With GIMP 2.7.5, the last step towards the long expected GIMP 2.8 has been made by the developers.

This will be the last in the unstable GIMP 2.7 series. GIMP 2.7.5 is considered somehow a beta version for 2.8 or even a release candidate. It has exactly the same features and functionality which 2.8 will have. The devs want to really release in (late?) March. No more real bugs are blocking the release (Michael Natterer and others have fixed them all in the last weeks). The last big missing thing was the lack of support for the PDB paint API which has also been fixed now! So all the important stuff is completed.

Currently the final text for the release notes for 2.8 is being written. After 2.7.5 only the completion of the release notes, a decision for a splash screen and some Web updates have to be made. So, GIMP community, you’ve been patient – very patient but now prepare for the launch of GIMP 2.8 – it seems to be almost imminent. Wohohoooo ;)

Download

As always, the link to the GIMP 2.7.5 source code is available in our downloads section. As soon as a Windows build is available, we will update this article.

Changes in GIMP 2.7.5

(Taken from the NEWS file)

UI:

• Minor application menu fixes on the Mac
• Make the toolbox arbitrarily resizable again
• Add axis labels to the dynamics curves to make them more obvious
• Fix dockable showing to do the right thing in both MWM and SWM
• Fix some glitches in the tool preset UI, like proper sensitivity

Core:

• Restore autoshrink functionality in the rectangle tools
• Allow smudge to work with dynamic brushes
• Make sure tool presets and tool options are consistent after loading
• Add automatic tags for the folders a file lives in
• Make the default Quick Mask color configurable
• Fix Color Balance so the “range” setting actually makes a difference

Plug-ins:

• Proper toplevel item sorting in the help browser
• Use libraries instead of launching programs in file-compressor
• Use the Ghostscript library instead of launching ghostscript
• Allow to switch off antialiasing when importing from PDF
• Embed the page setup in the main print dialog
• Port Gfig to cairo

Libgimp:

• Add PDB API to modify a lot of paint and ink options

Data:

• Add a new set of default brushes and tool presets from Ramon Miranda

Developer documentation:

• Update everything including app/ so all functions appear again

Source and build system:

• Remove the unmaintained makefile.msc build system
• Explicitly link plug-ins to*lm when needed
• Also create .xz tarballs

General:

• Lots of bug fixes
• Tons and tons of translation updates