GIMP primary set-up

[nickiwest2467]

Hi

So I downloaded Gimp and began to use it, primarily for cloning and smudge. I click on view and zoom in, click on view again and zoom in again, and I do what I need to do. Things work fairly well. At one point or another I swear I was looking through tool options and saw the program set up like a paintshop. There were brush sizes, adjustments that could be made, edit colors, etc... tools and selection options across the top of the screen... the tools were displayed on the screen much like a paintshop.

Suddenly as I was viewing and zooming in, using the VIEW button, I hit something. Now the screen is full screen, with the ruler running up the left side and across the top. I can't seem to set it back to display the tools or options, and I have clicked every clickable thing in the world. The screen remains full size with no option to adjust the size of the tool I am using... I even removed the program and re-downloaded it! How do I adjust it so I have a different working view of the screen?

And since I am here... I use Windows 10 a lot, and it's image viewer is ok, it does fairly well with light-duty basic cosmetics. It has one flaw: With the spot remover, you can't adjust the size of the tool. The one cheat there is you can zoom in on the pic, more, more, MORE... and the pic gets HUGE, which causes the tool to be smaller, to an extent. I had hoped to do the same with Gimp. I zoom in more and more and the cloning tool zooms in with me! It's like hunting flies in the house with a sawed-off shotgun! Is there a way to set the clone and smudge tools to be smaller and more user-friendly?

I suspect there is. Choose a smaller size. Which I can't do, as I seem to be stuck on the one full-view screen and can't set it back to get to the options! Does that make sense? I hope so...  

Any helpful tips would be most appreciated! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend! Thank you for your time and (hopefully) understanding.
Nicki ~

[Ofnuts]

See Windows ➤ Single window mode.

To reset and manage your window positions (and general settings) see https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-Managi...-positions

See  the Lock brush to view option in the various paint tools  (paintbrush, pencil, eraser, airbrush, clone...)

[PixLab]

Hit the [Tab] key on your keyboard, it's a toggle to remove all tools, hit again [Tab] all tools will come back

Zoom-in/out : Put your mouse/pointer where you want to zoom and hit the [Ctrl] key, use the mouse wheel while your on the [Ctrl]
Move your image on the canvas: Hit the [Space bar] and just move your mouse while on the [Space bar], or middle click (click on the wheel) and while clicked move your mouse
Increase/decrease the size of the tool (brush/clone toll/etc...): [Ctrl] + [Alt] + mouse wheel, or the square brackets [ key to decrease and ] to increase (you can stay on those key to accelerate)

[sallyanne]

There is also a 'full screen' which would be in view. You need to click that again.
https://gimpnewby.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

[sallyanne]

Also, your clone tool and smudge tools are not getting bigger as you zoom in. They are staying the same size. It is the brush that they use that looks bigger. You need to make the brush size smaller if you need it to be.