One of the most common complains that most graphics artists have when they try switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation program) is that the user interface for GIMP is clunky and is hard to use. I have faced the same problem but over time I got used to the GIMP interface so didn't do anything about it.

On the other hand Scott Moschella actually decided to do something about it and spent a lot of time hacking the GIMP source to create GIMPShop where the tools, options, windows, and menus closely resemble Adobe Photoshop's menu structure and naming conventions. This modification makes it really easy for Adobe Photoshop users to switch to GIMP threreby saving a lot of money.

He initially created GIMPShop for the Mac OS and the original package with a Mac Installer is available here. He also made his modified source available so that others can port it to different OS's so I downloaded it to my computer and ported it to Linux. Below is a step by step guide of what I had to do to get it to install on my Debian computer.

Created by: Suramya Tomar
Last updated: 02nd April 2005

This document is Copyright © 02nd April 2004, Suramya Tomar.
It is released to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 License

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Use the information in this document at your own risk. I disavow any potential liability for the contents of this document. Use of the concepts, examples, and/or other content of this document is entirely at your own risk. They worked on my system but it doesn't necessarily mean that it would be safe to do the same on your system.

All copyrights are owned by their owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before performing any of the actions listed in this document .

In this section I have the pleasure of acknowledging the following people without whose input this would have never seen the light of the day:

• Scott Moschella for writing the GIMPShop hack
• Anshuman for creating a RPM installer of GIMPShop
• Creators of GIMP for creating an awesome graphics editor
• My friends and family for brearing with me while I wrote this

The GIMPShop package has a lot of pre-requisites that need to be installed before GIMP can be installed. Since this is a hacked version of GIMP the pre-requisites are the same as the official version. So if you have compiled GIMP from source before you should be able to skip this section without problems.

The following packages are required to install GIMPShop:

• XML::Parser perl module
• GLib >= 2.4.5
• atk >= 1.0.1
• GTK+ >= 2.4.4  
• libart-2.0

Install XML::Parser perl module

To install the XML::Parser perl module  issue te following command as root:

 cpan -i XML::Parser  

This assumes that you have the cpan module installed. If thats not the case download the XML::Parser module from here and follow the instructions in the README file to install it)

Install GLib

Before we can install GLib we need to download the latest version of the GLib source. We do that by running the the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/glib-2.6.3.tar.gz

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -zxf glib-2.6.3.tar.gz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the glib directory using the following command:  

cd glib-2.6.3

Now we configure GLib by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don’t see any errors compile GLib by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install GLib by running the following command as root  

make install

Install atk

Before we can install atk we need to download the latest version of the atk source. We do that by running the the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/atk-1.9.0.tar.bz2

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -jxf atk-1.9.0.tar.bz2

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the atk directory using the following command:  

cd atk-1.9.0

Now we configure atk by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don’t see any errors compile atk by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install atk by running the following command as root  

make install

Install pango

Before we can install pango we need to download the latest version of the pango source. We do that by running the the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/pango-1.8.1.tar.gz

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -zxf pango-1.8.1.tar.gz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the pango directory using the following command:  

cd pango-1.8.1

Now we configure pango by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don't see any errors compile pango by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install pango by running the following command as root  

make install

Install libtiff

Before we can install libtiff we need to download the latest version of the libtiff source. We do that by visiting the the following website: http://dl.maptools.org/dl/libtiff/

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -zxf tiff-3.7.2.tar.gz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the libtiff directory using the following command:  

cd tiff-3.7.2

Now we configure libtiff by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don't see any errors compile libtiff by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install libtiff by running the following command as root  

make install

Install GTK+

Before we can install GTK+ we need to download the latest version of the GTK+ source. We do that by running the the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/gtk+-2.6.4.tar.gz

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -zxf gtk+-2.6.4.tar.gz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the GTK+ directory using the following command:  

cd gtk+-2.6.4

Now we configure GTK+ by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don't see any errors compile GTK+ by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install GTK+ by running the following command as root  

make install

Install libart-2.0

Before we can install libart-2.0 we need to download the latest version of the libart-2.0 source. We do that by running the the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/libart_lgpl/2.3/libart_lgpl-2.3.17.tar.gz

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -zxf libart_lgpl-2.3.17.tar.gz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the libart-2.0 directory using the following command:  

cd libart_lgpl-2.3.17

Now we configure libart-2.0 by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don't see any errors compile libart-2.0 by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install libart-2.0 by running the following command as root  

make install

Now that we have installed all the pre-requisites we can install GIMPShop. Now we can either install GIMPShop from the source or install it using the Debian dpkg installer.

Install using Debian dpkg installer

Download the Debian package for GIMPShop from Here. Install the package by running the following command as root:

dpkg -i gimp_2.2.4-2_i386.deb

Install from Source

Before we can install GIMPShop we need to download the latest version of the GIMPShop source. We do that from Here

Now that we have the latest version of the source we can install it on our system. To do that we must first uncompress the archive so issue the following command:

tar -jxf GIMPshop-source-2.2.4.tbz

Once tar finishes uncompressing the archive change to the GIMPShop directory using the following command:  

cd gimp-2.2

Now we configure GIMPShop by running the following command:  

./configure --prefix=/usr

Once the configuration is complete and you don't see any errors compile GIMPShop by running the following command:    

make

If the compile finishes without errors install GIMPShop by running the following command as root  

make install

To run the server run the following command from a command prompt:

/usr/bin/gimp

Now you should have a working install of GIMPShop. If you like it drop a note to Scott and let him know that he did a great job. If you think this document helped you or you have some comments or questions about this please feel free to Contact Me and let me know. However I must warn you that I am a somewhat lazy person who might take a little while before replying to your emails.

Thanks for your time

• Original Source for GIMPShop: http://plasticbugs.com/
• Official GIMP Site: http://www.gimp.org
• Original Gimp.app site: http://gimp-app.sourceforge.net/
• RPM for GIMPShop: http://www.codemills.com/uploadfiles/memberfiles/gimpshop.rpm.torrent
• Debian Package: gimp_2.2.4-2_i386.deb

• XML::Parser Download site: http://search.cpan.org/~msergeant/XML-Parser-2.34
• Download site for GLib: ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/glib-2.6.3.tar.gz
• Download site for atk: ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/atk-1.9.0.tar.bz2
• Download site for pango: ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/pango-1.8.1.tar.gz
• Download site for Libtiff: http://dl.maptools.org/dl/libtiff/
• Download site for libart: ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/libart_lgpl/2.3/libart_lgpl-2.3.17.tar.gz
• Download site for GTK+: ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v2.6/gtk+-2.6.4.tar.gz