News, Tutorials, Howtos for Ubuntu Linux
GIMP image editor announced the new 2.99.18 development release today. It’s marked as the last dev release for the next major 3.0 version.
The new release has a new welcome dialog, with Personalize tab to set your favorite theme, icon and font scaling, and select program language, Contribute tab with a few links for who want to contribute to GIMP, and Create tab with quick buttons to create, open, open recent images. It as well has an option to enable on every start.
Krita, the free open-source digital painting software, released a new bug-fixes release for the 5.2 release series few days ago.
The new Krita 5.2.2 has various fixes to the Snap build. Ubuntu users can finally easily to install it from Ubuntu Software (or App Center).
Krita 5.2.2 in 23.10 App Center
Besides snap package update, the release also includes few dozen of bug-fixes and improvements. They include:
Option 1: Snap
As mentioned above, Ubuntu user can simply search for and install Krita as Snap package from either Ubuntu Software or App Center.
Option 2: Flatpak
Linux Mint 21 users can alternatively search & install Krita from Software Manager as Flatpak package.
Option 3: AppImage
Krita also provide non-install AppImage package, which is available to download at its website.
Option 4: Ubuntu PPA
For those who prefer the classic native .deb package format, I’ve made the new release package into this unofficial PPA.
So far, it supports Ubuntu 22.04 (amd64, arm64/armhf), Ubuntu 23.04 & 23.10 (amd64, armhf).
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/krita
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, either launch Software Updater and upgrade the graphics editor from an old version:
or run the command below in terminal to install/upgrade it:
sudo apt install krita
NOTE: Linux Mint may have to run sudo apt update first.
For the Flatpak package, simply open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to remove it:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.kde.krita
Also, run flatpak uninstall --unused to free up some disk space by removing useless run-time libraries.
To remove the PPA as well as downgrade the Krita package to stock versions, run command:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/krita
Or, open Software & Updates and remove the repository source line under “Other Software” tab (Linux Mint users go to Software Sources -> PPA).
And, remove Krita graphics editor .deb package by running command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove krita krita-data
That’s all. Enjoy!
GIMP image editor announced a new stable release for the 2.10 series one days ago. Here’s how you can install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.
First of all, GIMP 2.10.36 includes a few security fixes. So, users are urged to upgrade as soon as possible.
Besides many bug-fixes and security updates. The new release also has some new features. They include Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE) and Adobe Color Book (ACB) palettes support.
Gradient Tool now has an “FG to Transparent (Hardedge)” option, to generate a gradient from the foreground color to transparency, with hard-edge transitions between the 2 colors. Which, as well includes a “Repeat” option to alternate repetitive colored shapes.
Other changes in GIMP 2.10.36 include:
GIMP provides official Linux package through Flatpak. For choices, they are Snap package and Ubuntu PPAs (.deb) maintained by contributors.
Option 1: Flatpak (official)
Flatpak is an universal package format that can be installed in most Linux, though it runs in sandbox.
To install GIMP 2.10.36 as Flatpak, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run the 2 commands below one by one:
sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref
If you already installed an old version of the Flatpak package, try to update it by running command:
flatpak update org.gimp.GIMP
Option 2: Snap package
Like Flatpak, Snap is also an universal Linux package format runs in sandbox.
GIMP Snap package is still at v2.10.34 at the moment of writing (check HERE). However, it’s easy to install by simply search & click installing in Ubuntu Software (App Center).
Option 3: Ubuntu PPA
For those who prefer native .deb package format, I’ve upload the new release package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10, with amd64, arm64 and armhf support.
UPDATE: The package for Ubuntu 20.04 is also included. Sadly, failed to build it for arm64 architecture.
1. First, open terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Linux Mint users need to manually refresh system package cache, though, it’s done automatically in Ubuntu while adding PPA. To do so, run command:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, either run command to install GIMP 2.10.36:
sudo apt install gimp gegl
For Ubuntu 20.04, also run sudo apt install libgexiv2-2 to update the runtime library. Or run sudo apt upgrade if GIMP refused to run after installation.
