GIMP 2.2 Splash Screen Competition

Lalakis writes "The GIMP 2.2 Splash Contest is now officially open! Competition entries should be attached to the live.gnome.org wiki before midnight next Sunday. Submit your work and get the glory (there may be a small prize sponsored, too)."

My Favorite Splash Screen

[stecoop]

The only good Splash Screen is a dead one.

How about having no splash screen as an option and let everyone else stare at the pretty picture for N seconds. I have so many windows open that I don't need to have something else occupying my desktop. To me, splash screens are annoying like browser popups - which I haven't seen in months thanks Mozzy that also has the alias & shortcut command option of nosplash.

How many windows?

[nurb432]

How many windows can you have open when your desktop is just starting?

All of them!

[cocoa moe]

I guess even hardcore artists wouldnt fire up GIMP when the windowmanager starts up. Emacs could have a splash screen though. Wait - It does!

That's the proof! VI may be e(vi)l but Emacs is worse.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[Meostro]

As per the link in the mighty $ [slashdot.org]'s post below, start gimp with

gimp -s

to disable the spalsh screen completely.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[stecoop]

There should be a universal standard for all application in the development community where the command --nosplash will disable splash screens.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[shufler]

An environment variable would be a better option, because really -- if you disable the splash screen on one program, don't you also want to disable it on all programs?

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[DaHat]

True... but the problem with trying to go with an environmental variable for such an option is at what point does it stop?

There are plenty of application level settings that could be offloaded to the environment with envars permitting more uniform settings on a system... but the standardization of even a portion of such possibilities would be a nightmare. Better to leave each app alone as their own island.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[Pxtl]

Gee, its too bad Linux doesn't have a single, consolidated tree-based system for storing type-specific environment variables. It would be handy for registryng such things.

j/k.

One flat file per app is fine, thanks. Alternately, the Windows registry wouldn't be so bad if it was easy to find keys related to program X or Y (rather than its sluggish search) and the damn thing had some form of docstrings. If Python has tought me one thing, its that you can never have too many docstrings.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[Meostro]

What do you have to search for? Keys related to any program will generally be stored in one of two places:

HKLM\Software\(publisher)\(program name)
or
HKCU\Software\(publisher)\(program name)

So my personal high scores for Hamsterball [miniclip.com] are stored in

HKCU\Software\Raptisoft\Hamsterball

Sometimes there are settings in both, one set is for LOCAL MACHINE (global) settings, the other is for CURRENT USER (custom) settings. If you have to search somewhere else to find your settings, the programmer screwed it up to start with, and having a flat file instead of the registry isn't going to fix that.

Docstrings I can't help you with once something's in the registry, but if you have a .REG file that you want to document, put comments in by starting a line with ; and you can grep them back out when you need 'em.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[Pxtl]

What about old type associations? Don't want to leave those pointing to an old location if you move the program.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[spectre_240sx]

Correction... keys to any program SHOULD be stored in those two places. Unfortunately, a lot of programmers (especially those who write malicious applications) love to hide those registry entries. I'm guessing you've never had to remove Norton Antivirus manually have you?

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[WhiteDragon]

I have tried to remove NAV / SAV manually. I removed all the files I could find, every registry key matching SAV, NAV, cc, norton, sym, etc. and still wound up with an un-installable and un-uninstallable setup of the software. This has happened to me on several machines.

Re:Registry vs. RC/INI

[Meostro]

They're supposed to be there, but if they're not, it doesn't make a difference how they're organized. Would you rather search every key in the registry (mine's about 10MB), or search the contents of every file on the disk to find your hidden settings?

As far as malicious apps go, that's why I have AdAware and HijackThis, along with StartupList [spywareinfo.com]. I think it's ridiculous that there are something like 50 different places that you can inject a program on Windows startup (run StartupList /complete to list them), but again, it doesn't matter how it's organized, it would be equally as ridiculous - but harder to manage - if it were spread across 50 different files instead of just 45 keys and 5 files.

