Gimp V3 introduces "non destructive editing" (aka NDE).
When you apply filters to layers, instead of altering the layer pixels immediately (as done in V2), the filter can be added to a stack of filters which is applied on the fly when Gimp uses the layer contents. When this is the case there is a "fx" icon next to the layer, and if you click on it you get the stack of current filters, that you can further edit.
This can be useful. For instance, in the image above, you can tweak the denoising and not lose the Exposure correction or the sharpening (and given that the trick is usually finding the right blend of denoising and sharpening this makes the workflow a lot more efficient). You can also decide that you will do Exposure before everything else by moving it down in the stack.
Whether the filter is applied immediately or added to the stack is set by a "Merge filter" check box in the dialog:
When the box is checked, the filter is applied immediately. This box only shows when you start the filter from the regular menus. If you edit the filter in the filter stack it is implicitly considered as "unmerged".
If you apply the filter immediately it is applied before the filters in the stack.
When you apply filters to layers, instead of altering the layer pixels immediately (as done in V2), the filter can be added to a stack of filters which is applied on the fly when Gimp uses the layer contents. When this is the case there is a "fx" icon next to the layer, and if you click on it you get the stack of current filters, that you can further edit.
This can be useful. For instance, in the image above, you can tweak the denoising and not lose the Exposure correction or the sharpening (and given that the trick is usually finding the right blend of denoising and sharpening this makes the workflow a lot more efficient). You can also decide that you will do Exposure before everything else by moving it down in the stack.
Whether the filter is applied immediately or added to the stack is set by a "Merge filter" check box in the dialog:
When the box is checked, the filter is applied immediately. This box only shows when you start the filter from the regular menus. If you edit the filter in the filter stack it is implicitly considered as "unmerged".
If you apply the filter immediately it is applied before the filters in the stack.
