Image Editing

Gimp, Inkscape, and LibreOffice

Edit photographs, fonts, and slides using Gimp, Inkscape, and Openoffice. Alternatives such as Krita are also discussed.

Edit raster images with GIMP.

Edit raster images with GIMP.

Please read the disclaimer before proceeding. We review and update guided solutions regularly. If you have suggestions or requests, please write support@kfocus.org.

Raster Editing with Gimp

GimpGimp can open and save Adobe Photoshop files.

Raster images are composed of pixels. Common raster formats are png, jpg, tif, and gif. Photographs are almost always stored in raster format, typically jpg. Gimp is highly recommended for raster editing because it is mature, reliable, and very popular. We recommend starting with introduction videos like those shown here and then proceeding to the official documentation.

We recently found the desire to create our own Gimp theme, specifically to increase the font size on a HDPI display. Here's the steps we took:

# Create directory for theme cd ~/.config/GIMP/2.10/themes/; mkdir mine.Dark; # Copy and symlink cd mine.Dark; cp /usr/share/gimp/2.0/themes/Dark/gtkrc ./; ln -s /usr/share/gimp/2.0/themes/Dark/ui ./

Now edit gtkrc and change font_name = "Sans 11" so that the font is as you like it. For example, you can use font_name = "Noto Sans 16". There are many other parameters you can adjust too. Save the file, then open Gimp and use Edit > Preferences > Interface > Theme to select your new theme. Source: Superuser.

Vector Editing with Inkscape

Inkscape can open and save Adobe Illustrator files.

InkscapeVector images are described by mathematical expressions. Common vector formats include svg, woff, ttf, and otf. Icons and fonts are frequently written in vector formats because they scale very well and usually require far less memory than raster formats.

We recommend Inkscape for vector editing because it is mature, reliable, and very popular. We suggest exploring the capabilities using the excellent Inkscape Tutorials.

Edit vector images with Inkscape.

Edit vector images with Inkscape.

Flowcharts and Slides with LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice can open and save Microsoft Office files.

One can use the Present component of LibreOffice to create slideshows. LibreOffice is very mature and has a large following.

Alternatives

Krita is an alternative raster editor definitely worth consideration. One can easily install it using the Discover application or by entering sudo apt install krita in a terminal.

Maya can be installed on Kubuntu. See KDE desktop notes for more hints.

Troubleshooting

Q: Some tools appear missing in Gimp. How can I get them back?

A. Gimp has employed tool groups in an effort to reduce clutter. One can restore the ungrouped tools by unchecking the option found in File > Preferences > Interface > Toolbox > [ ] Use tool goups.

Q: Gimp won’t allow me to invert selections. How can I fix this?

A: Inverting selections may not work if OpenCL is enabled. The only way you can have this enabled is if you had launched gimp --show-playground. You may have to revisit that and turn it off

Disable experimental OpenCL acceleration in GIMP to avoid glitches.

Disable experimental OpenCL acceleration in GIMP to avoid glitches.

Revisions

This is a partial revision history. See the git repository for all entries.

Disclaimer

We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.

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