How to install PhotoGIMP on a Mac

#The one-command way (Terminal)

Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities), paste the command and press Return. It refuses to run while GIMP is open, checks that the zip is the real 3.1 release, backs up your settings, copies PhotoGIMP and applies the GIMP 3.2 fix. We pasted exactly this into Terminal (zsh) on macOS 15: the hash check passed, GIMP printed no toolbox warnings, and the Photoshop toolbox order was still there after quitting with Cmd+Q and starting again, twice. With GIMP open, the command refused to run and changed nothing.

#Step by step in Finder

We copied with Finder on two test Macs (Intel and Apple Silicon): the zip extracted with Archive Utility, the 3.0 folder’s contents copied into 3.2 with Finder’s Replace, then the fix. GIMP kept the Photoshop toolbox after quitting. One thing to know first, in step 4.

1. Install GIMP and open it once

   Download the DMG for your Mac from gimp.org, drag GIMP to Applications, open it, then quit it. On our Mac the first start created ~/Library/Application Support/GIMP/3.2. macOS 15 also asked whether GIMP may find devices on the local network; either answer is fine for PhotoGIMP.

   

2. Download and open PhotoGIMP.zip

   Get PhotoGIMP.zip from GitHub. Double-click it in Downloads: the zip contains one folder, 3.0. That folder name is fine even on GIMP 3.2; you only need what is inside.

   

3. Open GIMP’s settings folder

   In Finder, press Shift+Cmd+G (Go → Go to Folder…), type ~/Library/Application Support/GIMP and press Return. The Library folder is hidden by default, which is why the Go to Folder dialog is the easiest way in.

   

   

4. Copy the files, not the folder

   Open the extracted 3.0 folder, press Cmd+A and Cmd+C. Open the 3.2 folder and press Cmd+V. When Finder asks about items with the same name, choose Replace (tick “Apply to all”). For folders that exist on both sides, such as tool-options, Finder’s Replace swaps the whole folder rather than merging it. We checked: a file we had put in 3.2/tool-options was gone after the copy, on both Macs. On a fresh GIMP that does not matter; if you saved tool presets of your own, use the Terminal command, which merges (and makes a backup). Do not drag the 3.0 folder itself next to 3.2: once a 3.2 folder exists, GIMP 3.2 ignores it.

5. Apply the GIMP 3.2 fix

   Open toolrc, sessionrc and shortcutsrc in the 3.2 folder with a plain-text editor and make the three replacements listed on the GIMP 3.2 page. In TextEdit choose Format → Make Plain Text first, and when saving keep the file names exactly (no .txt). This step is not needed on GIMP 3.0.

6. Open GIMP

   You see the PhotoGIMP splash, GIMP’s welcome screen (close it), and then the PhotoGIMP layout.

#The README’s Terminal method

PhotoGIMP’s README offers an rsync command for when Finder’s merge skips files. It copies correctly; on GIMP 3.2 you still need the fix afterwards. In our test it reported “Transfer starting: 36 files”, then GIMP printed the toolrc error from the GIMP 3.2 page until the fix was applied.

rsync -av --ignore-times ~/Downloads/3.0/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/GIMP/3.2/
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/GIMP/3.2
sed -i '' 's/"gimp-vector-tool"/"gimp-path-tool"/' toolrc
sed -i '' 's/"gimp-vectors-list"/"gimp-path-list"/' sessionrc
sed -i '' 's/"tools-vector"/"tools-path"/' shortcutsrc

Adjust ~/Downloads/3.0/ to where Finder extracted the zip. Both paths must end with a slash.

#If the GIMP window is bigger than your screen

PhotoGIMP saves a main window of 1888×1011 pixels from the computer it was made on. On our 1024×768 test Mac, GIMP opened that window hanging off the left edge of the screen, with the toolbox out of sight:

Fix: double-click the window’s title bar (or click the green button) to fit it to the screen, then quit GIMP normally (Cmd+Q): GIMP saves the new size. Dialogs saved at large sizes (Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts, Export) may need the same. Resetting all window positions in GIMP → Settings → Interface → Window Management also works, but removes PhotoGIMP’s dock layout. Off-screen window fixes.

#Mac notes

• Shortcuts: PhotoGIMP’s Ctrl shortcuts are Cmd on a Mac, and Alt is Option: Cmd+J duplicates a layer, Cmd+T transforms.
• Apple Silicon and Intel: use the matching GIMP DMG. PhotoGIMP itself is identical for both; it contains no program code. We ran every step on both kinds of Mac.
• Gatekeeper: PhotoGIMP has nothing to open or approve; only GIMP itself is an app.
• Old 2.10 folder: the README suggests deleting a leftover 2.10 folder in ~/Library/Application Support/GIMP. GIMP 3.2 does not read it for its own settings, but GIMP can copy settings from an older version’s folder the first time a new version starts, so removing it avoids carrying old settings over.
• Homebrew: brew install --cask gimp installs the same GIMP.app, so the folder is the same. We tested it: every step gave the same files as with the DMG.

#Questions

Found something wrong or out of date? Tell us: hello@photogimp.org. We fix mistakes within a day.