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+--- Thread: Save & Export? (/Thread-Save-Export)
Save & Export? - theDrake - 02-25-2025
Hi all,
I'm new here, so please bear (bare?) with me...
I've just started using GIMP after many many years of Photoshop CS 5.5. I never updated past that because I really don't need a lot of bells and whistles.
On to new business...
Is there any reason why the Save/Save as... dialog can't have a drop-down for other file types? it's a nice touch that in version 3.0 they've introduced a dialog that asks if I'd like to be taken to the Export dialog, but this seems like an unnecessary step when both saving and exporting could easily be handled in the same dialog.
I was searching for other software that supports the GIMP file format, but I can't find any. Have I missed one? two? more? Because if no one else supports it besides GIMP, is there an artist-oriented reason for its existence?
Sorry if I'm stepping on toes or blundering around like the proverbial bull in a china shop, but I just can't help wondering about these things considering that every other graphics application I've used has the above-mentioned file format drop-down and doesn't support GIMP file format.
Thank you for taking the time to read (and hopefully, kindly) response. I have to admit, it makes me a bit nervous to say these things while that angry face icon on the left watches my every move.
RE: Save & Export? - Ofnuts - 02-25-2025
The Gimp file format saves everything: your layers, selections, paths, masks... exactly like DOCX contains your document structure and XLSX contains your formulas. See it as a "project" file. Then the exported image formats (PNG/JPG/WebP/GIF...) are "publication" formats, like a PDF. You wouldn't consider saving a complex spreadsheet to a PDF only and throwing away the XLSX, would you?
Save and Export got separated a couple of releases ago because people would save their images to a publication format (PNG or else) and immediately exit Gimp, and oops... there goes the whole set of 63 layers... Since this has been implemented I see a lot less folks complaining or even wondering about the separation than I saw people crying over lost work with the previous way.
Why other software doesn't read XCF is a matter of priorities or politics. Some FOSS images viewers can display GIMP XCF files. But of course I don't expect Photoshop to import XCF files any more than I expect MS-Office to be able to read LibreOffice files.