How we tested PhotoGIMP

#Results

“Toolbox lost” means the shortcuts and the dock layout worked but GIMP rejected PhotoGIMP’s toolbox file, used its own order, and saved that order on quit. “Toolbox rejected” is the same on the Mac, where that first-round run did not quit GIMP normally, so we could not see the save. Details on the GIMP 3.2 page.

#Other GIMP builds and setups

Third round, November 1, 2026. The same install command and checks, on the builds of GIMP that keep their files in other places. The question each time: which folder does this GIMP really use, and does PhotoGIMP with the fix survive a quit there?

Two GitHub machines did not cooperate: on the Windows 11 Arm64 runner the Microsoft Store install reported success but no GIMP package appeared, so the Store result is from Windows Server 2025 (x64). Windows 10 itself is no longer offered by GitHub; Windows Server 2022 (build 20348) is the closest available system.

#The machines

Windows 11

GitHub Actions windows-11-arm runner: Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2, build 26200, Arm64. GIMP 3.2.6 installer (native Arm64 build), installed for the current user.

Windows Server

GitHub Actions windows-2025 runner: Windows Server 2025 Datacenter, build 26100, x64, with the same File Explorer as Windows 11. Chocolatey preinstalled.

macOS

GitHub Actions macos-15 runner: macOS 15.8.2 (24H232), Apple Silicon, 1024×768 screen. GIMP 3.2.6 arm64 DMG.

Linux

Ubuntu 24.04 container with a virtual X display (Xvfb, 1600×1000) and the Openbox window manager. x86_64 AppImages of GIMP 3.2.6 and GIMP 3.0.8 from gimp.org.

Third round

GitHub Actions windows-2022 (Windows Server 2022 Datacenter, build 20348, x64), windows-2025 with the Microsoft Store GIMP and GIMP Portable 3.2.6 Rev 3 from PortableApps.com, macos-15-intel (macOS 15.7.9, x86_64, the Intel DMG of GIMP 3.2.6), macos-15 with brew install --cask gimp, and ubuntu-24.04 with GIMP from Flathub and the Snap Store.

PhotoGIMP

Release 3.1 assets downloaded from GitHub, and upstream master at commit fc61a8f (October 25, 2026).

Test image

“Moraine Lake 17092005.jpg” from Wikimedia Commons (public domain), saved without its embedded color profile so GIMP’s color-profile question did not interrupt the runs.

#Method

Every scenario started from a GIMP settings folder created by GIMP itself (start GIMP, quit), except the migration and “before first start” scenarios, which started with no settings at all. Then:

1. README way: copy the contents of the 3.1 zip’s 3.0 folder into GIMP’s 3.2 folder (on Windows with File Explorer, on macOS with the README’s rsync command), start GIMP with an image, quit, start again.
2. Our fix: the same copy, then rename the three GIMP 3.0 names before the first start.
3. Before first start (migration): put the zip’s 3.0 folder in GIMP’s settings folder before GIMP 3.2 has ever run, start, quit, start again.
4. Our commands, pasted: the exact commands the path finder shows, fed to the shell the way a paste is (Windows PowerShell reading them line by line; zsh on macOS; zsh and bash on Linux): install, start and quit twice, refuse while GIMP is open, remove PhotoGIMP only, restore the backup, master, repair, reset.
5. Master: copy master’s settings files (on Linux with its install.sh), and with our command on Windows and macOS.
6. Wrong folder: copy the 3.0 folder next to an existing 3.2.
7. Chocolatey: choco install photogimp on a GIMP that had been started once, and again before GIMP’s first start; start GIMP; choco uninstall photogimp.
8. Portable: on Linux, start GIMP with GIMP3_DIRECTORY pointing at an empty folder, install PhotoGIMP into it, start and quit.
9. Other builds (third round): install GIMP the way that build is installed (flatpak install flathub org.gimp.GIMP, snap install gimp, winget install from the msstore source, brew install --cask gimp, the PortableApps.com package with its own installer), start and quit it once, then search the disk for the settings folder it created. Install PhotoGIMP there with our command (or, for the Store and Portable builds, the same copy and fix), start, quit, start again.
10. Finder: on macOS, extract the zip with Archive Utility and copy the 3.0 folder’s contents into 3.2 with Finder, choosing Replace, after putting a file of our own in 3.2/tool-options.
11. Keyboard layouts: on Linux, switch the layout with setxkbmap (US, UK, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian), press the key combination that types ] on that layout three times with the Paintbrush, quit, and read the brush size GIMP saved.
12. Plug-ins: on Linux, install GIMP and the GIMP 3 branch of the Resynthesizer and G’MIC plug-ins from Flathub, list the procedures they register and run Heal Selection on part of the test photo.
13. Keys: on Linux, press Ctrl+A, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+E, Ctrl+J, ], Ctrl+T and V with real key events (with 3.1 and the fix) and record what GIMP did.

