(05-03-2023, 04:56 PM)retroarchgirl Wrote: What exactly is the difference between a script and a plugin? Can they do different things (for example things a plugin can do, but not a script) or does it not matter if you are not a developer?
Well, scripts and plugins will "do something" to an image and some are equivalent. You might see old tutorials using "Layer Effects" There is both a script-fu version and a python plugin version.
It might not affect the image directly, for example there are both scripts and plugins that will set up guides over an image. The image is not changed, the guides assist the user.
Both scripts and plugins can be simple or can be complicated. Plugins (not all plugins) can have an advantage of showing a "preview" window. Usually small but the gimp_gmic_qt plugin uses a larger preview window. The GEGL filters apply the preview directly to the image canvas.
These are all standard in Gimp
(1) Tileable blur script you do see any change until you apply it
(2) Difference of Gaussians plugin There is a small preview.
(3) Pixelize GEGL filter shows the effect as you change values.
Not a developer > Then not all that necessary to know the workings.