Comments are introduced by a hash sign (#), and continue until the end of the line. Blank lines are ignored.
The gimprc file associates values with properties. These properties may be set by lisp-like assignments of the form:
Either spaces or tabs may be used to separate the name from the value.
Sets the folder for temporary storage. Files will appear here during the course of running GIMP. Most files will disappear when GIMP exits, but some files are likely to remain, so it is best if this folder not be one that is shared by other users. This is a single folder.
Sets the swap file location. GIMP uses a tile based memory allocation scheme. The swap file is used to quickly and easily swap tiles out to disk and back in. Be aware that the swap file can easily get very large if GIMP is used with large images. Also, things can get horribly slow if the swap file is created on a folder that is mounted over NFS. For these reasons, it may be desirable to put your swap file in "/tmp". This is a single folder.
The compression method used for tile data stored in the swap file. This is a string value.
Sets how many threads GIMP should use for operations that support it. This is an integer value.
When the amount of pixel data exceeds this limit, GIMP will start to swap tiles to disk. This is a lot slower but it makes it possible to work on images that wouldn't fit into memory otherwise. If you have a lot of RAM, you may want to set this to a higher value. The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
When enabled, uses OpenCL for some operations. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the level of interpolation used for scaling and other transformations. Possible values are none, linear, cubic, nohalo and lohalo.
Tools such as fuzzy-select and bucket fill find regions based on a seed-fill algorithm. The seed fill starts at the initially selected pixel and progresses in all directions until the difference of pixel intensity from the original is greater than a specified threshold. This value represents the default threshold. This is an integer value.
Sets the plug-in search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the module search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the interpreter search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the environ search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the brush search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the dynamics search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the brush search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the pattern search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the palette search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the gradient search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Sets the dynamics search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Where to look for fonts in addition to the system-wide installed fonts. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Specify a default brush. The brush is searched for in the specified brush path. This is a string value.
Specify a default dynamics. The dynamics is searched for in the specified dynamics path. This is a string value.
Specify a default MyPaint brush. This is a string value.
Specify a default pattern. This is a string value.
Specify a default palette. This is a string value.
Specify a default gradient. This is a string value.
Specify a default tool preset. The tool preset is searched for in the specified tool prests path. This is a string value.
Specify a default font. This is a string value.
When enabled, the selected brush will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the selected dynamics will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the selected pattern will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the selected palette will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the selected gradient will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the selected font will be used for all tools. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default image in the "File/New" dialog. This is a parameter list.
Specify a default image grid. This is a parameter list.
Sets the minimal number of operations that can be undone. More undo levels are kept available until the undo-size limit is reached. This is an integer value.
Sets an upper limit to the memory that is used per image to keep operations on the undo stack. Regardless of this setting, at least as many undo-levels as configured can be undone. The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
Sets the size of the previews in the Undo History. Possible values are tiny, extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, huge, enormous and gigantic.
How many recently used filters and plug-ins to keep on the Filters menu. This is an integer value.
Sets the pluginrc search path. This is a single filename.
Sets whether GIMP should create previews of layers and channels. Previews in the layers and channels dialog are nice to have but they can slow things down when working with large images. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets whether GIMP should create previews of layer groups. Layer group previews are more expensive than ordinary layer previews. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the preview size used for layers and channel previews in newly created dialogs. Possible values are tiny, extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, huge, enormous and gigantic.
Sets the size of the thumbnail shown in the Open dialog. Possible values are none, normal and large.
The thumbnail in the Open dialog will be automatically updated if the file being previewed is smaller than the size set here. The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
Defines the color management behavior. This is a parameter list.
Keep a permanent record of all opened and saved files in the Recent Documents list. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default quick mask color. The color is specified in the form (color-rgba red green blue alpha) with channel values as floats in the range of 0.0 to 1.0.
Promote imported images to floating point precision. Does not apply to indexed images. Possible values are yes and no.
When promoting imported images to floating point precision, also add minimal noise in order to distribute color values a bit. Possible values are yes and no.
Add an alpha channel to all layers of imported images. Possible values are yes and no.
Which plug-in to use for importing raw digital camera files. This is a single filename.
Export file type used by default. Possible values are png, jpg, ora, psd, pdf, tif, bmp and webp.
Export the image's color profile by default. Possible values are yes and no.
Export Exif metadata by default. Possible values are yes and no.
Export XMP metadata by default. Possible values are yes and no.
Export IPTC metadata by default. Possible values are yes and no.
Try generating debug data for bug reporting when appropriate. Possible values are warning, critical, fatal and never.
Check for availability of GIMP updates through background internet queries. Possible values are yes and no.
