CmykStudent

@LegoBrickOnFire @plateee For raster layers, yes (at the moment). You can do non-destructive transforms on vector layers and link layers (so you could add an external PNG/JPEG/SVG/etc to a composition as a layer and then non-destructively transform it).

Transforms are really a filter under the hood, so we have the infrastructure to make them all non-destructive. Just need to work on the UI elements. :)

@clb92 @daggermoon We have a UX design issue tracker specifically for feedback on the user experience - feel free to share specific concerns, no donation required! https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work/_items

We also now dedicate a section in our release/news post to UX improvements, to further encourage people to contribute in that area: https://www.gimp.org/news/2026/08/16/dev-update-august-2026/#user-experience-and-interface-updates

https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work_items

@unwarlikeExtortion Sure - what additional things would you like accessible via API? Public docs for reference: https://developer.gimp.org/resource/api/

As for separation, the styling of elements is done via separate (GTK3 subset of) CSS so that’s fairly flexible. The GUI elements themselves are defined in C, which is less flexible but we do separate them out in source in our /widgets and /gui folders as best we can.

@BlackLaZoR @Vosh I think lots of people talk about it. :)

We have a dedicated UX site for people share to feedback on that very topic, which we try to implement as we can: https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work/_items

The hope is that over time, designers will get more comfortable and work on larger design challenges (like how new code contributors start small and hopefully grow to develop more complex features)

@janus2 @Vosh You’ll be happy to know it’s in the cards. Proof of Concept now that we have vector layers: https://fosstodon.org/@CmykStudent/116455148076446506

I haven’t touched it lately since a new contributor was interested in implementing it, but one way or the other I hope to get it into 3.4.

@Hadriscus @phoenixz Just FYI, that’s from our testing page (note the subdomain), so it’ll give you a 404 again once we push it from drafts to the live site.

@schnurrito @thingsiplay Yes, the XML is for file structure descriptions not binary data.

The GEGL buffers we use for image data in GIMP can be synced across files, so this new format will allow us to quickly auto-save the image/layer/etc to file as you make edits. Still in-progress work, but it’s really cool.

@atomicbocks @anewfox We actually have a UX site where we ask for user feedback and design suggestions - no coding required! https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/GIMP/Design/gimp-ux/-/work/_items

Feel free to contribute if interested. It’s not always immediately possible to implement everything, but we do our best as we’re able - recent news posts have included a UX/UI section so we can highlight the work being done and show that we *are* willing to take feedback. :)

@SkavarSharraddas @Vosh @AllNewTypeFace Actually, there’s been “official” development on that front: https://www.gimp.org/docs/userfaq.html#i-dont-like-the-name-gimp-will-you-change-it