Or, use “Software Updater” (Update Manager) to upgrade your current GIMP to the latest.
If you installed GIMP via the official Flatpak package, run command below in terminal to uninstall it:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.gimp.GIMP
Also run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove useless runtimes.
For the Snap package, simply use Ubuntu Software or App Center to uninstall it.
For the PPA package, either run command to purge PPA and downgrade to the stock version:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
Or, remove the image editor directly by running command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove gimp gimp-data gegl libgimp2.0 libbabl
Then, remove the PPA either via command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
or ‘Software & Updates’ tool under Other Software tab by removing the source line.
Krita announced the new major 5.2.0 release few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10 via PPA.
Krita 5.2.0 introduced some exciting new features, such as synchronized audio playback, FFmpeg bundle, new text layout engine, new Wide Gamut Color Selector, new actions, CMYK for JEPG-XL, and various tool updates. See the official release note for details.
Krita provides official Linux package through AppImage, which is available to download at the link below:
Once you got the package, just right-click on it and go file ‘Properties’, then enable “Allow executing file as program” under Permissions tab. Finally, right-click and select “Run” to launch the painter.
Krita is also available as Snap and Flatpak packages, though they are both NOT updated to v5.2.0 at the moment of writing.
For users hate running apps in sandbox, I’ve uploaded the package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 22.04 (arm64 also supported), Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.
NOTE 1: This is an unofficial package built against Debian upstream rules. It seems working good, but without well testing!
NOTE 2: For Ubuntu 22.04, the PPA also contains a few updated version of dependency libraries, that MIGHT cause conflict to other packages in your system!
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/krita
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, either launch Software Updater and upgrade the graphics editor from an old version:
or run the command below in terminal to install/upgrade it:
sudo apt install krita
NOTE: Linux Mint may have to run sudo apt update first.
To remove the PPA as well as downgrade the Krita package to stock version, run command:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/krita
Or, open Software & Updates and remove the repository source line under “Other Software” tab (Linux Mint users go to Software Sources -> PPA).
And, remove Krita graphics editor via command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove krita krita-data
That’s all. Enjoy!
GIMP image editor released a new update for the 2.10 series few days ago! Here are what’s new and how to install guide for Ubuntu Linux users.
GIMP 2.10.34 is a new stable release features a lot of bug-fixes and a few enhancements. The official announcement is NOT ready somehow at the moment, though it’s released in gitlab project age. And, the source code is available to download at FTP web page.
For macOS, the DBus is now fully disabled as it in some cases could even cause app freeze. Open With feature still work fine, but other features using dbus (such as opening files or running batch commands from a separate GIMP process) won’t work. As well, check for updates function in macOS now works again.
The release also has some backports from the 2.99.x development releases. The “Canvas Size” dialog has been redesigned to use more horizontal space. And, it has new Template selector in resize dialog.
For PDF with transparent area, there’s new “Fill transparent areas with white” option which enabled by default on file import. And export dialog has “Fill transparent areas with background color” option to decide whether use transparent background.
Other changes in GIMP 2.10.34 include:
GIMP provides official Linux packages through universal Flatpak package, though it runs in sandbox environment.
Ubuntu user can press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run the following 2 commands one by one to install it:
sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref
Once installed, start it either from app launcher or run flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP in terminal.
For those prefer the classic .deb package format. I’ve uploaded the package into the unofficial PPA, with support for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
sudo apt install gimp libgegl-0.4-0 libbabl-0.1-0
For Linux mint, you may need to run sudo apt update to update package index first.
For GIMP package installed as Flatpak, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to remove it:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.gimp.GIMP
Also run flatpak uninstall --unused to clean useless runtime.
For .deb package from PPA, open terminal and run command:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
The command above will remove PPA and downgrade the GIMP package into stock version in system repository.
For choice, you may remove the PPA instead by running command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
And remove the GIMP image editor via:
sudo apt remove --autoremove gimp libgegl-0.4-0
For Pinta users who do NOT like the Snap and Flatpak packages that run in sandbox. Here’s how to build the 2.1 release from source tarball in Ubuntu 22.04 & 22.10.