Do you consider NAV to be malicious? =) And dear god no, I'd never remove it by hand. Why would you do such a thing? If it comes down to it, I'd reinstall over the current incarnation and uninstall the new one, or kill the folder, remove all the startup entries and hope it still boots. I've never had a problem just uninstalling AVs if the system was stable, and if it wasn't I usually had bigger problems that could only be solved by FORMAT and the like.

AV software is inherently tricky, since it usually hooks several APIs and specifically would NOT want to let itself be removed. I'm glad it is that way, otherwise the next virus to come along could just trash the INI file and force a reboot, and then my computer would be wide open to anything else coming down the pike. That'd be pretty darn useful AV, eh?

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[spectre_240sx]

Not necessarily. I don't want a splash screen for something like a web browser which loads quickly, but for something like Photoshop, I find it helpful to have the splash screen to let me know that the program is, in fact, launching. It's even better when it shows progress information.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[oexeo]

> The only good Splash Screen is a dead one.

They do have a purpose though, they hide the fact the program takes forever to initialize

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[DocSnyder]

A status bar or a progress window would serve better than any nice picture.

Why not delegate splash screens to a special daemon which can be decorated with skins, docked into the KDE/GNOME panel or just deactivated?

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[BigSven]

You just need to start GIMP with the --no-splash command-line option to suppress the splash screen. Or better yet, edit gimp.desktop so it works when GIMP is started from the menu. Since GIMP supports startup notification [freedesktop.org], your desktop can do whatever it wants to do to inform you about the startup.

Re:And put the progress bar where?

[lubricated]

Yes gimp already as a progress bar. Once this progress bar reaches the end, the program isn't started, instead the scrollbar starts over. When it gets to the end again it starts over. It repeats quite a few times. This progress bar doesn't exactly show progress just shows that something is going on.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[gnugnugnu]

> The only good Splash Screen is a dead one.

They do have a purpose though, they hide the fact the program takes forever to initialize

Try using
gimp --no-data --no-splash --no-fonts

it is a whole lot faster but has some downsides

Not preloading data (patterns gradients etc) will break some scripts
Not preloading fonts will break some scripts.

I have no idea why they think a slow startup is acceptable and do not wait to load thing on-demand when they are actually needed.

Java Programs Need Them

[the_mighty_$]

Actually, some splash screens are good for something. Think about Java programs that have to be runtime compiled, they usually take long times to load. In a case like that, a splash screen is extremely useful.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[tod_miller]

Splash screens were developed to show loading of application, and branding of application.

I hate the M$ office splashscreens [haha been a looong time since I saw a M$ splashscreen!, the open officeone is required at the startup time (hopefully 1.5 will stop that) is exagerrated because all office startup dlls are precached.

If you use the open office starter this helps too.

Anyway, In Korea, only old people have so many windows open.

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[magefile]

It's a reference to a recent /. article that said that in Korea, email is mostly a senior-citizen thing, 'cuz youngsters generally use blogs/SMS/IM to communicate.

Payola

[oliverthered]

I think the splash screen should say.

'Want this application to load faster?, click here to donate'

Re:My Favorite Splash Screen

[cluening]

You must not start the GIMP much. Otherwise you would immediately know that the only reason the splash screen is there is to show you a progression as it starts up. It isn't there as a time waster, it doesn't keep you from working any longer than you would have to wait if it wasn't there. Having something pretty to see while it is telling you its startup progress is perfectly fine.

Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how many submissions of the Goatse guy they'll recieve.

PARENT MOD SMOKED CRACK !

[mirko]

I don't think the parent was off topic : this is Slashdot and there are trolls who may profit from this open Wiki page so, be sure there will be many flavoured submissions, including the goatse, tubgirl, lemon party, GNAA manifestoes...
It's a serious question and even if it could be seen as either frightening or funny, I do NOT think it's off topic.

GIMP Splash Screens

[the_mighty_$]

You can find out more about GIMP splash screens [gimp.org]

will my submisson get disqualified

[hsmith]

if i do it in Photoshop?