After each start we took screenshots and recorded GIMP’s console output (Linux and macOS; GIMP on Windows has no console). After each quit we recorded the SHA-256 of toolrc, sessionrc and shortcutsrc, which shows exactly what GIMP kept or rewrote. GIMP was quit normally (Ctrl+Q, or Cmd+Q on the Mac in the second round). To get clean screenshots we closed GIMP’s Welcome dialog automatically, the same as clicking its Close button, and on the 1024×768 Mac we dragged GIMP’s oversized window into the screen. On macOS we answered the local-network prompt with “Don’t Allow”. Downloading master inside our Linux container was blocked by its network proxy, so on Linux master was tested with its own install.sh.

#What the file hashes show

#Screenshots

#Raw evidence

Facts, run logs and the relevant console lines from each machine, with local paths replaced by ~ or /home/you:

• Linux: facts.json, run log, install.sh output, console: 3.1 on 3.2… (one file per start)
• Windows 11: facts.json, run log
• Windows Server 2025: facts.json, run log, Chocolatey output
• macOS 15: facts.json, run log, rsync output

Second round (migration, pasted commands, Chocolatey on a clean profile, normal quits on the Mac):

• Linux: in the same facts.json (scenarios migrate, portable, sitescripts), with each pasted command’s output, for example remove PhotoGIMP only and install, run while GIMP was open (refused)
• Windows 11: facts.json, run log, Chocolatey output
• Windows Server 2025: facts.json, run log
• macOS 15: facts.json, run log, pasted restore

Third round (other builds, Intel Mac, Server 2022, Finder, plug-ins):

• Flatpak: facts.json, run log, pasted install
• Snap: facts.json, snap info, install while GIMP was open (refused)
• Microsoft Store: facts.json, run log
• GIMP Portable: facts.json, run log, the package’s launcher settings
• Windows Server 2022: facts.json, run log
• Intel Mac: facts.json, run log
• Homebrew and Finder: facts.json, Finder copy
• Keyboard layouts: in the Linux facts.json (scenario layouts)
• Plug-ins: procedures and Heal Selection result, Flathub plug-in list

The test scripts

The scripts that ran these tests, as plain text. The Windows and macOS ones ran on GitHub Actions machines from a temporary repository that we deleted after the tests; the commands they paste are exactly the ones the path finder shows.

• Linux (AppImage, keys, layouts, migration, portable, pasted commands): linux_run.py
• Windows: first round, second round and Server 2022, Microsoft Store and GIMP Portable, with the shared helpers in lib.ps1
• macOS: first round, second round, Intel, Homebrew and Finder
• Flatpak and Snap: linux-extra.sh; plug-ins: plugins-linux.sh and plugin_probe.py

#What we did not test

• Windows 10 itself (GitHub no longer offers it; Windows Server 2022 is the same generation) and Windows 11 Home or Pro on x64 desktops (Windows Server shares their Explorer and file layout).
• Distribution packages of GIMP (apt, dnf, pacman). They use ~/.config/GIMP like the AppImage, Flatpak and Snap builds we ran.
• High-DPI scaling and multi-monitor setups, Wayland sessions, and a physical keyboard (our layout test sends key events through X11).
• Steam Deck and Chromebooks.

Have one of these setups and want to help? Tell us what you see: contact.

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