Edit photographs, fonts, and slides using Gimp, Inkscape, and LibreOffice. Alternatives such as Krita are also discussed.
Please read the disclaimer before proceeding. We review and update guided solutions regularly. If you have suggestions or requests, please write support@kfocus.org.
Gimp 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's maturity, reliability, and popularity make it highly recommended for raster editing. We suggest starting with introduction videos like those shown here and then proceeding to the official documentation.
You may wish to create your own Gimp theme. This is useful if, for example, you'd like to increase the font size on a HiDPI display. Here are the steps:
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.
Inkscape can open and save Adobe Illustrator files.
Vector 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.
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.
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 is installable on Kubuntu. See additional information for Linux for more hints. Note that the Kubuntu Focus team does not test or validate Maya, so there may be challenges not discussed here.
Q: Some tools appear missing in Gimp. How can I get them back?
A. Gimp has employed tool groups to reduce clutter. One can restore the ungrouped tools by unchecking the option found in File > Preferences > Interface > Toolbox > [ ] Use tool groups.
Q: Gimp won't allow me to invert selections. How can I fix this?
A: OpenCL may prevent inverting selections from working. 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.
gimp --show-playgroundEdit > Preferences > PlaygroundUse OpenCL.This is a partial revision history. See the git repository for all entries.
2025-04-19 274c0ff1 Update grammar and content per audit2025-03-04 7e0f76de Add history to revisions2024-09-10 73fcff02 Pre-review, fix minor issues2024-09-05 14887652 Major Lightbox updates, fix some out-of-date documentation2024-08-19 57a2389d Add white theme2024-07-28 ee7b4601 Update metadata content, collapsable sections, lightbox2024-07-26 7814a97d Sync primary images between guided solutions slideshow and articles2024-07-02 c83184e4 Switch to kfocus-mime schema2024-06-14 8d925335 Update for Noble, add section on custom theme2023-11-18 e770b1c6 Add search and help bar2023-04-30 97e0adb2 Update toolgroups FAQ2021-10-25 9036f3fe Overhaul table and links2021-10-11 f726f2bf Secure links2021-10-10 5728326e Reformat to 2-column2021-09-22 dc862884 Update link and headline colors2021-08-23 681261b4 Review and update codeblocks2020-08-10 8322a530 Audit and update content2020-06-10 c4ed9299 Restructure layout2020-05-26 c1c09c1d Refine notes about format support2020-05-14 2fbce101 Restructure for sections2020-05-07 2efbb2a2 Update Gimp; refine raster versus vector formats2020-05-06 05576811 Add app links and expand descriptions2020-01-31 70b4aa40 First publicationWe 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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