Discuss

To discuss features, tips, tricks or contribute to development, the below discussion channels are available.

Note that we only list spaces moderated by the GIMP team. Our project encourages community process so many community-led spaces exist to discuss about GIMP as well (forums, chat systems…) without our supervision.

In any of the official channels, you are expected to follow our code of conduct.

⚠️ Warning: mailing lists are publicly available and archived for anyone to read. In some cases they are even archived in places outside of our control. Other discussions channels are not necessarily centrally archived, yet many users store every discussion happening. Don’t send any private or sensitive information! ⚠️

IRC

The official GIMP IRC channels are on GIMPNet (irc.gimp.org) and have existed for more than 20 years. Many channels related to GTK+ and GNOME are also on GIMPNet.

irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp-users
Main support channel for GIMP users.
irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp
Original channel, created in early 1997 for users and developers. Discussions often focus on GIMP development.
irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp-web
Channel devoted to this web site and related GIMP sites.

Mailing Lists

GIMP User
Main list for questions about using GIMP.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive, spinics / Old Archives: mail-archive
GIMP Developer
GIMP developer list. For plug-in developers and core program developers; discussion about the source code.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive / Old Archives: mail-archive
GEGL Developer
GEGL developer list. For developers interested in contributing to GEGL, the new architecture for image processing.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive / Old Archives: mail-archive
GIMP GUI
GIMP GUI list. For discussions around UI/UX.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive
GIMP Web
GIMP web list. For discussions about contents and structure of this web site.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive
GIMP Docs
GIMP documentation list. For discussions about the GIMP User Manual and all derivative works.
Archives: GNOME, mail-archive / Old Archives: mail-archive

Discord

A Discord server is also available.

Code of Conduct

Communication channels between contributors and users of GIMP are important. Therefore we urge you to follow the following common etiquette rules. Failure to observe these or instructions from the moderators may be grounds for reprimand, probation, or removal.

  • Be considerate and respectful. Every email in our most popular mailing lists may be read by thousands of subscribers and then aggregated to be seen by an even larger audience. Other channels usually have dozens or hundreds of subscribers. Please make sure that you add value to the discussion, avoid repetitive arguments, flamewars, trolling, and personal attacks.
  • Write in English. While the GIMP community is multinational, we need a lingua franca for communication which happens to be English. It’s OK to have bad English skills as long as you do your best. Nobody will mock your English (this would go against the first rule of being respectful).
  • Do basic research. Chances are that your questions, feature requests, or bug reports have already been thoroughly documented and discussed. See the list of sources for reference below.
  • Be specific. When describing a problem, please always mention: operating system and its version, architecture (32bit, 64bit…), exact version of GIMP (use Help->About for reference).
  • For mailing-lists specifically:
    • Stick to plain text. Please don’t send emails in HTML.
    • Keep it short. When replying long threads, please trim unnecessary content and write your replies inline instead of “top posting”.
  • For real-time channels (IRC, Discord) specifically:
    • Be patient. IRC offers real-time communication, but be aware that there may be long periods of silence in the channels when other people are busy or away from their keyboards. Receiving answers after a few hours is not unheard of. Therefore asking, then doing something else while leaving the window opened and checking from time to time if there are answers is not considered rude because everyone is aware that others have lives too.
    • Don’t ask to ask, just ask. Questions like “May I ask a question?” are redundant. Questions like “Can someone help me?” cannot be answered until you have described your problem. Be polite yet direct and describe your problem or question immediately.
    • Don’t expect to be greeted. You are free to say hello but receiving no answers does not mean anything bad. Talking directly or just listening is perfectly acceptable behavior too.

List of sources to check for information on the project, roadmap, feature requests, bug reports etc. before asking questions:

  • Your favorite web search engine.
  • Documentation.
  • Bug tracker. Useful for checking bug reports and feature requests.
  • FAQ. Some frequently asked questions we already replied.
  • Roadmap. Where some of the plans are outlined.
  • Usability. Ongoing work to improve user experience of GIMP.
  • Development. If you wish to contribute, please check the wiki for basic information for developers.

We also suggest checking archives of the mailing lists for existing discussions.