GIMP 2.7.3 Released with Working Single Window Mode

GIMP is a multi-platform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction. GIMP 2.7.3 was just released yesterday on August 22, 2011. This version is a snapshot of current develovement toward GIMP 2.8. The most visible changes in 2.7.3 are the fully working single-window mode, including working session management, and the introduction of a new hybrid spinbutton/scale widget which takes less space in dockable dialogs.

Here are some of the changes in GIMP 2.7.3 :

• Use GimpSpinScales instead of scale entries in all dockable widgets
• Allow the spin scale to control a range larger than its scale's range
• Implement RTL mode in GimpSpinScale
• Add lots of tooltips to tool options
• Allow to drop more things to the empty image window, and simply create new images from them
• Cage tool: allow to add handle to the cage when clicking on an edge
• Cage tool: allow to remove selected handles from the cage by hitting delete
• Remember column widths in multi-column dock windows
• Support starting GIMP in single-window mode
• When the brush is shared among paint tools, also share all brush-modifying paint options
• Use ALT+number and ALT+Tab shortcuts to navigate between images in both single- and multi-window mode
• Make 'Export to' always activatable and fall back to 'Export...' if no export target has been set yet
• In single-window mode, add new dockable dialogs to the image window instead of in a new window
• When switching on single-window mode, put docks in the image window depending on what side of the window they originally had
• When switching off single-window mode, distribute dock windows better
• Add a canvas item for the transform grid, fixing a major speed regression, and add the same guides options as in the rectangle tools
• Don't unmaximize the single-window mode image window when closing images
• Resurrect the "You can drop dockable dialogs here" help string below the toolbox
• Make pick-and-move with the Move Tool work for layers in a layer group

Source code of GIMP 2.7.3 can be downloaded here : ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/v2.7/

For ubuntu users, GIMP 2.7.3 can be installed through Matt Walker's GIMP PPA. Add this PPA repository to your Ubuntu system. Type the following command into Terminal :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:matthaeus123/mrw-gimp-svn
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gimp