On 2018-11-14 6:21 p.m., Anthony Dunk via gimp-user-list wrote:

my one big issue with this program is that it does not save to PNG or JPG unless you use the "Export" option. It would be so much more intuitive if GIMP's "Save as" feature had PNG and JPG as file options.

It would be easy to change but it won't be changed. This has been discussed on many occasions in the past. Check the mailing list archives if you want to see the often rather lively debates that took place on this topic.

Cheers!

Kevin.

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On 11/14/18 6:21 PM, Anthony Dunk via gimp-user-list wrote:

I find GIMP very useful as an image editor on Linux, but my one big issue with this program is that it does not save to PNG or JPG unless you use the "Export" option. It would be so much more intuitive if GIMP's "Save as" feature had PNG and JPG as file options. This is the one thing that makes GIMP feel awkward when I use it, and as a developer myself it seems like it would be dead simple to change it...

Hey Anthony,

I was literally just thinking to myself, "I know there's no show-stopper bugs or issues with the latest GIMP versions, because I'm not seeing any long complaint threads on gimp-user, like the firestorm introducing Export vs. Save started." Then I read your post. :D

Ultimately, Save vs. Export is just a semantic issue:

The GIMP "saves" image editing projects as XCF files, with all layers, channels, paths, etc. intact. XCF is the GIMP's native file format.

The GIMP "exports" images from editing projects into flat file formats intended for display or print only, typically with some loss of resolution compared to their XCF 'master' files.

"Saving" an image that took an hour to produce as a JPG file without also saving to XCF would discard an hour's work. Making corrections or changes to the image later would involve either starting over from scratch, or accepting significant noise and loss of resolution in the updated image.

In addition to accurately describing what they do, the GIMP's division of Save and Export commands provides a safety net of sorts, a built in reminder to "save" the project as well as "exporting" the project's finished product. I like that.

:o)

On Fri, 2018-11-16 at 14:41 -0500, Steve Kinney wrote:

Ultimately, Save vs. Export is just a semantic issue:

The GIMP "saves" image editing projects as XCF files, with all layers,
channels, paths, etc. intact. XCF is the GIMP's native file format.

The GIMP "exports" images from editing projects into flat file formats
intended for display or print only, typically with some loss of resolution compared to their XCF 'master' files.

i think one reason it's a problem is that it's asymmetric - you can "open" a JPEG or PNG file, rather than "import"ing one. Maybe renaming Open to Open/Import" would reduce the confusion, i'm not sure.

ankh

Liam Quin - web slave for https://www.fromoldbooks.org/
with fabulous vintage art and fascinating texts to read.
Click here to have the slave beaten.

“Semantic issues” tend to be difficult. “Save as” in most applications I’ve used, is essentially both for saving as a file with a different name, and saving as a different type of file. GIMP breaks this into two (actually three, with the “overwrite” command) separate commands, which makes logical sense. Renaming “Open” to “Open/import” may well reduce the confusion for new users. (Yes, I know. But who RTFM before starting to use the program? I suspect most start using the program, referring to the manual when something doesn’t work as they expected. Considering what I’ve recently read about the state of GIMP documentation, the name change seems a good, simple “fix” for what is mostly a perceptual problem.

Ross

On Nov 16, 2018, at 4:11 PM, Liam R E Quin wrote:

On Fri, 2018-11-16 at 14:41 -0500, Steve Kinney wrote:

Ultimately, Save vs. Export is just a semantic issue:

The GIMP "saves" image editing projects as XCF files, with all layers,
channels, paths, etc. intact. XCF is the GIMP's native file format.

The GIMP "exports" images from editing projects into flat file formats
intended for display or print only, typically with some loss of resolution compared to their XCF 'master' files.

i think one reason it's a problem is that it's asymmetric - you can "open" a JPEG or PNG file, rather than "import"ing one. Maybe renaming Open to Open/Import" would reduce the confusion, i'm not sure.

ankh

-- Liam Quin - web slave for https://www.fromoldbooks.org/ with fabulous vintage art and fascinating texts to read. Click here to have the slave beaten.

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пт, 16 нояб. 2018 г., 21:27 Anthony Dunk via gimp-user-list gimp-user-list@gnome.org:

I find GIMP very useful as an image editor on Linux, but my one big issue with this program is that it does not save to PNG or JPG unless you use the "Export" option. It would be so much more intuitive if GIMP's "Save as" feature had PNG and JPG as file options. This is the one thing that makes GIMP feel awkward when I use it, and as a developer myself it seems like it would be dead simple to change it... Thanks,Anthony.

Hi Anthony,

A while ago, I write an explanation about all this and provided a list of workarounds:

http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/gimp-2.8-understanding-ui-changes

For your sanity, I would suggest skipping the comments section though :)

Alex

Other programs use "Export " or "Export As" to convert to another format. The free Nikon programs for NEF files uses "Convert file". It makes little difference, the concept is still the same: there is a native format and then there are other formats. It's a good concept to learn. And this friendly list is always available. This list, btw, is one of the most fantastic features of GIMP.

One way to learn all the bells and whistles in GIMP is to open a new image (of something you don't mind being destroyed) and test all the menu options by actually clicking on them.

Rick S.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Brilliant!
Thank you Alex.

Rick S.

-----Original Message----- From: Alexandre Prokoudine via gimp-user-list Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2018 3:25 AM Cc: GIMP-user-list
Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] GIMP user friendliness suggestion

... snip ...

http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/gimp-2.8-understanding-ui-changes