Pinta has switch to .NET 6.0 framework since version 2.0. Which however needs internet connection to fetch something for the first time during the build time. And, most Linux so far still has Pinta v1.x in their system repositories.
Thankfully, building Pinta 2.1 from source is not hard. And, here’s the step by step guide show you how!
1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install .NET 6 as well as dev libraries for building the package.
sudo apt install dotnet-sdk-6.0 debhelper autotools-dev autoconf-archive gettext intltool libgtk-3-dev
NOTE: If you’ve already installed dotnet 7.0 from Microsoft repository, skip dotnet-sdk-6.0 in command.
2. Next, download the source tarball from github release page (under ‘Assets’ section):
3. Then, extract the tarball in file manager. Right-click on source folder and select “Open in Terminal”.
4. The last step will open a terminal window and automatically navigate to the Pinta source folder as working directory.
In the terminal window, run command to configure the source:
./configure
And, finally compile and install it via:
sudo make install
NOTE: This step needs internet connection if you’re first time using dotnet to build a package. And, it may fail if you’ve ever installed .NET 7.0 but removed (not completely) and use .NET 6.0 now.
If everything’s done without any error, you should now be able to search for and launch Pinta from system start menu (‘Activities’ overview).
Until you remove the source folder, you can run sudo make uninstall at any time from in that folder to uninstall Pinta package.
If you’ve removed the source folder, re-do the previous steps and replace the last command with sudo make uninstall.
The free and open-source Paint.Net 3.0 clone, Pinta image editor got a new major release after 1 year of development.
The new Pinta 2.1 came with some exciting new features, including WebP image support via webp-pixbuf-loader library, and updated icons with improved support for dark theme and HiDPI displays.
The Gradient tool now has a ‘Transparency Mode‘. The release also adds support for loading files from network drive, meaning user can now open pictures from Google Drive folder.
Other changes in Pinta 2.1 include:
Pinta offers official Linux package through both Snap and Flatpak package. Choose either one that you prefer.
NOTE: Both packages now do NOT support for WebP images. Try to build it from source by yourself if you like this feature.
Ubuntu 20.04 | 22.04 and higher user can easily install the package from Ubuntu Software. NOTE: There are 2 Pinta packages in Software Center, choose the one from Snap Store.
Pinta is also available to install as another universal Flatpak package format. Just press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run commands below one by one to install it.
sudo apt install flatpak
For the old Ubuntu 18.04, add this PPA first before installing Flatpak.
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.PintaProject.Pinta.flatpakref
Tip: if you’ve already installed Pinta as Flatpak, run the command below to check updates:
flatpak update com.github.PintaProject.Pinta
For the Pinta Snap package, just remove it either using Ubuntu Software app or by running command in a terminal window:
snap remove pina
To remove the Flatpak package, run command:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.github.PintaProject.Pinta
Also run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove useless run-time libraries.
GIMP image editor got a new update for its 2.99 development release this Friday. Here’s the new features as well as how to install guide for Ubuntu users.
GIMP 2.99.14 is the 7th development release for the next major 3.0 release. It reworked the Align and Distribute tool to make it easy to use. Target items to align or distribute are now the selected layers and/or paths. For layers in particular, a new option “Use extents of layer contents” is available to align or distribute target layers based on their pixel contents.
The Text tool now has new “outline” and “fill” options, to insert text in different styles. For me, it’s no longer required to use ‘Grow…’ and then ‘Stroke Selection’ to do similar job.
This release also introduced a new ‘Gray‘ theme, as well as “Override icon sizes set by the theme” option to resize icons among small, medium, large and huge.
XCF file support is greatly improved with multi-threading support. Saving with default RLE and zlib is now much faster! And, this release introduced initial Apple Silicon package support for macOS users.
Other changes in GIMP 2.99.14 include:
The image editor has an official download page for the development releases. It offers the official package for Linux as Flatpak, though there’s also an unofficial PPA for Ubuntu users.
