Themes for 64bit GIMP on Windows

[Hopachi]

Themes for 64bit GIMP on Windows.

It was wise to begin a new thread on this particular subject, following the interest from here:

I remember seeing those.
I haven't seen any since I moved to v2.8 (I'm now on v2.8.10).

I have noticed that it does slow down (the first time I start it) after adding some new fonts.
Subsequent starts seem to return to the ~5 second - ~10 second start times.

True, subsequent starts are faster. I'm also on 2.8.10. I use Single Window Mode.

A good thing I appreciate is that we now have normalmap plug-in in x64 Windows and I was able to (build and) get the Aurora theme running on x64 GIMP. Here you see Aurora Midnight on Windows 8 and it blows away even Photoshop.

View attachment 19157

That's nice.

I've never tried installing a theme in GIMP.
I've seen it mentioned in the "Settings" window, but I've never stumbled upon any GIMP themes during my Internet travels.

How would I go about getting and installing that theme (or others)?

Yes, of course, what else could it be. LOL

PS: subsequent starts of any program are always faster because at least some of it is cached in RAM and fetched from there.

I am aware of program caching.
I meant even when it couldn't be in the cache.

I suspect GIMP must update some sort of DB of plugins, fonts, etc. whenever it notices a new one.

The good news is that I've managed to get a total of 55 themes (!!!) on GIMP x64 running on my Win8.
That thanks to Notecase Pro that also uses gtk themes and is available for 64bit as well.

I did some theme tests in GIMP and all is nice:
Don't forget i'm running this on Win8x64. Works the same in XPx64, Vistax64, Win7x64 as well.

Aurora


Crux


Clearlooks and others on Windows!

For 32bit GIMP it was easier to get the files:
GIMPER.NET - The GIMP Community • View topic - Gimp Themes v1.0 for Windows


But for 64bit we don't have this but still, we can have themes and can those are to be selected manually.
The most complete 64bit GIMP (v. 2.8.14) I have is here: link.
This is one of Partha's builds but I've added the mentioned themes above + a few extras.
I hope the link works since that GIMP is already themed and has some useful extra plugins included.

To add themes to your own GIMP install (64bit) you will need to place some files in a few folders:
..\GIMP-2.8\lib\gtk-2.0\2.10.0\engines (here you add the theme engines: dll's found in previous links)
and
..\GIMP-2.8\share\themes (here you need the theme settings files, get them from here or the first two links)

Regarding the already-themed GIMP:
You can extract the zip and use the program. Placing it in Program Files means the same as installing (except you don't have context menu option only if you install the program first and then replace all files with the ones provided here.

How to change the theme: I've provided a folder called "about-gimp-themes" that illustrates all you need. The Program launcher is in "bin" folder so make shortcuts from there to launch. I'll also provide some info here below.

The difference with the normal version is that this has Aurora Midnight theme as default.

The other themes provided are these:


To use another one, change it (type the name of folder) here:

This is a file in you user folder created by gimp (in folder .gimp-2.8 there is gtkrc) and is checked during the loading of program. Save it and restart GIMP to see the change.



To change the theme:
Edit -> Preferences -> Theme.
Then restart GIMP.



That's it.
I think this is covered, regarding the use of GIMP themes on Windows, especially x64 which isn't documented online for now.

EDIT: updated to 2.8.10 + added extra x64 plugins.
Fixed Skydrive link.
EDIT2: updated to 2.8.14 + added extra themes and plugins.

 

[lehnerus2000]

A couple of problems

The SkyDrive link demands a Sign In.

The same thing happened on SevenForum (Macrium Reflect WinPE Recovery Disc).
Some people could access and others couldn't.
The only solution that worked was using a different "Cloud" service.

I couldn't make any of the themes work.
The GTK installer created the files, but it wouldn't run (whoever built it forgot a vital dll).

I tried manually referencing the files, but none of them would work (i.e. the theme changed to Default).

Update
I've managed to get some of the themes partially working (good enough that I might be able to edit them).
Due to the insane file structure in GIMP, I was copying the files to the wrong theme folder.

See Step Two of this post:
GIMPER.NET - The GIMP Community • View topic - Gimp Themes v1.0 for Windows

Theme files go here:

C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\gimp\2.0\themes​

not here:

C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\themes
​

​

 

[Hopachi]

Thanks for trying. It works, I can confirm that.

The SkyDrive link demands a Sign In.

Yes I know... tried it too, it seems you need Skydrive account for that.

Theme files go here:

C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\gimp\2.0\themes​

not here:

C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\themes
​

View attachment 19257
​

No. The path was right.
It depends what version that is also (or whoever built it). I'm using pure 64bit 2.8.4 from Sourceforge (no 32bit and legacy or Phyton selected).

The path you gave is here only with default themes, rather empty because default can be any theme (gtkrc file says that) in default folder:


And I've added all there where GIMP already had some themes pre-installed (like MS-Windows, Raleigh...) see:


Notice there is for example Crux there.

Then add that to gtkrc in a folder .gimp-2.8 in your user folder:

gtk-theme-name = "Crux"

And I got this:


It all works.

If you got it running, all good.

-------------------------IMPORTANT-----------------------------------------------

I couldn't make any of the themes work.
The GTK installer created the files, but it wouldn't run (whoever built it forgot a vital dll).

The GTK installer will install in "Gimp-2.0" or something and your GIMP maybe is "GIMP 2" so those are different folders: not good, it needs to be the same.

The theme selector exe needs to be in GIMP's bin folder to gain access to the needed dll's, they didn't forget anything.

BUT, it will run only on 32bit GIMP + all theme engines are 32bit, it will need to be in "32\bin" to run on 64bit GIMP but the engines are not compatible. That's why I've added extra links and info to make a 64bit theme selection possible (even without gtk installer).

All themes from Notecase Pro x64 are x64 and work on x64 GIMP, see the forlder structure that resambles GIMP's but with more themes, that's all to it.
The themes from gtk and Gimper mention win32 (or they should). As long as they din't add win64 builds, you won't get them running on 64bit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is a mess, especially until we get the right folder structure, I agree, and the theme installer installs in wrong folder if we don't change that. We need to use our own GIMP for this.

You don't need the one from my Skydrive if you have 32bit version, but if you got it running that's more important.

But where did you get so many themes from?
If themes are 32bit then they will not work on 64bit GIMP.

Thanks
Hopachi

 

[lehnerus2000]

Weird

No. The path was right.
It depends what version that is also (or whoever built it). I'm using pure 64bit 2.8.4 from Sourceforge (no 32bit and legacy or Phyton selected).

My version is 64 bit too.
I get my installer from here:
GIMP - Downloads

On my install, the themes in "C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\themes" do not show up in the GIMP preferences window.

They do appear if I copy them to either of these locations:

• "C:\Program Files\GIMP\share\gimp\2.0\themes"
• "C:\Users\PJL\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\themes"

The MS-Windows theme was hidden in another location (as mentioned in the link in my last post).
It wasn't a selectable option until it was copied to the locations above.

Note:
I used an Environment variable to change the name & location of the GIMP user folder.

​

Themes in those locations can be selected using the GIMP preferences window.
You have to restart GIMP for the change to be applied.

​

The theme selector exe needs to be in GIMP's bin folder to gain access to the needed dll's, they didn't forget anything.

They didn't bother to mention that (no read me).

The GTK tool installer, installed to its own folder.
The tool wouldn't run (missing dll).
I copied the engine and theme files from that location and then I uninstalled it.

But where did you get so many themes from?
If themes are 32bit then they will not work on 64bit GIMP.

The GTK Tool provided most of those themes ("gtk2-themes-2009-09-07-ash.exe").

A lot of the themes only have minor colour changes (assuming they are working properly) so I didn't include them in my GIMP user folder.
The themes in my GIMP user folder, all have more obvious changes (still mostly colour, but some use images).

It reminds me of the time I spent customising my Ubuntu theme (which I've transferred to Linux Mint).

 

[Hopachi]

Good to know all that thanks!

OK, we use both the same GIMP installer and version. :thumb:

It's nice to see that you select the themes from within GIMP. But the themes don't need to be seen from GIMP preferences at all, here, I select from outside GIMP, manually.... By default, there are no themes in the preferences except Default, but they have provided more themes in the oter folder I use (MS-Windows, Raleigh.. I've said this already). Weird why they use 2 folders for themes, each with another way to load a theme; that's what we encounter here.

Also note that you don't get all themes there on the list (I see in picture you posted) because only those that are x64 work.

The GTK Tool provided most of those themes ("gtk2-themes-2009-09-07-ash.exe").

That is 32bit... not good for x64. Each theme uses an engine (lib*.dll) that is placed in "\lib\gtk-2.0\2.10.0\engines" so the 32bit ones work only on 32bit GIMP.

I've added the engines from Notecase Pro x64 (installed it first, copied the engine dll's to GIMP's path mentioned) and the respective themes files too (copied all folders from themes folder "\share\themes" to GIMP's respective theme folder).

I edit the gtkrc (.gimp-2.8 in your user folder) to select another theme and it works all the time since the engines are all compatible.
But I like your way by adding themes to "\GIMP\share\gimp\2.0\themes" and selecting them from GIMP, just make sure you have 64bit engines so they all appear on the list.

