_{Open-source GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP releasing the latest stable version 2.10 with awesome new features.}

Hey Steemians!

It's been a long wait especially for the past few months when the first release of 2.9 development version was announced. The last stable version - version 2.8, was released almost 6 years ago almost to the date!!

GIMP has a special place in my heart as this is the very software that popped my photoediting-virginity. I remember installing the software many years ago and was absolutely overwhelmed at the UI and then uninstalled. It was after joining Steem that pushed me to jump back in into it and i should say i pretty like it.

Running the highly anticipated version 2.10 has been a delight. I was half and half with subscribing to a more propriety image editing software but after reading up on what 2.10 can do, I should say I'll probably be sticking to this for a little while more!

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_{A revamped startup page with a fresh new look, potential to change the pictures every now and then?}

GIMP really has come a long way since it's first ever version back in 1996 and I'm surprised that it's still free to download with no ads whatsoever. GIMP is already 22 years old! And still fully open source.

It took about 6 years of continuous update to get to Version 2.10, skipping 2.9 for development version. They decided to rebuild the whole program from scratch. Literally upgrading the graphics library (GEGL - general graphics library) that runs the processing of the editing.

This means other than a total UI/UX makeover, the program now runs smoother and faster with a redesigned and upgraded image processing algorithm.

_{At first glance, not much has changed on the surface. But a more careful look will reveal huge changes to the workflow.}

To quote directly from the official release announcement :

... here are some of the most notable changes

• Image processing nearly fully ported to GEGL, allowing high bit depth processing, multi-threaded and hardware accelerated pixel processing, and more.
• Color management is a core feature now, most widgets and preview areas are color-managed.
• Many improved tools, and several new and exciting tools, such as the Warp transform, the Unified transform and the Handle transform tools.
• On-canvas preview for all filters ported to GEGL.
• Improved digital painting with canvas rotation and flipping, symmetry painting, MyPaint brush support…
• Support for several new image formats added (OpenEXR, RGBE, WebP, HGT), as well as improved support for many existing formats (in particular more robust PSD importing).
• Metadata viewing and editing for Exif, XMP, IPTC, and DICOM.
• Basic HiDPI support: automatic or user-selected icon size.

These are very exciting updates and brand new core-feature in GIMP. I am especially excited for Warp Transform, which is all-new for GIMP, and is a tool hitherto only exclusive to Photoshop. This has opened up so many potential for my workflow that will allow awesome photo projects.

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What do you think about the new GIMP 2.10? Have you downloaded and tried it?

I realize that some of us may be hardcore Photoshop user. What do you think about GIMP's new update which further closes the gap of functionality between the open source program and the propriety program?

Kristian Kho [Ian] is a 24 year old freelancer with a passion for steem and a deep desire to be a better person in every aspect. I aim to express any and all my thoughts on things that I find interesting as well as using this platform as a self-development log.

I am a part of #Teammalaysia, a decentralized community initiative that aims to empower local creatives and content creators specifically in Malaysia to create content through the Steem Blockchain.

If you want to stalk me, check out my other social media accounts too!