Keyboard Search

Going back to the user interface for a moment, text search is a handy new feature. To invoke it, press the forward slash key (/). A pop-up dialog will appear that lets you search within Gimp's features. The search results pop up immediately, and the descriptions are searched too. So, typing blur in the pop-up dialog will discover and list features such as Gaussian Blur, as well as operations such as Symmetric Nearest Neighbor and Bilateral Filter (Figure 5).

Figure 5: The new, hotkey-launched search soon feels invaluable.

I've probably lost count of the number of times I've recalled a Gimp feature but have been unable to remember where its menu entry is located or what it was called. One tip I can offer is to find the edge of the search dialog and drag it out to increase its size to make the entries more readable. The mouse-free search workflow is great. As Gimp is a relatively large application, the search feature will improve usability.

Text Editing

In the past, I have found text creation and editing to be a fiddly and bug-riddled experience within Gimp, sometimes causing me to resort to using an external tool such as Inkscape. I'm pleased to report that the text editing workflow is much smoother in Gimp 3.

For one thing, the non-destructive feature has spread to text editing as text remains fully editable, even when effects such as outlining and drop shadows are applied (Figure 6). No more having to use workarounds to produce outlined text that never quite looks right in Gimp. Instructions for applying these text-specific effects could do with more prominence, though. The effect that handles this is called Text Styling… and it's located in the Filters | Generic menu. Gimp 3 takes things even further as it's now possible to apply most of Gimp's effects while keeping the text fully editable, including options such as blurs, bevels, and lighting effects.

Figure 6: Working with text is much improved, and outlining and drop-shadowing look great.

Even the font selection dialog has been refreshed and offers a cleaner, clearer method of selection. Overall, handling text in Gimp feels more sure-footed than in the past, and fewer users will have to work with a different application when adding text to a Gimp project.

Exporting and Importing

Gimp has increased the number of supported file formats for exporting and importing; these include a mixture of older, legacy formats and some cutting edge ones, such as JPEG XL. Game developers will be happy to see DDS support for working with textures.

You might wonder if working with Photoshop files within Gimp will ever be 100-percent compatible. Both programs are complex, and Photoshop presents a moving target as it continues to acquire new features. However, support for working with Photoshop files has been improved in Gimp 3, a welcome improvement for those who need it.

Most computer software tends to think of colors as a combination of red, green, and blue (RGB). However, in the print industry, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) are commonly used because they are closer to the actual colors used in printing. Gimp 3 offers improvements in this area when saving and loading images that use CMYK.