--- title: Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I... description: GIMP 3.2 (released March 2026) is a strong update with link layers, vector layers, non-destructive channel filters, better PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I found the one that actually does | daily.dev og:description: GIMP 3.2 (released March 2026) is a strong update with link layers, vector layers, non-destructive channel filters, better PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ks6MaYhLK.png og:image:alt: Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I found the one that actually does og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I found the one that actually does **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary GIMP 3.2 (released March 2026) is a strong update with link layers, vector layers, non-destructive channel filters, better PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL filter browser, but the GTK3 rewrite in 3.0 broke much of its plugin ecosystem, and many popular scripts and plugins are still not fully restored. Other open-source contenders like Inkscape, Bitmappery, and PhotoFlare each fall short of Photoshop-level capability. The lesser-known portable Windows tool PhotoDemon is presented as the closest open-source match to Photoshop, packing over 200 tools into a 22MB footprint, with broad format support (PSD, XCF, JPEG XL, HEIC, AVIF, and about 100 others) and a workflow-focused design that minimizes file-compatibility friction. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why did GIMP 3.0 break so many plugins and scripts? GIMP 3.0, released in March 2025, was a foundational rewrite that replaced GTK2 with GTK3, dropped Python 2 support, and replaced the plugin API entirely. This broke the third-party plugin ecosystem, including Resynthesizer, G'MIC, BIMP, Heal Selection, and hundreds of Script-Fu scripts. Many have been restored in GIMP 3.2, but others are still being ported and some will never return. _Track breaking changes like GIMP's plugin API rewrite before upgrading a creative workflow, only on daily.dev._ ### What new features does GIMP 3.2 add compared to 3.0? GIMP 3.2, released in March 2026, adds Link Layers and Vector Layers that extend the non-destructive workflow introduced in 3.0, plus non-destructive filters that now apply to channels. It also includes text handling upgrades, improved PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL filter browser, building on the GTK3-based rewrite from the previous major version. _Keep up with GIMP's evolving feature set on daily.dev before deciding when to upgrade a design toolchain._ ### What is PhotoDemon and how does it compare to GIMP for Photoshop-style editing? PhotoDemon is a portable Windows photo editor packed into a 22MB footprint with over 200 tools, including layers, selection tools, content-aware fill, shadow/highlight recovery, perspective correction, and digital paintbrushes. It opens PSD, PaintShop Pro, and GIMP's XCF files natively, plus roughly a hundred other formats like JPEG XL, HEIC, and AVIF, which exceeds GIMP's own cross-format support in some respects. _Compare lesser-known tools like PhotoDemon against GIMP on daily.dev when choosing a Photoshop alternative._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [3 open source creative apps that convinced me to ditch Photoshop](https://daily.dev/posts/3-open-source-creative-apps-that-convinced-me-to-ditch-photoshop-wizlgromy) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#photoshop](https://daily.dev/tags/photoshop), [#image-editing](https://daily.dev/tags/image-editing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I found the one that actually does","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk"},"datePublished":"2026-08-30T20:01:40.728Z","dateModified":"2026-08-30T20:06:51.380Z","description":"GIMP 3.2 (released March 2026) is a strong update with link layers, vector layers, non-destructive channel filters, better PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d7378b9337b5263a6e57021052781131?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d7378b9337b5263a6e57021052781131?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,photoshop,image-editing","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Most people think GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I found the one that actually does"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-think-gimp-can-replace-photoshop-but-i-found-the-one-that-actually-does-ks6mayhlk#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did GIMP 3.0 break so many plugins and scripts?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"GIMP 3.0, released in March 2025, was a foundational rewrite that replaced GTK2 with GTK3, dropped Python 2 support, and replaced the plugin API entirely. This broke the third-party plugin ecosystem, including Resynthesizer, G'MIC, BIMP, Heal Selection, and hundreds of Script-Fu scripts. Many have been restored in GIMP 3.2, but others are still being ported and some will never return. Track breaking changes like GIMP's plugin API rewrite before upgrading a creative workflow, only on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What new features does GIMP 3.2 add compared to 3.0?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"GIMP 3.2, released in March 2026, adds Link Layers and Vector Layers that extend the non-destructive workflow introduced in 3.0, plus non-destructive filters that now apply to channels. It also includes text handling upgrades, improved PSD compatibility, and a new GEGL filter browser, building on the GTK3-based rewrite from the previous major version. 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