Does it support vector masking?

\- Doesn't seem to support importing vectors from Illustrator as it
automatically outputs some of the elements as raster elements.

\- Lack of layer folders.

The whole single-window mode? I think that wouldn't nearly entice me as it's
not that much of a deterrent.

~~~
choice
I agree with all those points, but especially vector smart objects and vector
masks/paths; it's insane how useful they are. Those features alone are worth
paying for Photoshop.

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blub
I have been using GIMP for 9 months and the UI is exasperating.

It's not just multi-window mode, things like the way the windows are rendered
and designed, focus issues, shortcuts, missing features and a lot of other
annoyances.

The most disappointing thing is that I'm not even doing intensive graphical
work, just retouching some photos, moving things around, resizing, etc.

~~~
gst
The UI works quite well with a focus-follows-mouse policy - as it has been
standard in Unix for decades. With today's click-to-focus window managers the
UI is just horrible (but that's not Gimp's fault).

~~~
LawnGnome
To an extent it is Gimp's fault, though. It's not as though click-to-focus is
a new fad that's sprung up and surprised everyone -- it's been the default way
focus has worked in GNOME and KDE for as long as I can remember, and I've been
using it for the best part of fifteen years on Linux.

The fact that such a common use case (almost certainly the most common use
case, not to mention Gimp-related irritation, for at least the past decade)
has been ignored for so long is disappointing.

~~~
pwg
> almost certainly the most common use case [click-to-focus]

Most common only if you are coming from a ms-windows background. Click-to-
focus is only a relatively recent newcomer to the Unix/X-Windows system in the
scheme of how long X-Windows has existed.

And if you ever break out of your ms-windows mindset and actually give focus
follows mouse a try, focus follows mouse is actually the more powerful method.

~~~
eropple
_And if you ever break out of your ms-windows mindset and actually give focus
follows mouse a try, focus follows mouse is actually the more powerful
method._

Not this again. Focus-follows-mouse is _different_ , not _more powerful_. It
provides a different way of working that not everyone agrees with and not
everyone wants to use.

Seriously, get over yourself.

~~~
pwg
Yes, it is different.

But it is that very difference that makes it much more powerful of a UI
convention.

If you had ever experienced it, you'd understand.

~~~
eropple
I've used both. I have no preference and can work in either; it doesn't affect
me either way. Your argument is to false authority.

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sapphirecat
I'v been eagerly awaiting this, since my major annoyances all have to do with
the floating dialogs:

Not hiding the palettes when the last gimp window was minimized. Minimize ->
d'oh! -> unminimize -> secret key shortcut[1] -> minimize again. Older
versions used to hide them with any image window being minimized, so it was
minimize#1 -> sigh -> minimize#2 -> unminimize#2 back then.

Placing the toolboxes at x,0 by default so they were underneath the
taskbar/menubar. I keep my taskbar on top on Windows, and I'm glad I know
about Alt+Space there.

Not having the image window's keyboard shortcuts work when a tool window is
focused, for which I know no workaround.

Having the tool windows appear in the Alt+Tab list.

Actually, I can think of one more that was remedied with 2.0: the menu used to
be hidden. You could right-click the image or hit the ">" button at the corner
of the rulers, but it took me a long time to figure out how to save my first
image.

[1] TAB. I think its action is finally available in the menus, and the
shortcut displayed with it, in 2.7.x.

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grandinj
The gimp developers were initially strongly resistant to the idea of single-
window mode, so it's not a surprise that it's taken this long.

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headbiznatch
Love GIMP, but I really wish they would fix the issues with bit depth
(precision in general) and IMHO, proper CMYK support.

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struppi
I think I might like a single window mode. I am not a "power user", but I
regularily use Gimp when I do artwork for my homepage or climbing blog. I'll
have to give it a try soon.

~~~
keithpeter
Its useful (try the preview 2.7.3 version). Can't set it as an option yet.

~~~
keithpeter
Sorry I meant can't set single window as the start up option as yet, you get
the three windows then have to select single window from the Tools menu

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jcromartie
Hardware acceleration with OpenCL? That's not the kind of acceleration I
expected.

~~~
Ralith
What kind did you expect?

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mberning
Finally. I know that this feature has been talked about for at least 3 years.

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mariuolo
Duke Nukem Forever has already been released, just sayin'.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Wine reached 1.0, gmail got out of beta, Starcraft II released. Little risk of
GNU Hurd shipping any time soon though...

~~~
Newky
I don't know, GNU Hurd was taken up for GSOC. We could see amazing things yet
:)

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whiterabbit
God be praised.

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qusiba
Everybody I know who knows GIMP thinks it's terrible. I'm getting used it so I
guess I'm really a bit tougher than normal people.