Re:will my submisson get disqualified

[TheSurfer]

Not if you re-save the file afterwards in The Gimp ;)

Re:will my submisson get disqualified

[wheany]

It's a moot point, since you won't have a chance against my submission. [mbnet.fi]

Re:will my submisson get disqualified

[silicon-pyro]

if I do it in M$ Paint?

it sounded good in my head.

BRING OUT THE GIMP

[Anonymous Coward]

The Gimp's asleep

Well I guess you better wake him up then

Spash Archive

[Ford Prefect]

Something I've liked in the past from compiling development versions of the Gimp are the development splash screens [gimp.org]. Frequently containing giant photos of bugs (for squashing, obviously), fake news report screengrabs or some other warped aspects of the programmers' humour, they often show that programmer art isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Although a couple of them were astoundingly crude - but I think that was intentional. :-)

And the winner is...

[CodeWanker]

Goatse! Goatse! Goatse!

Re:And the winner is...

[archen]

That's one way to force development to get Gimp to load as fast as possible.

Re:And the winner is...

[ceeam]

Fuck man, your sig is so fitting.

Re:And the winner is...

[Enrico Pulatzo]

I was thinking the same thing. The grandparent may want to consider rewording "Pacific Rim job."

I'm hoping..

[schon]

I'm hoping that This guy [earlham.edu] enters - his work just screams "professionalism".

Re:And the winner is...

[ptomblin]

"Gimpse.cx" ISAGN.

What's with the animated icon?

[Xetrov]

That animated topic icon sent me through a rollercoaster of emotions:

1. I was scared - been playing Doom3 all day, I'm a bit jumpy
2. Denial - I thought I imagined it
3. Relief - I'm not crazy
4. Disgust - I just wasted a few minutes of my life describing an emotional journey spawned by a few moving pixels on /.

Re:What's with the animated icon?

[Reducer2001]

You forgot:

5. ???
6. Profit!

Re:What's with the animated icon?

[CvD]

Slashdot's topic icon for the GIMP is animated (the only animated icon). Watch his eyes. :-)

Re:What's with the animated icon?

[imroy]

I thought the Tux icon was also animated. Don't his eyes move also?

Re:What's with the animated icon?

[bersl2]

When did this happen?

Re:What's with the animated icon?

[oexeo]

> Slashdot's topic icon for the GIMP is animated (the only animated icon). Watch his eyes. :-) It's almost hypnotic ...

Well, that explains why all I get is two dots.

[Vengeance]

I don't like animated gifs and such jumping around on my screen.

Unfortunately, that means that /.s GIMP icon is just the eyeballs, and looks rather silly.

What would be better

[oexeo]

This competition is great, but maybe a "design GIMP a decent fucking GUI" contest would be better?

Re:What would be better

[Directrix1]

GIMP Tutorial:
1) Create image
2) Right click on image to do anything with it, or use shortcut key (which is shown in the right click menu)

Done!

They don't need to emulate photoshop. Just because you're too retarded to learn two different GUIs doesn't mean Gimp's interface is broken. I get everything done with it that I need, with no problems. Granted, they could use a little help with getting their plugins to all be parameterized and provide previews. Other than that Gimp works very well.

Re:What would be better

[jejones]

Perhaps a good first step towards that would be if people sharing that opinion would post something more informative and detailed than "GIMP UI sux0rs" and "Photoshop UI rules."

Re:What would be better

[oexeo]

I wasn't trolling, at least not intentionally. The GIMP (in my opinion) does have a very bad GUI, and this deserves far more focus, than the fairly irrelevant splash screen.

Re:What would be better

[Fallingcow]

Eh, sorry then, just assumed it was. Posts like that on Gimp stories are usually trolls. In spite of that, I usually agree with them :(

The Gimp GUI is on of the most crap-tastic ones I've ever seen. Sad, because it's a nice program, but I can never get anyone to use for any length of time because the GUI is so frustrating and non-intuitive.