You can change the default theme:
I've edited one gtkrc (found in C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\etc\gimp\2.0) file and made Aurora Midnight the default theme. You can use any theme available in your list.

That's all.

Cheers
Hopachi

 

[lehnerus2000]

It's nice to see that you select the themes from within GIMP. But the themes don't need to be seen from GIMP preferences at all, here, I select from outside GIMP, manually.... By default, there are no themes in the preferences except Default, but they have provided more themes in the oter folder I use (MS-Windows, Raleigh.. I've said this already). Weird why they use 2 folders for themes, each with another way to load a theme; that's what we encounter here.

GIMP has always had a weird file structure (in Windows).

Also note that you don't get all themes there on the list (I see in picture you posted) because only those that are x64 work.

I haven't compared the engine list against the working themes.

I edit the gtkrc (.gimp-2.8 in your user folder) to select another theme and it works all the time since the engines are all compatible.
But I like your way by adding themes to "\GIMP\share\gimp\2.0\themes" and selecting them from GIMP, just make sure you have 64bit engines so they all appear on the list.

They will work from your user folder too (.gimp-2.8 in your user folder).

You can change the default theme:
I've edited one gtkrc (found in C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\etc\gimp\2.0) file and made Aurora Midnight the default theme. You can use any theme available in your list.

I meant editing the gtkrc file internally (that is what I did to make my custom Ubuntu theme, which I'm now using in Linux Mint)

I haven't been able to figure out how to control the icon sizes (in the toolbox).
The MS-Windows theme has a statement that lists the icon sizes.
I copied it (and the following line) to another theme but it had no effect.

The themes that I have got working all use large icons, which screws up my panel setup.

Worse, I wasn't able to make them return to small by swapping the theme back.
I ended up copying my GIMP user data out of my backup HDD image.

 

[Hopachi]

Sorry, I didn't mess with any other parameters there, I'm just glad I could change the theme.

Maybe not all themes are resizable (providing single-sized icons...) and I don't know what parameter i would change to do that.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Sorry, I didn't mess with any other parameters there, I'm just glad I could change the theme.

Maybe not all themes are resizable (providing single-sized icons...) and I don't know what parameter i would change to do that.

Most of the themes will have a list of parameters and colour codes.
Some will have image names.
You can change those to tweak your theme.

Graechan on gimpchat.com created a gtkrc file with a lot of comments (Gimp-2.8 themes Editing Theme file attached - Page 2 • GIMP Chat).
There is a download link for a zip file in the comment I linked to (above).
The zip file contains images and a gtkrc file (and a basic read me).

 

[Hopachi]

That theme seems to be very detailed.

Thanks a lot.

You can specify your own engine from the list (what you have in engines folder) and that can give interesting results.

 

[Hopachi]

I've been looking through Aurora-Midnight theme and Crux. So I've combined the color settings of the first with the silver-look of the second and I got... Crux-Midnight:



Very nice even at first attempt. :thumb:

See the zip for the theme files. For usage: the extracted folder should be placed in the themes folder first. Make sure you have the crux-engine (libcrux-engine.dll).

We now know a bit more about themes on GIMP (on Windows, of course).
But if you still have other info, feel free to post.

Cheers
Hopachi

 

[lehnerus2000]

Looks nice.
Thanks for that theme file (I'll add it to my collection).

 

[lehnerus2000]

Photoshop Plug-ins

My friend sent me these links:
How to add Photoshop plug-ins to GIMP
Handy Tweaks To Make GIMP Replace Photoshop | Smashing Magazine

Some of the info may be out of date though (2009).
For example, GIMP has had single window mode for a while now.

 

[Hopachi]

Thanks for the links. Always good to see extra plugins.

 

[Hopachi]

I was using GIMP 2.8.4 x64 until recently... I got repeating crashes with some built-in plugins (create -> patterns / renders -> land, flatland, map -> was unable to switch gradients).

It seems another version 2.8.2-1 is more recent (GTK+ and GIMP installers for Windows | Free Graphics software downloads at SourceForge.net) and the crashes are fixed. I had to re-apply all themes and x64 plugins again but it was worth it.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Thanks for that info.

My GIMP 2.8.4 is running OK on W7 (64 bit).
Some of the previous plugins don't work with this version though.

On XP I'm having some weird issues, possibly because I installed it using the built-in Administrator account.
It refuses to allow any user account, other than the Administrator, to run it.
It tries to write the all of the other user profile files to the Administrator's user account (which fails).
I've never had any problems running GIMP for every user before.

The colour picker doesn't function either.

