Discuss

To discuss features, tips, tricks or contribute to development, the below discussion channels are available.

We only list spaces moderated by the GIMP team. Our project encourages community process so many community-led spaces exist to discuss about GIMP as well (forums, chat systems…) without our supervision.

In any of the official channels, you are expected to follow our code of conduct.

⚠️ Warning: these discussion channels are public and often archived for anyone to read. In some cases they are even archived in places outside of our control. Don’t send any private or sensitive information! ⚠️

Forums

GIMP has 2 official forums, hosted by separate projects:

IRC / Matrix

The official GIMP IRC channels are on GIMPNet (irc.gimp.org) and have existed for more than 20 years.

Matrix is an alternative real-time discussion option, with many more people to ask questions to, though less developers are active.

irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp-users | alt: GIMP users Matrix channel
Main support channel for GIMP users.
irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp | alt: GIMP Matrix channel
Original channel, created in early 1997 for users and developers. Discussions often focus on GIMP development.
irc://irc.gimp.org/#gimp-web | alt: GIMP web Matrix channel
Channel devoted to this web site and related GIMP sites.

ℹ️ Note: there used to be a Matrix bridge. It was taken down and we are not sure if it will get back. So the IRC and Matrix channels are not communicating anymore.

Discord

A Discord server (another real-time discussion channel) is also available. Supports Chat, Voice and Video streaming.

Code of Conduct

Communication channels between contributors and users of GIMP are important. Therefore we urge you to follow the following common etiquette rules. Failure to observe these or instructions from the moderators may be grounds for reprimand, probation, or removal.

  • Be considerate and respectful. Every message in our most popular discussion channels may be read by thousands of subscribers and then aggregated to be seen by an even larger audience. Please make sure that you add value to the discussion, avoid repetitive arguments, flamewars, trolling, and personal attacks.
  • Write in English. While the GIMP community is multinational, we need a lingua franca for communication which happens to be English. It’s OK to have bad English skills as long as you do your best. Nobody will mock your English (this would go against the first rule of being respectful).
  • Do basic research. Chances are that your questions, feature requests, or bug reports have already been thoroughly documented and discussed. See the list of sources for reference below.
  • Be specific. When describing a problem, please always mention: operating system and its version, architecture (32bit, 64bit…), exact version of GIMP (use Help->About for reference).
  • For real-time channels (IRC, Discord) specifically:
    • Be patient. IRC offers real-time communication, but be aware that there may be long periods of silence in the channels when other people are busy or away from their keyboards. Receiving answers after a few hours is not unheard of. Therefore asking, then doing something else while leaving the window opened and checking from time to time if there are answers is not considered rude because everyone is aware that others have lives too.
    • Don’t ask to ask, just ask. Questions like “May I ask a question?” are redundant. Questions like “Can someone help me?” cannot be answered until you have described your problem. Be polite yet direct and describe your problem or question immediately.
    • Don’t expect to be greeted. You are free to say hello but receiving no answers does not mean anything bad. Talking directly or just listening is perfectly acceptable behavior too.

List of sources to check for information on the project, roadmap, feature requests, bug reports etc. before asking questions:

  • Your favorite web search engine.
  • Documentation.
  • Bug tracker. Useful for checking bug reports and feature requests.
  • FAQ. Some frequently asked questions we already replied.
  • Roadmap. Where some of the plans are outlined.
  • Usability. Ongoing work to improve user experience of GIMP.
  • Development. If you wish to contribute, please check the developer website.

We also suggest checking archives of the mailing lists for existing discussions.

Mailing Lists Archives

We used to have mailing lists. These were discontinued end of October 2022.

For people who wish to use our forums through emails, this post might be of interest (the instructions would work for both our forums, simply “Watching” a category on pixls.us forum instead of a tag).

Mailing list archives are still available: