GIMP, the popular free open-source image editor, announced the first release candidate for the next major 3.0 version on Wednesday.

So, what exactly is a “release candidate” (RC)? A release candidate is something that might be ready to be GIMP 3.0, but we want the larger community to test it first and report any problems they find.

According to the announcement, it’s time to try it out for those who are interested in the new release.

What’s New in GIMP 3.0 RC1

As you see in the top, the release introduced modern new app logo developed by Aryeom, as well as new startup splash screen created by Sevenix.

The legacy tool icons have been updated from PNG to SVG format, which look great on HiDPI screens. There are as well fixes and improvements to color space, that ensure XCF files created in old release will render as the same when opened in 3.0.

GIMP 3.0 RC1 splash screen

The public API has been finalized in the release. It added gimp-context-get-emulate-brush-dynamics and gimp-context-set-emulate-brush-dynamics for scripting and plug-in developing, and consolidated various gauss functions into single plug-in-gauss.

Non-Destructive Editing filters now has “Merge Filters” option at the bottom of the dialog. With it enabled, the filter will be immediately merged down after it is committed. Though, filters can not be applied destructively on layer groups.

The RC release also restores the ability to use the mouse middle scroll wheel to flip through the different dock-able dialogue tabs. The BMP format now supports 64 bits per pixel images. As well, it supports for loading layers from TIFFs saved in Sketchbook format.

Other changes include:

• • Implemented storing version of filters in GIMP’s XCF project files.
  • New GEGL filters: Inner Glow, Bevel, GEGL Styles.
  • Babl gains new conversion processes between RGB and HSL color models, memory leak fixes.

And more.

How to Install GIMP 3.0 RC1 in Ubunu

GIMP provides official dev packages in its website through the link below:

For Linux, it’s an universal Flatpak package runs in sandbox environment. While, Ubuntu users can run the 2 commands below one by one to get it:

• First, enable Flatpak support:

  sudo apt install flatpak

• Then, install GIMP from beta channel:

  flatpak install --user https://flathub.org/beta-repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref

Finally, either launch from start menu or run the flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP//beta command instead if you also have GIMP stable installed as Flatpak.

Ubuntu PPA

For those who prefer the native .deb package, I’ve built GIMP 3.0 RC1 into this unofficial Ubuntu PPA with Ubuntu 24.04 and Ubuntu 24.10 support on amd64, arm64/armhf CPU platforms.

NOTE: The packages are in pending publication state, please try a few hours later. For Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04, the packages will be available soon

To add the PPA and install GIMP 3.0 RC1, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp-3

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gimp libgegl*