Timestamp of the last update check. (null)
The timestamp for the last known release date. (null)
The timestamp for the last known release date. This is an integer value.
Sets the size of the checkerboard used to display transparency. Possible values are small-checks, medium-checks and large-checks.
Sets the manner in which transparency is displayed in images. Possible values are light-checks, gray-checks, dark-checks, white-only, gray-only and black-only.
This is the distance in pixels where Guide and Grid snapping activates. This is an integer value.
Speed of marching ants in the selection outline. This value is in milliseconds (less time indicates faster marching). This is an integer value.
When enabled, the image window will automatically resize itself when zooming into and out of images. This setting only takes effect in multi-window mode. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the image window will automatically resize itself whenever the physical image size changes. This setting only takes effect in multi-window mode. Possible values are yes and no.
Show full image content by default. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, this will ensure that each pixel of an image gets mapped to a pixel on the screen. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, this will ensure that the full image is visible after a file is opened, otherwise it will be displayed with a scale of 1:1. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the type of mouse pointers to use. Possible values are tool-icon, tool-crosshair and crosshair.
Context-dependent mouse pointers are helpful. They are enabled by default. However, they require overhead that you may want to do without. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, all paint tools will show a preview of the current brush's outline. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the brush outline will snap to individual dabs while painting. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the mouse pointer will be shown over the image while using a paint tool. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the text to appear in image window titles. This is a format string;
certain % character sequences are recognised and expanded as follows:
%% literal percent sign
%f bare filename, or "Untitled"
%F full path to file, or "Untitled"
%p PDB image id
%i view instance number
%t image type (RGB, grayscale, indexed)
%z zoom factor as a percentage
%s source scale factor
%d destination scale factor
%Dx expands to x if the image is dirty, the empty string otherwise
%Cx expands to x if the image is clean, the empty string otherwise
%B expands to (modified) if the image is dirty, the empty string otherwise
%A expands to (clean) if the image is clean, the empty string otherwise
%Nx expands to x if the image is export-dirty, the empty string otherwise
%Ex expands to x if the image is export-clean, the empty string otherwise
%l the number of layers
%L the number of layers (long form)
%m memory used by the image
%n the name of the active layer/channel
%P the PDB id of the active layer/channel
%w image width in pixels
%W image width in real-world units
%h image height in pixels
%H image height in real-world units
%M the image size expressed in megapixels
%u unit symbol
%U unit abbreviation
%x the width of the active layer/channel in pixels
%X the width of the active layer/channel in real-world units
%y the height of the active layer/channel in pixels
%Y the height of the active layer/channel in real-world units
%o the name of the image's color profile
Sets the text to appear in image window status bars. This is a format string;
certain % character sequences are recognised and expanded as follows:
%% literal percent sign
%f bare filename, or "Untitled"
%F full path to file, or "Untitled"
%p PDB image id
%i view instance number
%t image type (RGB, grayscale, indexed)
%z zoom factor as a percentage
%s source scale factor
%d destination scale factor
%Dx expands to x if the image is dirty, the empty string otherwise
%Cx expands to x if the image is clean, the empty string otherwise
%B expands to (modified) if the image is dirty, the empty string otherwise
%A expands to (clean) if the image is clean, the empty string otherwise
%Nx expands to x if the image is export-dirty, the empty string otherwise
%Ex expands to x if the image is export-clean, the empty string otherwise
%l the number of layers
%L the number of layers (long form)
%m memory used by the image
%n the name of the active layer/channel
%P the PDB id of the active layer/channel
%w image width in pixels
%W image width in real-world units
%h image height in pixels
%H image height in real-world units
%M the image size expressed in megapixels
%u unit symbol
%U unit abbreviation
%x the width of the active layer/channel in pixels
%X the width of the active layer/channel in real-world units
%y the height of the active layer/channel in pixels
%Y the height of the active layer/channel in real-world units
%o the name of the image's color profile
Sets the monitor's horizontal resolution, in dots per inch. If set to 0, forces the X server to be queried for both horizontal and vertical resolution information. This is a float value.
Sets the monitor's vertical resolution, in dots per inch. If set to 0, forces the X server to be queried for both horizontal and vertical resolution information. This is a float value.
When enabled, GIMP will use the monitor resolution from the windowing system. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the size of the navigation preview available in the lower right corner of the image window. Possible values are tiny, extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, huge, enormous and gigantic.
Sets the default settings for the image view. This is a parameter list.
Sets the default settings used when an image is viewed in fullscreen mode. This is a parameter list.
When enabled, an image will become the active image when its image window
receives the focus. This is useful for window managers using "click to focus".
Possible values are yes and no.