Re:What would be better

[oexeo]

I'm not the parent, but one of my major issues is the lack of previews for filters, applying an un-sharp mask (as an example) to an image, with no preview box is extremely time-consuming, and a major issue in my opinion.

Re:What would be better

[Lalakis]

The pending 2.2 release will add previews for most filters. Unsharp mask included... You can find a list of what's new in this release here [gimp.org].

Re:What would be better

[oexeo]

thanks, it's good to hear.

Re:What would be better

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll add my 2c here in agreement.

I started out in graphics with gimp. I had enough interest in pixelling to want to continue, to learn the roped and put up with the difficulties. I'd been TOLD that graphics was hard, and it was tedious indeed.

Then I used Photoshop, ready to scoff at the proprietary solution costing so many thousands and doing no more than gimp. Within 2 weeks I'd gone out and bought photoshop because no matter how much you listen to someone else's experience with a program, there is nothing more revealing than using it yourself. Gimp feels nearly feature complete, but in the same way a large rock is feature complete with a set of six various sized hammers. When you need to hit something and do it right, the hammers let you do it exactly how you want to.

Photoshop is a set of hammers.

Re:What would be better

[arodland]

No, Photoshop is a set of beautifully-painted rocks. GIMP is a set of very small hammers.

Re:What would be better

[oexeo]

That's just like saying that the Java people should work on building a language more like Python, instead of polishing Java. [...] This GUI is not buggy, it doesn't lack important features, but they made the choice to not copy Photoshop, and that's what it's all about.

This is true with some features (or lack of), but others are just common sense usability, for example: GIMP's lack previews for most filters.

Re:What would be better

[Cid Highwind]

for example: GIMP's lack previews for most filters.

Preview filters were job #1 on the UI hit list for Gimp 2.2. Almost everything has a preview now.

If you would do a little teeny bit of research first, you could troll so much more effectively...

Re:What would be better

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

There's a difference between doing occasional jobs in Gimp and trying to use it professionally i.e. for 10 hours a day. I pity anyone who works for a company that refuses to pay for Photoshop and makes their employees use Gimp. The underlying engine in Gimp is probably good enough for a lot of work but the user interface is just plain horrible when compared to Photoshop.

Re:What would be better

[oogoliegoogolie]

Or when compared to Paintshop Pro, Ulead, etc, etc, etc. Gimp has the worst interface of almost any program, not just image editors. While they are at it, change the name too-calling a product GIMP is just plain stupid and childish.

Re:What would be better

[FooBarWidget]

I occasionally work in Gimp for about 4 hours a day. And no, the interface is not plain horrible.

Re:What would be better-A Reality Check.

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Eh? Gimp isn't a drawing program. There are plenty of drawing programs but not packages that do what Photoshop and Gimp do. And I'm talking about graphics professionals. These are people who use Windows, Macs and in many cases came from a Unix background years ago (eg. SGIs). I don't think I've ever complained about Gimp online before and I really don't know what you are talking about and what is the matter with you.

Re:What would be better

[spectre_240sx]

Did it ever occur to you that X still has a lot that needs fixing and that's why people are complaining all the time? For one thing, dual monitor support is kludgy at best. I don't want to see the desktop split accross the two like I have a single large monitor, and I don't want to fuss around for 3 days trying to get even that to work.

I'm pulling for linux development just as much as the next person here, but if we're going to see linux on the desktop, then it needs to have those problems that people complain about fixed.

Re:What would be better

[BigSven]

You should consider to setup X to have two screens then. GIMP supports this quite nicely and will remember on which screen you want it's windows to appear. It also allows you to move windows between the screens (which is a functionality that the WM should offer actually).

how about...

[flacco]

...one that says "*Still* only 8-bit color!"

Re:how about...

[Lalakis]

Most people don't really need it, but more than 8-bit per pixel color is coming soon. Next release (2.4) will add color management capabilities and the one after that (3.0), planned for the next fall, will add higher bit depth, layer effects and pretty much everything you want (all that because of the GEGL library intergration).

