Quote:..Why doesn't GIMP let me export directly into the folder I need to use?
To protect you from breaking Gimp ;
First thing: The place for any resource, patterns brush, scripts, fonts, is for a standard installation the Gimp user profile:
C:\Users\your-name\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\2.10\
Appdata is a hidden folder, in Windows see:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help...windows-10
A legacy from Gimps linux origin is the Gimp installations folders are marked as non-writeable. You can enable the C:\Program files... entry but as far as I know Gimp will not write to it, you can use Windows explorer but the best place is still your Gimp profile.
Gimp can use png and jpeg files as patterns so it is not always necessary to export as a Gimp .pat file. Put them in the patterns folder.
When exporting as a .pat there is a Gimp setting (again from linux) Right click in the Export dialogue gives a Show Hidden files option. A hidden file is anything starting with a dot. You might/might not need that.
Ok all of that to export
Remember to refresh the patterns or they will not be available until the next time you start Gimp.