What to do when the space bar is pressed in the image window. Possible values are none, pan and move.
There's a tradeoff between speed and quality of the zoomed-out display. Possible values are low and high.
Bugs in event history buffer are frequent so in case of cursor offset problems turning it off helps. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, non-visible layers can be edited as normal. Possible values are yes and no.
If enabled, the move tool sets the edited layer or path as active. This used to be the default behaviour in older versions. Possible values are yes and no.
How many recent settings to keep around in filter tools. This is an integer value.
Default to the last used settings in filter tools. Possible values are yes and no.
Show advanced color options in filter tools. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, GIMP will not save an image if it has not been changed since it was opened. Possible values are yes and no.
Remember the current tool, pattern, color, and brush across GIMP sessions. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, the same tool and tool options will be used for all input devices. No tool switching will occur when the input device changes. Possible values are yes and no.
Save the positions and sizes of the main dialogs when GIMP exits. Possible values are yes and no.
Let GIMP try to restore your last saved session on each startup. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, GIMP will try to restore windows on the monitor they were open before. When disabled, windows will appear on the currently used monitor. Possible values are yes and no.
Save the tool options when GIMP exits. Possible values are yes and no.
Use compact style for sliders. Possible values are yes and no.
Show a tooltip when the pointer hovers over an item. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, menus can be torn off. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, you can change keyboard shortcuts for menu items by hitting a key combination while the menu item is highlighted. Possible values are yes and no.
Save changed keyboard shortcuts when GIMP exits. Possible values are yes and no.
Restore saved keyboard shortcuts on each GIMP startup. Possible values are yes and no.
How many recently opened image filenames to keep on the File menu. This is an integer value.
GIMP will warn the user if an attempt is made to create an image that would take more memory than the size specified here. The integer size can contain a suffix of 'B', 'K', 'M' or 'G' which makes GIMP interpret the size as being specified in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. If no suffix is specified the size defaults to being specified in kilobytes.
Show the current foreground and background colors in the toolbox. Possible values are yes and no.
Show the currently selected brush, pattern and gradient in the toolbox. Possible values are yes and no.
Show the currently active image in the toolbox. Possible values are yes and no.
Show the GIMP mascot at the top of the toolbox. Possible values are yes and no.
Use a single toolbox button for grouped tools. Possible values are yes and no.
Menu mode of grouped tools. Possible values are click, hover and hover-single-column.
Sets the theme search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
The name of the theme to use. This is a string value.
Sets the icon theme search path. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
The name of the icon theme to use. This is a string value.
The size of the icons to use. Possible values are auto, theme, small, medium, large and huge.
When enabled, pressing F1 will open the help browser. Possible values are yes and no.
When enabled, dialogs will show a help button that gives access to the related help page. Without this button, the help page can still be reached by pressing F1. Possible values are yes and no.
Specifies the language preferences used by the help system. This is a colon-separated list of language identifiers with decreasing priority. If empty, the language is taken from the user's locale setting. This is a string value.
Sets the browser used by the help system. Possible values are gimp and web-browser.
When enabled, a search of actions will also return inactive actions. Possible values are yes and no.
The maximum number of actions saved in history. This is an integer value.
When enabled, the online user manual will be used by the help system. Otherwise the locally installed copy is used. Possible values are yes and no.
The location of the online user manual. This is used if 'user-manual-online' is enabled. This is a string value.
The window type hint that is set on dock windows and the toolbox window. This may affect the way your window manager decorates and handles these windows. Possible values are normal, utility and keep-above.
Sets the handedness for cursor positioning. Possible values are left and right.
Enable the N-Point Deformation tool. Possible values are yes and no.
Enable the Seamless Clone tool. Possible values are yes and no.
How to handle embedded color profiles when opening a file. Possible values are ask, keep and convert.
Sets the default rendering intent for the 'Convert to Color Profile' dialog. Possible values are perceptual, relative-colorimetric, saturation and absolute-colorimetric.
Sets the default 'Black Point Compensation' state for the 'Convert to Color Profile' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default layer dithering method for the 'Convert Precision' dialog. Possible values are none, floyd-steinberg, bayer, random, random-covariant, add, add-covariant, xor, xor-covariant, blue-noise and blue-noise-covariant.
Sets the default text layer dithering method for the 'Convert Precision' dialog. Possible values are none, floyd-steinberg, bayer, random, random-covariant, add, add-covariant, xor, xor-covariant, blue-noise and blue-noise-covariant.
Sets the default channel dithering method for the 'Convert Precision' dialog. Possible values are none, floyd-steinberg, bayer, random, random-covariant, add, add-covariant, xor, xor-covariant, blue-noise and blue-noise-covariant.
