GIMP is a graphics editor and stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The software is used for image retouching and editing, Image format conversion, and much more. It is known for a very high and professional image editing task. The tool is absolutely free and open source. Here I have a list of 15 Best GIMP Plugins that will improve your editing.
Last Updated on 01/10/2022 @ 22:00 IST – Updated GIMP Plugin Links and added more plugins to the list. These plugins also support the latest GIMP 2.10.30.
If you have the experience to improve this tool then you can go ahead and improve it and even sell it because it is an open source project. GIMP also supports a lot of Plugins which makes the tool even more interesting. There are a lot of GIMP Plugins but it is challenging to choose the best plugins.
Note: You’ll need to install GIMP Python support, Check the process at the end on this article. GIMP is available for Linux, Mac OS, Windows and other operating systems.
Best GIMP Plugins
1) Quick Sketch
Quick Sketch is a plug-in used to convert an Image into sketch art. It means if you have a photo you can make a sketch of it. Also, there is an RGB mode available so if you want a sketch output in color. This is really useful while doing Artwork. It is an interesting and good GIMP Plugin. Let’s see some other GIMP Plugins. Make sure to use the below link to reach to download page.
2) Photo Effects
As the name reflects photo effects come with a lot of useful effects. It contains features like Palette knife, Water paint effect, Wrap-effect, Texturizer, Solarisation, Color pencil, Color pencil, Brick wall, and many more. So whenever you think that you need to use effects on a picture make sure to catch Photo Effects.
3) Layer Effects
Layer Effects provide various effects which can be applied on a separate layer and merged layers. It contains effects like Outer Glow, Inner Glow, Satin, Stroke, Pattern Overlay, Bevel, Emboss, etc. It could be a better option when you are editing a 3D picture. Where you can add effects to any layer you want.
4)ย Beautify
Beautify is one of the most wanted features that we definitely need. This plugin beautifies a photo by increasing the sharpness of color. It has many options where you can control which color is to be modified like elegant, retro, light, navy blue, etc. You can set contrast opacity or any other color-related options.
5)ย Stitch Panorama
Stitch panorama is one of the best GIMP plugins used to create panorama photos out of any photos. You can also add multiple photos and set the length of photoย manually to create panorama according to yourself. In stitch panorama, you will find features like image blending, color balance, and distortion matching. It is a good alternative to Pandora plugin.
6)ย CarTOONize
CarTOONize is among the best GIMP Plugins used to convert pictures into cartoonย pictures. It let us control line thickness and black shadows, color level. It can remove noise from a picture usingย GREYCstoration, G’MIC, Selective Gaussian, or Despeckle filter as a Surface Blur. So using CarTOONize is really fun and interesting. It will also add value while making a cartoon or funny poster.
7) BIMP
Batch image Manipulation Plugin is a plugin used to set manipulation on a bunch of images. It is one of the great GIMP plugins. Manipulations like Crop, resize, watermark, format conversion, rename, color correction, flip, rotate, etc. are available in BIMP by default. But you can also add other manipulations from other manipulation plugins. It helps to apply these manipulations to multiple images with one click. Just download and install it to use on GIMP.
8)ย Save for Web
Save for web is one of the best GIMP plugins for multiple tasks. It let us control almost every part of pictures where we can crop the image, change the format, reduction, compress, scale, sharpness, etc. If you are a blogger and need responsive thumbnails or something then this could be the best choice. I will recommend using it.
9)ย Refocus
Sometimes we get blurry and shaky images due to some reasons. And to correct the shaky images Refocus is the best GIMP plugin. As the name suggests it refocus on the blurry image using a technique calledย FIR Wiener filtering. So to produce aย blur-free picture use Refocus.
10)ย GโMIC
G’MIC stands for GREYC’s Magic for Image Computing which is the best GIMP plugin. It can preview the images to check which filter is good for the picture and then apply it. It allows users to add custom filters to the list. G’MIC comes with hundreds of filters integrated like artistic effects, image denoising, enhancement algorithms, 3D renderers, etc. The installation of G’Mic is easy just download & install the plugin on a PC and you will find it under Filters.
11) Resynthesizer
Resynthesizer is another powerful GIMP plugin that supports the latest GIMP 2.10.12 and works pretty well. It is used to heal images or we can say it can remove objects from images even from complex images. If you are aware of Content Aware Fill from photoshop then you should know that Resynthesizer is used for similar editing. Use the below link to download and use it with GIMP. Make sure to put all the files in Plug-in folder including the exe files.
12) RawTherapee
If you want to edit regular formatted images such as JPEGs, PNGs, etc. you can easily do that in GIMP. But, what about RAW images? How are those kinds of images to be edited? Well, that can be done by simply using this handy plugin called RawTherapee. As soon as you open a RAW image, the plugin will launch itself and show you the tools that you can use to fine tune your image. Since the plugin is open source, you have the freedom to use it without paying anything.
13) Contrast Fix
Ever captured a few images that looked washed out or simply way too brighter than a normal regular image. Well adjusting the contrast of the image can help lighten up the brightness and bring some life to the image. With the Contrast Fix plugin for GIMP, you can easily adjust the levels and even choose a color tone such as cool tone or a warm tone, depending on the image. This plugin helps bring an image back to life with the fine adjustments that can be done using GIMP.
14) LensFun
There could be times when you might have captured an image that might be good in the sense of the right angle and everything else. But, what if there are some minute issues with it. Do you know some lens artifacts left on the image? What do you do about those? This is where LensFun, the GIMP plugin comes in handy. With the LensFun plugin, you can correct the image as the plugin reads off the EXIF details from the image and then makes the necessary adjustments. You can also manually adjust the values to get your own desired output.
15) FX Foundry
If you wanted a bunch of various scripts that let you do different adjustments to your images in GIMP, then the FX Foundry plugin is the right one. From artistic filters, animations, distortions, and layers, you have it all. There are about 100 or so scripts available in the FX Foundry package. These scripts can help with improving and making your edited images even better. Considering that the plugin is free to use and install, it’s best taken advantage of.
The best thing is many users are using it to get paid for creating and editing images. Do you know if you use the right GIMP plugins then you can generate Image output as Photoshop for free? So make sure to always use GIMP plugins.
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GIMP is used for:
- Image Retouching
- Image Editing
- Produces Graphical Design Elements and Art
- Image Format Conversion
- Free-form Drawing
GIMP features:
Multiple Image Format is supported on GIMP. It means you can create images and arts in any format you want. You can also change from one format to another format. It supports formats like GIF, JPEG, PNG, PSD, and many more.
GIMP is a Cross-Platform and is available for Linux, Mac OS, Windows OS, and other operating systems.
It is an open source Software. It means you can download and use it for free and also you can distribute and modify it.
You can do photo enhancement on GIMP. It will remove distortion and noise from a blurry image to produce great output.
I haven’t covered all the features, it is just to give some idea about the GIMP tool and how it works.
How to Install GIMP Plugins
Installing GIMP plugins is different for different operating systems. Here I will explain the installation of the GIMP plugin on windows and for other operating systems check out GIMP plugin installation procedure on Wikibooks.
There are three types of plug-ins available differing in extension. Actually scripts act as plugins too.
- Python Scripts (.py extension)
- Zip files
- Script-fu (.scm extension)
For zip file, first extract it somewhere and check which type of file it contains (.py or .scm extension). And then copy it and follow the below steps accordingly.
Installing pythonย scripts
- Open GIMP and go to Edit > Preferences > Folder > plug-ins.ย
- Now choose the location as shown in the image. You can choose any of the two locations.
- Now locate the folder location which you have chosen in the last step.ย
- Then copy the file with .py extensionย and paste it to that location.
- Restart GIMP Software and Plugins.
Installing Script-Fu files
- Open GIMP and go toย Edit > Preferences > Folder > Scripts.ย
- Now choose the location for eg:- C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\share\gimp\2.0\scripts.
- Then locate to the folder location which you have chosen in the last step.ย
- Copy the plug-in with .scmย extension and paste it into the location that you have opened in the last step.
- Restart GIMP Software and use GIMP Plugins.
Also read |ย How to Increase Download Speed in Windows
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Still, have some queries in your mind, take a look at the FAQ!
What is GIMP?
GIMP is a graphics editor and stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The software is used for image retouching and editing, Image format conversion and much more.
What are the best GIMP Plugins?
Quick Sketch, Photo Effects, Layer Effects, Beautify, Stitch Panorama, CarTOONize, BIMP, Save for Web, Refocus, and G’MIC.
What are the Features of GIMP?
GIMP is open-source software, used for photo enhancement. It is available on all platforms.
What are the uses of GIMP Plugins?
Image Retouching, Image Editing, Free-form Editing, Produces Graphical Design Elements and Art, Image Format Conversion.
Conclusion
As you know there are many GIMP plugins available. And according to me if you use these plugins you will hardly require any other plugin because these plugins consist of many features. So it will be a good option to go for a single plugin with multiple features instead of using multiple GIMP plugins for the same features.
I hope you have found what you were looking for and have great image editing fun. These are some of the Best GIMP Plugins of 2022.
Hello .. How can get the GIMP extensions package for 2.10.6? The ones available are for 2.8 and does not work with 2.10. Thanks.
The available extensions are officially by GIMP, and if GIMP has released an update (2.10.6). Then, they’ll also update the extension packages, wait for sometime, and if it is urgent you may install the downgraded version 2.8.