Chapter 2. Starting GIMP

Table of Contents

1. Running GIMP
1.1. Changing the Language
1.2. Command Line Arguments
1.3. Configuration Folders
1.4. Tips and Tricks

1. Running GIMP

Usually you start GIMP either by clicking GIMP's icon on your desktop (if available), selecting it from a menu, or by typing gimp on a command line. If you have multiple versions of GIMP installed, you may need to add the exact version number: gimp-2.99.

You can, if you want, provide a list of image file names on the command line after the program name so that GIMP automatically opens those files after it starts. It is also possible to open files from within GIMP once it is running using the Open Image Dialog.

Most operating systems support file associations, which associates a class of files (as determined by their filename extension, such as .jpg) with a corresponding application (such as GIMP). When image files are properly associated with GIMP, you can double click an image in your file browser to open it in GIMP.

If you installed the Flatpak version of GIMP from flathub.org, you start GIMP either by clicking an icon, or by typing flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP//stable on a command line.

1.1. Changing the Language

GIMP automatically detects and uses the system language. In the unlikely event that language detection fails, or if you want to use a different language, the easiest way is to change the language used in the Interface Preferences: EditPreferences, then go to the Interface section; Language can be set at the top.

If you prefer to change language by setting environment variables, you can use:

Under Linux

In LINUX: in console mode, type LANGUAGE=en gimp or LANG=en gimp replacing en with fr, de, etc. according to the language you want. Background: Using LANGUAGE=en sets an environment variable for the executed program gimp.

Under Windows

Control PanelSystemAdvancedEnvironment button in System Variables area: Add button: Enter LANG for Name and fr, de, etc. for Value. Watch out! You have to click OK three successive times to validate your choice.

If you change languages often, you can create a batch file to change the language. Open NotePad. Type the following commands (for French for instance):

set lang=fr
start gimp-2.99.exe

Save this file as GIMP-FR.BAT (or another name, but always with a .BAT extension). Create a shortcut and drag it to your desktop.

Under Apple macOS

From System Settings, click General in the sidebar. Then select Language & Region. The desired language should be the first in the list.

Another GIMP Instance

You can use command line parameter -n to run multiple instances of GIMP. For example, gimp-2.99 starts GIMP in the default system language, and LANGUAGE=en gimp-2.99 -n starts another instance of GIMP in English. This can be very useful for translators.

1.2. Command Line Arguments

Although command line arguments are not required when starting GIMP, they can be useful in certain situations. On a Unix system, you can use man gimp for a complete list.

These arguments must be added to the command line that you use to start GIMP as gimp-2.99 [OPTION...] [FILE|URI...], where OPTION... can be one or more of the arguments listed below, followed by one or more file names.

-?, ,-h, --help

Display a list of all command line options.

--help-all

Show all help options.

--help-gegl

Show all GEGL options.

--help-gtk

Show GTK+ Options.

-v, --version

Print the GIMP version and exit.

--license

Show license information and exit.

--verbose

Show detailed start-up messages.

-n, --new-instance

Start a new GIMP instance.

-a, --as-new

Open images as new.

-i, --no-interface

Run without a user interface.

-d, --no-data

Do not load patterns, gradients, palettes, or brushes. Often useful in non-interactive situations where start-up time is to be minimized.

-f, --no-fonts

Do not load any fonts. This is useful to load GIMP faster for scripts that do not use fonts, or to find problems related to malformed fonts that hang GIMP.

-s, --no-splash

Do not show the splash screen while starting.

--no-shm

Do not use shared memory between GIMP and plug-ins.

--no-cpu-accel

Do not use special CPU acceleration functions. Useful for finding or disabling buggy accelerated hardware or functions.

--session=name

Use a different sessionrc file for this GIMP session. The given session name is appended to the default sessionrc filename.

-g, --gimprc=filename

Use an alternative gimprc file instead of the default one. The gimprc file contains a record of your preferences. Useful in cases where plug-in paths or machine specs may be different.

--system-gimprc=filename

Use an alternate system gimprc file.

-b, --batch=commands

Execute the set of commands non-interactively. The set of commands is typically in the form of a script that can be executed by one of the GIMP scripting interpreters. When the command is -, commands are read from standard input.

--batch-interpreter=proc

Specify the procedure to use to process batch commands. The default procedure is Script-Fu.

--quit

Quit immediately after performing requested actions

-c, --console-messages

Do not display dialog boxes on errors or warnings. Print the messages on the console instead.

--pdb-compat-mode=mode

PDB compatibility mode (off|on|warn).

--stack-trace-mode=mode

Debug in case of a crash (never|query|always).

--debug-handlers

Enable non-fatal debugging signal handlers. Useful for GIMP debugging.

--g-fatal-warnings

Make all warnings fatal. Useful for debugging.

--dump-gimprc

Output a gimprc file with default settings. Useful if you messed up the gimprc file.

--show-playground

Show a preferences page with experimental features.

--display=display

Use the designated X display (does not apply to all platforms).

1.3. Configuration Folders

When first run, GIMP performs a series of steps to configure options and directories. The configuration process creates a user-writable configuration directory named GIMP, with a per-version subdirectory, i.e. GIMP/2.99. All of the configuration information is stored in this directory. If you remove or rename the directory, GIMP repeats the initial configuration process, creating a new GIMP/2.99 directory. You can use this capability to explore different configuration options without deleting your existing installation, or to recover if your configuration files are damaged.

Where your configuration folder will be stored, depends on your Operating System:

Under Linux

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME (defaulting to $HOME/.config);

Under Windows

%APPDATA% (usually c:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\2.99\);

Under Apple macOS

NSApplicationSupportDirectory (usually ~/Library/Application Support).

1.4. Tips and Tricks

Just a couple of suggestions before you start:

  • GIMP can provide tips you can read at any time using the menu command HelpTip of the Day. The tips provide information that is considered useful, but not easy to learn by experimenting; so they are worth reading. Please consider reading the tips when you have the time.

  • If at some point you are trying to do something, and GIMP seems to have suddenly stopped functioning, the Getting Unstuck section may be able to help you out.

  • Don't forget to check out the Preferences Dialog. GIMP is very customizable. There are a lot of settings that you can adjust to your personal preferences.