Sets the default palette type for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog. Possible values are generate, web, mono and custom.
Sets the default maximum number of colors for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog.
This is an integer value.
Sets the default 'Remove duplicate colors' state for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default dithering type for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog. Possible values are none, fs, fs-lowbleed and fixed.
Sets the default 'Dither alpha' state for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default 'Dither text layers' state for the 'Convert to Indexed' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default fill type for the 'Canvas Size' dialog. Possible values are foreground, background, white, transparent and pattern.
Sets the default set of layers to resize for the 'Canvas Size' dialog. Possible values are none, all, image-sized, visible and linked.
Sets the default 'Resize text layers' state for the 'Canvas Size' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default layer name for the 'New Layer' dialog. This is a string value.
Sets the default mode for the 'New Layer' dialog. Possible values are normal-legacy, dissolve, behind-legacy, multiply-legacy, screen-legacy, overlay-legacy, difference-legacy, addition-legacy, subtract-legacy, darken-only-legacy, lighten-only-legacy, hsv-hue-legacy, hsv-saturation-legacy, hsl-color-legacy, hsv-value-legacy, divide-legacy, dodge-legacy, burn-legacy, hardlight-legacy, softlight-legacy, grain-extract-legacy, grain-merge-legacy, color-erase-legacy, overlay, lch-hue, lch-chroma, lch-color, lch-lightness, normal, behind, multiply, screen, difference, addition, subtract, darken-only, lighten-only, hsv-hue, hsv-saturation, hsl-color, hsv-value, divide, dodge, burn, hardlight, softlight, grain-extract, grain-merge, vivid-light, pin-light, linear-light, hard-mix, exclusion, linear-burn, luma-darken-only, luma-lighten-only, luminance, color-erase, erase, merge, split, pass-through, replace and anti-erase.
Sets the default blend space for the 'New Layer' dialog. Possible values are auto, rgb-linear, rgb-perceptual and lab.
Sets the default composite space for the 'New Layer' dialog. Possible values are auto, rgb-linear, rgb-perceptual and lab.
Sets the default composite mode for the 'New Layer' dialog. Possible values are auto, union, clip-to-backdrop, clip-to-layer and intersection.
Sets the default opacity for the 'New Layer' dialog. This is a float value.
Sets the default fill type for the 'New Layer' dialog. Possible values are foreground, background, white, transparent and pattern.
Sets the default fill type for the 'Layer Boundary Size' dialog. Possible values are foreground, background, white, transparent and pattern.
Sets the default mask for the 'Add Layer Mask' dialog. Possible values are white, black, alpha, alpha-transfer, selection, copy and channel.
Sets the default 'invert mask' state for the 'Add Layer Mask' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default merge type for the 'Merge Visible Layers' dialog. Possible values are expand-as-necessary, clip-to-image, clip-to-bottom-layer and flatten-image.
Sets the default 'Active group only' for the 'Merge Visible Layers' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default 'Discard invisible' for the 'Merge Visible Layers' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default channel name for the 'New Channel' dialog. This is a string value.
Sets the default color and opacity for the 'New Channel' dialog. The color is specified in the form (color-rgba red green blue alpha) with channel values as floats in the range of 0.0 to 1.0.
Sets the default path name for the 'New Path' dialog. This is a string value.
Sets the default 'Export the active path' state for the 'Export Path' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default 'Merge imported paths' state for the 'Import Path' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default 'Scale imported paths to fit size' state for the 'Import Path' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default feather radius for the 'Feather Selection' dialog. This is a float value.
Sets the default 'Selected areas continue outside the image' setting for the 'Feather Selection' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default grow radius for the 'Grow Selection' dialog. This is a float value.
Sets the default shrink radius for the 'Shrink Selection' dialog. This is a float value.
Sets the default 'Selected areas continue outside the image' setting for the 'Shrink Selection' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
Sets the default border radius for the 'Border Selection' dialog. This is a float value.
Sets the default border style for the 'Border Selection' dialog. Possible values are hard, smooth and feathered.
Sets the default 'Selected areas continue outside the image' setting for the 'Border Selection' dialog. Possible values are yes and no.
The default fill options for the fill dialogs. This is a parameter list.
The default stroke options for the stroke dialogs. This is a parameter list.
Where to search for fractals used by the Fractal Explorer plug-in. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Where to search for Gfig figures used by the Gfig plug-in. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Where to search for gflares used by the GFlare plug-in. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
Where to search for data used by the Gimpressionist plug-in. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
This path will be searched for scripts when the Script-Fu plug-in is run. This is a colon-separated list of folders to search.
${variable} is expanded to the current value of an environment variable. There are a few variables that are pre-defined: