Gimp is an amazing photo altering software and the best free Photoshop alternative available.
As you are all aware, gimp has almost all of the features of Photoshop, but for Photoshop users who want to switch to gimp and have no idea what’s really going on it because of its default user interface, don’t worry, gimp has a customizable user interface, and I’ll show you how to transform gimp’s default UI to look and work like Photoshop.
Gimp to Photoshop
Coming from Photoshop, the default layout of gimp is highly frustrating and confusing, however, if you understand gimp and its structure, you will know that practically everything in gimp can be customized to match your workflow.
And we can use it to make Gimp appear more like Photoshop, and in recent years, Gimp has made a number of UI-friendly adjustments, such as tool groups, that can also make Gimp look more like Photoshop.User Interface
When you compare Gimp and Photoshop side by side, you’ll notice where to change and where to make tweaks to match Gimp’s layout.
Gimp features a drag-and-drop customization feature similar to Photoshop, which we’ll utilize to make Gimp appear like Photoshop.
Step 1. Close all other windows except the tool options, and then drag the tool options to the top right corner.
Step 2. Slide the toolbox to make it slim, just like in Photoshop.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are one of the most vital components of a good workflow, and users who use keyboard shortcuts frequently can grow very dissatisfied with gimp.
There are a few ways to modify keyboard shortcuts in Gimp. You can change your favorite shortcuts one by one or install them through the file.
If you want to change each shortcut manually, then copy and paste each of your favorite shortcuts through these links. Link: https://github.com/loloolooo/photoshop-keymap-for-gimp
And this method is pretty easy at least easier than the previous method.
1. Download the menurc configuration file for GIMP Photoshop keyboard shortcuts from the GimpPS GitHub repository.
After downloading, ensure that the file is called “menurc” and does not have an extension. This is due to Chrome’s ability to append a.txt extension to this file when you save it to your PC. If the file is saved on your computer as “menurc.txt,” remove the.txt extension.
2. Copy the menurc file and paste it into the following folder in your file manager (make sure GIMP is not working when making this change)
Windows: the GIMP 2.10 configuration folder is located in: C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\2.10
macOS: the GIMP 2.10 configuration folder under: /Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10
Linux:
- For GIMP installed from the repositories (this includes official repositories or third-party repositories like a PPA, AUR, and so on), the GIMP 2.10 configuration directory is: ~/.config/GIMP/2.10
- For GIMP installed from a Flatpak package (from Flathub), the GIMP 2.10 configuration directory is: ~/.var/app/org.gimp.GIMP/config/GIMP/2.10
- For GIMP installed from a Snap package, the GIMP 2.10 configuration can be found in: ~/snap/gimp/current/.config/GIMP/2.10
