GIMP 3.2 is out with Link Layers, SVG export and better painting UX

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The stable release of GIMP 3.2 is now available to download for all major desktop operating systems, Linux included.

A year in the making, GIMP 3.2 brings a raft of long-awaited features that users of the famed open-source image editing tool will appreciate like non-destructive Link Layers, quick creation of Vector Layers from paths, and a better dynamic painting experience.

“We’re happy to present the first release of GIMP 3.2,” the team says of the release, which has been a year in the making and is part of a new ‘streamlined’ release process: GIMP 3.2 is out a year after GIMP 3.0.

That may sound a long time, but GIMP 3.0 arrived 7 years after GIMP 2.10, a release that itself came after a gap of 6 years from GIMP 2.8 (many open-source projects use an ‘even number = stable release’ versioning scheme, hence no 2.9, 3.1, etc).

you’ll be familiar with the new features in GIMP 3.2 if you’ve kept tabs on the many GIMP development builds in the previous 12 months. If you haven’t, then there’s a fair bit to chew over.

What new features are in GIMP 3.2?

GIMP’s answer to Smart Objects

GIMP 3.2 adds Link Layers, a feature that stands to offer the biggest improvement to editing workflows.

Link Layers in GIMP are somewhat similar to Smart Objects in Adobe Photoshop (though not entirely the same) as they provide a non-destructive way to work with layers. You can scale, rotate and adjust a Link Layer without affecting the source image itself.

Aside from ensuring you’re able to retain full quality/sharpness of content in edits by not rasterising, the major plus is that you can edit a Link Layer source image externally and it will auto-update in your project (so if you do link an image, make sure you don’t delete or move it).

Easy vector layer creation

GIMP 3.2 now lets you create vector layers using the Path tool. When you create a path layer you can set stroke and fill settings, change colour, pattern and visibility and tweak the stroke line width and other properties.

“The shape of the vector layer also automatically updates whenever you adjust the path, and you can non-destructively rotate, scale, and transform it too”, GIMP’s developers say. Like text layers, you can change the fill of vector layers by dragging colours or patterns on to it.

Like other layer types, you can rasterise vector layers to work with them destructively. Interesting, the release notes say you can ‘revert back to a vector layer’ using a ‘Revert Rasterise’ option – handy.

Other notable changes

Elsewhere, GIMP 3.2 gifts the MyPaint brush tool 20 new brush presets, and plumbs in auto-adjustment of the canvas zoom and rotation to support ‘dynamic painting’. An ‘Overwrite’ paint mode lets you draw over existing colour(s) without blending transparencies.

I tend to slather images in text (you might have noticed) so seeing further buffs to GIMP’s on-canvas Text Editor tool pleases me. The text box can now be repositioned, supports text formatting keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Ctrl + B for bold text) and offers extra Text Outline controls.

Other changes of note shipping in GIMP 3.2.0:

PSD import supports more layer styles (including drop shadow)
Support for importing Photoshop pattern (.pat) files
Export support for JPEG 2000, SVG, PDF vector, Photoshop PSB
Keyboard shortcut support for the Shear and Flip tools
Switch to/from two most recent tools with Shift + X shortcut
Drag and drop images onto the image tab to open
Brush thumbnails can use theme colours for previews
Crop Tool will add transparency to layer if cropping beyond its edge
Selecting layer mask and pressing del will only delete layer mask
Welcome Dialog no longer shows when opening GIMP with image
New GEGL Filter browser added to for finding non-destructive filters
New Vibrance GEGL filter
Final version to support 32-bit Windows installs

The full change-log delivers a lot more detail on the changes above, alongside the hundreds of smaller fixes and fine-tuning that goes into every release.

Install GIMP 3.2 on Ubuntu

You can download GIMP 3.2.0 for all major operating systems from the official downloads page.

Ubuntu users may prefer to install the GIMP snap package to get this update (the DEB version you can install from the Ubuntu repos will be an older release). Open App Center (Software Center on older versions) to find the GIMP snap and click install to install it.