 

[Hopachi]

On XP I'm having some weird issues, possibly because I installed it using the built-in Administrator account.
It refuses to allow any user account, other than the Administrator, to run it.
It tries to write the all of the other user profile files to the Administrator's user account (which fails).
I've never had any problems running GIMP for every user before.

The colour picker doesn't function either.

Try a re-install maybe?

You refer to the .gimp-2.8 folder found on each user account right?
Try to manually copy that to the needed user account.

I'm not sure since I got a single user setup.

These days I don't even install the program anymore, just copy - paste the entire (preinstalled and zipped) folder to program files since I got a lot of enhancements and plugins that are easier to install this way. It works fine on Win7 and 8 that's for sure.

The only, a bit annoying, thing is that each script-fu called menu doesn't pop-up and you'll need to look for it in the taskbar (it will blink though) between a multitude of others sharing the same icon:

(x64: this is the one that crashed on 2.8.4 and got fixed in 2.8.2-1)

But luckily this is something getting used to easily.
Works fine.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I have used an environment variable to rename and move that folder inside the appropriate folder.
I've used that trick for years on XP and W7 (different folders on each OS, obviously).

I could copy the user data to the program directory instead, but the problem is that when I start GIMP, it tries to build a user data folder in the wrong location (Administrator).
It completely ignores the existence of any data in the correct location.

It temporarily fixed itself when I used the Command Prompt to start it (I read that during my search for answers).
However when I tried it a second time (to fix the Guest account) it broke the Standard user account and the trick wouldn't work again.

It's only a weird nuisance, as I can run it as Administrator from any account (if I need to).

I've noticed the script-fu issue too.
On my machine, some of them behave as you state, but only the first time I use them.
Afterwards they pop-up on top, every time for the rest of that session.

 

[Hopachi]

Same themes in Inkscape

On Linux this theming issue/stuff might be irrelevant because the OS manages GTK+ themes and all programs look native. But how about GTK+ on Windows? Will a customized Gimp install, containing may themes, share the same UI experience with other GTK+ programs? If both programs are built using the same structure, UI... than it might work pretty well, we just copy the needed plugin/dll/settings to the needed folders.

A first test,
In theory all the themes dll's and gtkrc theme specifications used in Gimp can be used on Inkscape as well.

Since we use 64bit Gimp versions here, I grabbed a 64bit Inkscape version from Partha's Place and it already uses a nice dark Clearlooks theme by default. :thumb:

I've noticed a UI close to Gimp's... folder structure confirmed: this will allow extra GTK themes to be used.
But to make sure all goes just like in theory, I've added the last mentioned Crux theme here as well... copied it from my Gimp's directory.

Running both programs on Windows 8.1 x64.

So the result is pretty good:
-Inkscape:


-Gimp:


Both programs are for images: Gimp is for bitmaps and Inkscape is for vectors, they both use the same UI: using GTK+ thus both can use the same (customized) themes... that makes them brothers in arms.

 

[Hopachi]

Inkscape worked pretty straightforward, but what if this works with other programs as well?

List of GTK+ programs:

Applications[edit]

Some notable applications that use GTK+ as a widget toolkit include:

• AbiWord – Word processor
• Anjuta – Integrated development environment (IDE)
• Ardour – Digital audio workstation
• Chromium – GNU/Linux version of the web browser developed in large part by Google
• Ekiga (formerly GnomeMeeting) – VoIP and video conferencing application.
• Web – Official GNOME web browser.
• Evolution – Personal information manager
• gconfig – Linux kernel source configuration utility.
• GIMP – Raster graphics editor
• Gnumeric – Spreadsheet application.
• GRAMPS – Genealogy software
• HexChat – Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Client
• Inkscape – Vector graphics editor for SVG
• LiVES – Video editor
• Midori – Minimalistic web browser utilizing GTKWebKit as rendering engine and GTK+ as widget toolkit.
• Pidgin – Instant messenger application.
• Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) – network Packet analyzer application (till version 1.11.x).[SUP][9][/SUP]
• Geany - a light-weight cross-platform IDE and GTK+ text editor based on Scintilla.

Now which ones nave Windows builds available...


I think Chromium/Chrome uses a new window manager when running on Windows, not sure if gtk themes can be used here (has to be built from source for this).

Seeing this Chrome options available on Windows is just Sci-Fi:


On the other hand,
Windows versions of AbiWord and WireShark seem interesting to use the theme... but again, it's not tested yet.

 

[Hopachi]

On the other hand,
Windows versions of AbiWord and WireShark seem interesting to use the theme... but again, it's not tested yet.

I forgot the most important part:
-if the latest two mentioned, or any other programs are 32bit then we would require 32bit themes to use (the Inkscape and Gimp above are 64bit only).