configuring GIMP to look like Fireworks

[lrs777]

I need an image manipulation program but Gimp doesn't display a screen more typical to windows user where everything you can do is offered up on one screen. For some reason Gimp separates the workspace from it's features.
I cannot work with it !
Is there a way to change this please? Or another program that does the same things?
Any help much appreciated!
thanks

[rich2005]

I know it annoys many people but you will be pressed to find an alternative as flexible as gimp.

The obvious is krita, you would have to install the koffice packages. I tried this in the past and found it buggy, don't know the present situation. some screen shots here

http://www.koffice.org/krita/

If a small application is acceptable then mtpaint works, screenshots

http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/handbook/en_GB/chap_03.html#SEC1

The alternative is to try and live with gimp.
You can consolidate the dialogs into the toolbox, so at a minimum you have 2 windows open.
If you have several images open, "shade" the images you are not using. You can bring them up from the kicker.
Use a application such as XnView to handle your images. Find the one you want and open it in gimp or whatever graphics editor you have set.

FWIW a couple of screen shots of the above

http://i.imgur.com/OJU5d.jpg

[Archie]

The GIMP is not Photoshop, and although they have visible similarities, there are obviously a lot of differences too. When I was using Photoshop on a daily basis many years ago, it was what I got used to and my transition to GIMP had some utter similar to the OP, "I cannot work with it!"

A pivotal moment when I completely dropped the other OS along with apps that work with it, including Photoshop was a very hard decision to make but I really couldn't live with Windows anymore after a mind-opening revelation that Linux does more.

So unless you listen and follow rich2005's advice to "Live with GIMP", I hate to say it but I guess you're stuck. You might as well boot Windows and run Photoshop. I've also heard rumors (or maybe they're facts) that the GIMP devs are working on a release that would be just one class of windows, giving it more of a Photoshop look. I'm not really keen on it.

I can handle GIMP... Photoshop is still a familiar app but if I would choose which one I'd use, I would have no hesitation in choosing GIMP, with my eyes closed! 

[aguila]

In the next version of GIMP there will be a single window mode, but that not arrive before end of the year.

The development version 2.7.2 already has the feature but we don't have that in the repos (neither in testing section, just checked).

Till then, you might arrange the seperate windows in a way that allows you to not overlap them. You could also use the window settings (right click on the title bar -> advanced -> special settings for this application) to make it look more like you'll need it.

[jcolyng]

Gimp will have single window by the end of the year or shortly thereafter but in the meantime you can configure it to look like the below screenshot. This is how I do it when working in Gimp..

Other software is either stripped down versions of Gimp or are nothing more than paint programs with limited image editing capabilities. Krita which was mentioned is a bit buggy and requires the installation of the koffice suite.

I have to work with PhotoShop at work but much prefer Gimp.

[menotu]

You could have a look at xara-extreme (in the repos)

The following link gives an idea of what it can do.

http://www.xaraxtreme.org/Developers/what-can-xara-xtreme-for-linux-do-now.html

[Archie]

Here's how I usually work on GIMP... notice my toolbox - brushes, layers, channels, undo, history are all in tabs. Fn11 and Ctrl+B are very useful hotkeys.

[Sproggy]

well if anyone would like to test the latest development build of gimp ... i have built it this morning...



http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5639762/GIMP%202.7.2/gimp-2.7.2-1Sproggy2011.i586.rpm

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5639762/GIMP%202.7.2/gimp-python-2.7.2-1Sproggy2011.i586.rpm

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5639762/GIMP%202.7.2/libgimp2.0_0-2.7.2-1Sproggy2011.i586.rpm

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5639762/GIMP%202.7.2/libgimp2.0-devel-2.7.2-1Sproggy2011.i586.rpm

to activate single window mode ... goto Windows >>> Single-Window Mode

Please remember these are RPM's built for development testing only and are not created to replace the stable repo version

Kori

[parnote]

Oooooo! Very nice, Sproggy! I likes!

parnote

[zerocool]

You could try using window tabbing.
Right click on a window’s title bar and select “Move to window group”.
Its been awhile since I used it and iirc you need to be using KDE
composting as I just tried it and it's not working for me, but I running
compiz right now.

Just another suggestion... 

[lrs777]

thanks that looks good

[Georgetoon]

I like having the Gimp broken into three separate windows.

When screen real estate becomes cramped, I do an auto shade to the tool boxes.  I expand the image editing window and then make sure tool box windows stay on top.  I then customize the tool box windows to auto-shade.  When I need tools, I pass my mouse over the shaded tool box.  It pops open, I select my tool, move over to the image window and start working again.  The toolbox shades back up and closes.

I blogged about it some time ago on my OneClickLinux blog.
 

[John Bee]

Hey thanks Sproggy.

But it's too bad it doesn't keep the one window setting from one run to the next.

And I like the way it splits it back out to 3 windows as it quits. (Not) 

[AndrzejL]

Sproggy... Thanks a bunch! Can You try building gimp-gap as well? It's the gimp animation package.

Single user mode won't stick between app restarts but thats the same story as when I was compiling it from the git repository so no biggie.

Andy

[Archie]

Heya Kori,

Do you have another link to thos RPMs that I could try, I have no luck with DropBox and I've already used up all the free proxy sites I could get but the Great Firewall does its job really well. Thanks.