GIMP 2.60 Released

The GIMP developers released the latest version of their free open-source graphics editor GIMP 2.6.0 today.

The new release comes with significant changes in the editor's interface and back-end operations as well as support for 32 bits per color channel and a new GEGL-based backend (turned on and off in the preferences). Other new features include polygonal and sectional selection with the Free Select Tool, better handling of windows, toolbars, docked tools, and menus, and a "brush dynamics" sub-menu that gives creators serious control over their pixel-pushing tools.

There are new things for a plug-in developer to enjoy as well. For example, procedures can now give a detailed error description in case of an error, and the error can be propagated to the user. GIMP 2.6 also further enhances its scripting abilities. In particular there is now a much richer API for the creation and manipulation of text layers.

For a full list of changes checkout the GIMP 2.60 release notes.

GIMP 2.6 is of course a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux platforms, though it's only (officially) available as source code at the moment. The source can be downloaded from ftp.gimp.org. The GIMP team doesn't officially provide any Windows binaries however contributors often create them and they can be found in the Downloads section.

I haven't used the new release yet but from looking at the screenshots the new UI looks amazing! I strongly suggest anyone looking for a very powerful graphics tool grab a copy and try it out. I promise you won't be disappointed.