At the 21. November 1995 Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis release the first public beta version of Gimp for Linux, Solaris and Unix. The program was developed as part of a semester project at Berkeley University in California. Gimp stands for “General Image Manipulation Program” – in the BDSM scene but also for a submissive person. The developers were inspired by the 54 Tarantino film Pulp Fiction for the naming.

The first official version published in January 1996 bears the number 0. 54. From now on, Gimp is unstoppable and is embarking on an unprecedented triumph. After a meeting with GNU founder Richard Stallman the following year, Kimball and Mattis changed the name of their program to “GNU Image Manipulation Program” without any acronym. And that name it still bears today.

Own format for Gimp 1.0 First in June 1998 Gimp gets the status 1.0 and a memory management system that allows large image files to be opened. In addition, Gimp 1.0 can store files in its own XCF format including layers and execute scripts in the Script-Fu language. The program is now also available for Windows and macOS. However, it is a time that demands a lot from users, for example compiling the installer for their platform themselves and installing the GUI toolkit GTK + manually.

Gimp 2.0 will be released in December 2004, but does not bring any earth-shattering innovations. It can import and output SVG files and brings simple functions for the CMYK color model and prepress.

Gimp 2.4 brings ICC color management system and Pressure simulation. When opening files, the program asks whether it should interpret or reject embedded ICC profiles.

What takes a long time will finally be GEGL In October 2008 the developers lay the foundation for the switch to the new graphics library with Gimp 2.6 GEGL. It promises complete ICC color management and image processing in 32 bit color depth per channel – optionally in floating point operations. For the time being, Gimp 2.8 continues to work with only 8 bit color depth per channel. Gimp 2.8 also comes with an optional one-window mode that combines the three floating pallets that were usual up to that point in a dock.

Gimp 2.8 runs for the first time on request in One-window mode.

It should take another ten years before 2018 the switch to GEGL with Gimp 2. 10, the direct successor of Gimp 2.8 by the way. The uneven version numbers are reserved for the developer versions. The long-awaited high color depth is finally a reality. In addition, GEGL brings immediate previews in the document window of filters such as Gaussian soft focus or unsharp masking. The current developer version 2. 54 promises support for HiDPI monitors, improved support for graphics tablets and a new plugin -API.

Gimp 2. 10 fully implements GEGL and shows, among other things, the effect of effects live in the document window.

Compiled installers are now naturally available for download at Gimp.org. Countless books, articles and videos explain the operation. Gimp becomes more user-friendly in adulthood. The free image processing has a permanent place on many PCs and has become an integral part of the open source world. We congratulate and look forward to further 25 years.

(akr)