The headline fact about GIMP is not that it's free. It's that after seven years of stasis, it shipped GIMP 3.0 in February 2025, and then GIMP 3.2 just three months later in March 2026. For a volunteer-driven open-source project that once became synonymous with "almost there, not quite", that pace is a meaningful signal about where things are heading.
GIMP 3.0 brought the change people had been waiting on: non-destructive layer effects. Apply a drop shadow, a bevel, a color balance adjustment, and it sits on the layer without flattening. You can tweak or remove it later. It also added multi-layer selection and layer sets, HiDPI support via GTK3, and a migration from Python 2 to Python 3 for scripting, which broke some older plugins but was long overdue. The CMYK support improved enough to be usable for basic print work, though it still won't replace Photoshop for professional prepress.
GIMP 3.2 went further. It added vector layers, a long-requested feature that lets you draw paths with fill and stroke settings that update non-destructively as you adjust the path. It also added link layers, which work like Photoshop's linked smart objects: reference an external file and it updates in the composition when that file changes. This makes multi-app workflows involving Inkscape or Krita considerably less painful. SVG export is now supported too, along with DDS BC7 export and improved Photoshop PSD import compatibility.
The interface still carries the legacy of decisions made in the late 1990s. The toolbox hasn't been redesigned, docking is idiosyncratic, and newcomers switching from Photoshop or Affinity Photo will need time to adjust. GIMP is not a beginner's tool and it doesn't try to be. But for someone who has used it before, or is willing to learn it on its own terms, GIMP has got considerably closer to Photoshop.
The scripting support spans Python 3, JavaScript, Lua, and Vala, and the plugin ecosystem is large enough that most common automation tasks are already handled. Batch processing, custom export pipelines, format conversions: all manageable without coding from scratch.
Available free on Linux, macOS, and Windows. GPL licensed, so the source is open. Worth trying again if you dismissed it before 3.0.
The headline fact about GIMP is not that it's free. It's that after seven years of stasis, it shipped GIMP 3.0 in February 2025, and then GIMP 3.2 just three months later in March 2026. For a volunteer-driven open-source project that once became synonymous with "almost there, not quite", that pace is a meaningful signal about where things are heading.
GIMP 3.0 brought the change people had been waiting on: non-destructive layer effects. Apply a drop shadow, a bevel, a color balance adjustment, and it sits on the layer without flattening. You can tweak or remove it later. It also added multi-layer selection and layer sets, HiDPI support via GTK3, and a migration from Python 2 to Python 3 for scripting, which broke some older plugins but was long overdue. The CMYK support improved enough to be usable for basic print work, though it still won't replace Photoshop for professional prepress.
GIMP 3.2 went further. It added vector layers, a long-requested feature that lets you draw paths with fill and stroke settings that update non-destructively as you adjust the path. It also added link layers, which work like Photoshop's linked smart objects: reference an external file and it updates in the composition when that file changes. This makes multi-app workflows involving Inkscape or Krita considerably less painful. SVG export is now supported too, along with DDS BC7 export and improved Photoshop PSD import compatibility.
The interface still carries the legacy of decisions made in the late 1990s. The toolbox hasn't been redesigned, docking is idiosyncratic, and newcomers switching from Photoshop or Affinity Photo will need time to adjust. GIMP is not a beginner's tool and it doesn't try to be. But for someone who has used it before, or is willing to learn it on its own terms, GIMP has got considerably closer to Photoshop.
The scripting support spans Python 3, JavaScript, Lua, and Vala, and the plugin ecosystem is large enough that most common automation tasks are already handled. Batch processing, custom export pipelines, format conversions: all manageable without coding from scratch.
Available free on Linux, macOS, and Windows. GPL licensed, so the source is open. Worth trying again if you dismissed it before 3.0.