Ubuntu and most other Linux can install the editor as Flatpak that runs in sandbox. For Ubuntu users, they are generally 3 commands for installing it:
sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak install --user flathub-beta org.gimp.GIMP
If you already installed the previous GIMP 2.99.12, use flatpak update --user org.gimp.GIMP beta command to update it.
And, if you also have GIMP 2.10 stable release installed as Flatpak, only one of them can be visible in system app launcher. Use either command below to switch between them:
flatpak make-current --user org.gimp.GIMP beta
flatpak make-current --user org.gimp.GIMP stable
NOTE: skip --user flag if you installed the package system wide without this parameter.
For those who prefer the classic .deb package format, there’s an unofficial PPA contains the package for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.
Simply, open terminal from start menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, then run the commands below one by one to add the PPA, update, and install GIMP 2.99.x:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mati75/gimp30
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gimp
NOTE: If you have GIMP 2.10 stable installed as .deb package, the commands above will upgrade it to the latest development release.
To restore the stock GIMP package in system repository, run command to purge the Ubuntu PPA which also downgrade all installed packages:
sudo apt install ppa-purge & sudo ppa-purge ppa:mati75/gimp30
GIMP image editor released a new update for its stable 2.10 release series. Here’s what’s new and how to install in Ubuntu.
GIMP 2.10.32 comes with BigTIFF file import/export support, which is an evolution of the original TIFF format allowing files bigger than 4GiB. It also supports for importing 8 and 16-bit CMYK(A) TIFF in this release.
The release also backported the JPEG XL file format support from the 2.99.8 development release. It’s so far only has import ability, though a third-party plugin is available with both import and export support.
Other changes include:
file-bmp-save2 for plugin developer.
GIMP offers official Linux package via universal Flatpak package.
For, Ubuntu 20.04 and higher, simply press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, and run the command below one by one to install it:
sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref
For those do not like sandboxed applications, I’ve uploaded the new release package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 21.10, and Ubuntu 20.04 with amd64 and arm64/armhf CPU architecture types support.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
Type user password (no visual feedback) when it asks for sudo authentication and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, refresh system package cache by running command:
sudo apt update
3. And, finally install or update GIMP using command:
sudo apt install gegl gimp
Or, upgrade GIMP image editor via Software Updater after adding the PPA repository:
NOTE: Due to build failure of libjxl library for arm64. The official JPEG-XL plugin is excluded in this PPA for Ubuntu 20.04. You can however run the command below to install the third-party plugin mentioned above to get .jxl file import/export support.
sudo apt install libjxl-gimp-plugin
Free open-source vector graphics editor Inkscape 1.2 was released a few days ago. Ubuntu, Linux Mint and their based systems can now install the new release via official PPA.
Inkscape 1.2 is a major release with some exciting new features including:
See the announcement for more about Inkscape 1.2.
The software provides non-install AppImage package for Linux in its official download page. User can alternatively install the universal Flatpak package from flathub.org, or get it in Ubuntu Software via Snap package (will be updated soon).
For those prefer the classic .deb package format, the Inkscape PPA was created that contains the software packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 21.10 and their derivatives.
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and run to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:inkscape.dev/stable
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks for sudo authentication, and hit Enter to continue
To avoid conflict to the previous Inkscape 1.1.x, it’s better to remove the old package first (if installed) by running the command below in terminal:
sudo apt remove --autoremove inkscape
And finally install Inkscape 1.2 via command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install inkscape
After installation, enjoy the new software release by searching for and launching from the Activities overview screen.
If you want to remove Inkscape 1.2 and restore the package to the stock version in your Ubuntu repository, run the command below to purge PPA and downgrade Inkscape:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:inkscape.dev/stable
If you just want to remove the image editor, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove inkscape
For the Ubuntu PPA, either remove the source line using “Software & Updates” utility under Other Software tab:
or run the command below in a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:inkscape.dev/stable-1.2
