The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a cross-platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows.
Gimp is free and open source so you can change it's source code and distribute your changes.
Today I'll be going over where Gimp installs the program and the configuration files on a Debian Linux system.
The current version of Gimp is 2.10.36. This version, by the way, runs great on my Slackware system. I've tested it on Slackware but not that version on Debian as of yet.
Here's the link for that:
https://www.gimp.org/
For this article I'm using Gimp version 2.10.34 on this Debian12 Cinnamon installation.
To begin the main packages for Gimp, console and clipboard are in the bin directory in the root file system.
The same files are also placed in the /usr/bin/ directory in the root file system. These were placed there during the installation from the Software Manager.
Now the configuration files are in a hidden file in the users /home directory. To find Gimp right click on your home directory and select "show hidden files" from the drop down menu. Once there click on the .config file. Doing so you'll see the "GIMP" folder like here in the screenshot below.
Selecting the "GIMP" folder will move you to the 2.10 folder.
In this next screenshot Gimp's 2.10 configuration files are displayed.
The whole rhyme and reason for showing you where these files are placed during the installation is so you can be educated for one. And, two, if you somehow end up with 2 different installations of Gimp, you'll know where to navigate to remove the program's folders and it's configuration files as well.
Before I start with screenshots and explanations to show how to edit a picture or wallpaper I think it's important to have the user's manual and the link to all of the Gimp Tutorials. The new manual is well done. I've had to use it recently and it is a real gem! Here's those links.
I'll be using a wallpaper named "Blue Mountains" to show how to edit it with text and a font of a light blue color. Here you can choose the size of the text, style of font and the color of your text/font.
To start with a font that you like go to Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Fonts.
Once the font is selected that you want you can use the text tool to edit the picture or wallpaper.
Keep in mind that the exact place that your mouse pointer is placed on the picture will be the exact place that the text that you type will appear. If you don't like where the text starts simply press the backspace key to remove what you've typed and move your mouse to the desired area.
Once you have the text of your liking go to File > Export As.
Once Export As is clicked Gimp will show a window that explains that the picture already exists and asking you if you want to replace it. The Export Image As window will launch. Click Export.
Once Exported then proceed to Save the picture. Go to File > Save As.
When clicking Save As an additional window will open that defaults to the users /documents directory. By default Gimp will save the picture as a .xcf extension.
Now, I'll cover how to scale an image. I'll be using a picture named Aurora Borealis.jpg. By scale I mean resize.
To scale go to Image > Scale Image.
Once Scale Image is selected you can change the size of the picture as you wish. Here 7360 is highlighted in white. While the number is still highlighted, press the backspace button on your keyboard and type in the size you want your picture to be.
Here, in the screenshot below, I've changed the Width to 900 pixels. Once changing the Width you can just click in the Height field box and Gimp will automatically proportion it for you.
Don't forget to save your new scaled image by clicking Scale in the screenshot above.
In the screenshot below the image is then scaled to size and Gimp shows it smaller. Don't panic as this is normal.
You can then use your Image Viewer (default that comes with your distribution) or other program to open that picture and see how it was changed by Gimp.
Now the Image Viewer in Debian will not be able to open a Gimp image with a .xcf extension. To change that you will have to open the picture once again in Gimp and Select File > Export > and then change the extension form .xcf to .jpg. Then choose Save As and close Gimp.
Here's how the Image Viewer see's Aurora Borealis changed from a .xcf image extension to a .jpg extension.
Pictures I used for the instructions and article were downloaded from unsplash.
https://unsplash.com/photos/snow-mountain-under-stars-phIFdC6lA4E
I highly recommend this program for anyone that likes to edit pictures or create any types of painting or illustration.
This program does have a learning curve so getting well acquainted with it by using it frequently will help.
What you don't know will drive you to the user's manual. Otherwise, I encourage you to launch your search engine to find out how to do things.
Enjoy your GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Cheers,
Alex