Gimp 2.8 Stable, Released!

Gimp has not had a major update since 2008 but that just changed.  Gimp 2.8 Stable has been released!

In order to get it onto your Ubuntu 12.04 release you have to take a couple of simple steps.  The first step, at least for me, was uninstalling my older Gimp release.

1.  Start Ubuntu Software Center

2.  Click on the INSTALLED tab

3.  Click on the GRAPHICS link on the right side

4.  Located GIMP and click the REMOVE button.

NOTE:  I tried to simple install Gimp 2.8 without removing my older version of Gimp but that caused my software center to crash and gave me errors and not allow me to ADD or REMOVE any software packages.  I had to disable the new Gimp 2.8 Software Sources before I could continue.  Once I disabled the Gimp 2.8 Software Sources, I was able to uninstall my older Gimp Packages.  I then re-enabled the new Gimp 2.8 Software Sources and re-installed Gimp 2.8 and it work just fine.

Once that is done, you can close the Ubuntu Software Center and open a terminal window.  We'll need to add a third party software source and then install the new Gimp 2.8.  In the Terminal Window type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp  (HIT ENTER and wait until done)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gimp (HIT ENTER and wait until done)

Close the Terminal Window, you are done and are ready to use Gimp 2.8.


One of the new features that I like is the Single Window Mode.  This makes Gimp act like other programs, containing itself to one window instead of the usual 3 or 4.  Here's a screenshot to just show you.

Gimp 2.8 Single-Window Mode

To activate the Single-Window Model simple click on the WINDOWS section on the MENU (see above screenshot) and check the SINGLE-WINDOW MODE at the bottom of the menu (highlighted option in above screenshot in orange).  Once I get a chance to play with it some, I'll post more.