For all those waiting for this one, they finally released a stable version of gimp 2.8
Got to admit it looks good, I was a bit worried but so far so good.
Here is a screen shot I took
This is a new analog clock widget I am currently working on for the android phone.
Yes I create it from scratch.
Hopefully it will be on the market soon and I'll post a link on this site once it is up and ready for download.
This one can now be downloaded for free by clicking on the link below
Notice the docks are all one now :) about time, but you also have the choice of the old docks you can control docking or non docking windows by going under windows > single window mode, check it to have it all one window or uncheck it to get it back to the old way (three separate windows), I deleted the plug in registry then after it was installed I went in and reinstalled it (for those who were wondering if they would disappear).
The most joyous new addition to me is two things.
Doing your text right on the canvas finally with lots of options we never had before.
About time for this one.
What does this mean? you can do more then one size color etc for one line instead of making them all separate and then lining them up afterwards.
Then there is the one I have been waiting for a long long time.
The cage transform tool.
Oh ya I forgot to mention one of the greatest things gimpers added was the layer folders, now anyone that works with the gimpers and creates tons of layers know the importance of this add on, as you can see in the picture above, this was a piece of art I am currently working on and have not had the chance yet to create the folders, as you can see there is a heck of a lot of layers there for one image, just one part, like a number on the clock can take up to five to ten layers all on it's own to get the effects I want, as you can see by the scrollbar, there are a heck of aa lot of layers for what I have done so far, and that even has some layers merged already that I know I won't be changing later down the road.
So this is why layer folders are so important and should of been added right from the get go, anyone who creates extremely detailed artwork knows they can get lost in layers very easily, with folders you can categorise your layers and shove them all in a folder, let's say I have a folder named numbers (for the numbers on the clock face) I would then shove all my clock number layers into one folder, nice and neat :)
Then so on with each area, this gives me the ability to find a layer quickly and I don't have to go searching up and down constantly with hundreds of layers, I just go to the folder and close the rest of them and work in one folder at a time.
Nice and convenient and a heck of a lot quicker and more organised.
For someone who only works in a few layers, the old way is just fine but for hundreds of layers, it can quickly get out of control and confusing, especially if you don't name each layer properly, like new layer 1, new layer 1#1 lol try figuring out that one later after a 50 to a 100 layers lol or more.
So yuppers layer folders a great addition that was needed for any serious gimpers artist long long ago, adobe had it long ago and as any serious gimpers will tell you, gimpers have a lot more to offer and for me anyhow has been a better program long long ago, I stopped working in photoshop literally years ago, and that is even on jobs for a company, the first thing I do is install my gimpers when I worked for companies.
and inkscape, but as for most companies caught up in the adobe pay through the nose software, illustrator is still hard to get away from in companies, gimpers though :) not so hard once shown what it can do.
Anyhow check it all out at gimp.org there is to many things to go into and just repeat what gimpers already said themselves.
Check the release notes, that's where it has screen shots and information and how to download it and install it and how to install it while having gimp 2.6 in the same system if you want that also.
For those who use xubuntu or ubuntu 12.04 there is a quick way of installing it.
at ubuntugeek they say this, this also works for Linux Mint 13 (I use Linux Mint 13 xfce so I personally know it works on this and on xubuntu which I used for a bit).
In case anyone was wondering it should work on all Linux Mint 13 versions.
Open the terminal and run the following commands
make sure you get rid of the old plugin registry this does not show that in this site.
What I did was delete gimp and the registry first then did a install like below.
You can install the registry either through the terminal or through the software center after 2.8 is installed, as far I now it, this has to be done because the old registry is not compatable but the new one is. I gave instructions below to install the registry below this.
I deleted the gimp registry by using
sudo apt-get remove gimp-plugin-registry
Then did the one below
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gimp
here is the link: http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-gimp-2-8-in-ubuntu-using-ppa.html this one does not say what version of ubuntu so I am thinking this might be for everyone.
Now the problem with the above is it does not remove the plugin registry first, this will cause issues, if you have done this then you will have to do a cleaning house abit.
Here is what http://askubuntu.com/questions/132114/problem-on-12-04-with-gimp-2-8 says:
Firstly remove the gimp 2.8 repo by running these commands
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
And then run
sudo apt-get update
now remove the plugin-regitery as it is not supported on 2.8
sudo apt-get remove gimp-plugin-registry
Once thats done you can install Gimp 2.8
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gimp
Once it is install you can install the registry plugins again I did mine through the software center by just clicking on the gimpers and clicking the added changes.
Nice and easy :) and it worked for me I tested it.
The other way for all you terminal (just got to do it that way) people which I am 90% of the time.
Here ya go (remember this is after you removed the old gimp 2.6 then the old registry plugins then installed gimp 2.8 then install the registry.
it can be found here: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/install-gimp-plugin-registry-for-gimp.html
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gimp-plugin-registry
Hope this helps
Sam