Re:how about...

[Queuetue]

Could you point towards a roadmap for Gimp development? (And please tell me they are working to improve the text layer tools! :) )

Re:how about...

[Lalakis]

Unfortunately, there isn't a formal roadmap at the moment for gimp 2.4, but you can find a lot of info about what you should expect from gimp 3.0. Look here [mail-archive.com] and search google for more.

What's the problem with text layer tools? Everyone seems very happy with them and you shouldn't expect a change anytime soon...

Re:how about...

[BigSven]

It's coming. Text transformations are definitely on my list of things I want to do for 2.4. And now that Pango offers this functionality, it should actually be rather simple to implement.

Re:how about...

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Do you mean 8 bits per channel? I sure as heck 8 bits total isn't all GIMP can handle.

Re:how about...

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I meant:

I sure as heck hope 8 bits total isn't all GIMP can handle.

Re:how about...

[imroy]

...or one that says "This one isn't for critics! [penny-arcade.com]" :)

Re:how about...

[prandal]

In the meantime, you can use CinePaint [sourceforge.net].

OpenOffice.org

[Uukrul]

OpenOffice.org it's seeking a new Splash Screen too. (Splashscreen for OpenOffice.org 2.0 Wanted [slashdot.org]
One Splash Screen, two opportunities to win.

And remeber to make it really evil [slashdot.org].

A Plush Prize.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Submit your work and get the glory (there may be a small prize sponsored, too)."

A Wilbur (The GIMP Mascot) plushie.

ASCII Trolls

[oexeo]

The ASCII trolls can be on-topic for a change

While they're at it...

[jejones]

...could they also ditch the ghastly font the splash screen uses for "the gimp"?

Re:While they're at it...

[Deusy]

I'm sure a good entry could adjust the font and still be accepted.

Sadly, looking at the entries thus far there is a distincy lack of good entries... don't people realise that half the point of a splash screen image is to at least either represent or showcase the application in question?

The current entries are all simply photographs slapped onto the template. What rubbish.

I look forward to revisiting the wiki site in a few days when the real artists amongst the FOSS world have had a crack of the whip, rather than these wannabes are simply submitted an attempt for the sake of it. I would be aghast to learn if any of those intial attempts took more than 15 minutes. And I would doubt it if any of the authors could even seriously say his splash screen was good enough to be part of one of the premier FOSS applications.

*unimpressed*

background load while using it would be nice

[jago25_98]

I'd prefer to be able to use it while it loads the bigger things like plugins in the background.

Waiting (about 30 seconds?) is a pain when you only want to edit an 16 pixel icon especially.

p.s. aren't message boxes also awful too, interrupting work and stealing focus... oh, I had typed more but lost it all after gimp loaded up and changed focus while I was typing and looking at keyboard.

Re:background load while using it would be nice

[BigSven]

30 seconds? It's more like 5 seconds. The first startup is slow since all plug-ins need to be queried but this info is cached and subsequent startup is a lot faster.

I do have some ideas though that would reduce the startup time further. Some of this might make into GIMP 2.4...

Re:background load while using it would be nice

[The boojum]

Yeah, you know it's bad when (X)Emacs starts up several times more quickly!

Re:background load while using it would be nice

[duggy_92127]

oh, I had typed more but lost it all after gimp loaded up and changed focus while I was typing and looking at keyboard.

Quick fix: learn to type.

(I kid.)

Doug

In this country

[jasonbowen]

first you get the splash screen... then you get the power... then you get the women

Wait a minute!

[scorpionsoft]

Maybe the prize should be a free copy of the GIMP!!??

Wrong site?

[pragma_x]

Shouldn't this be a Fark photoshop contest instead?

[Photoshop] - Create these guys [slashdot.org] a new splash screen. Decent farking GUI to follow.

What The Gimp really needs for professionals

[SpamJunkie]

...is a new name.

Few management types are going to approve of using a BDSM-themed program no matter how free it is.

The attempt at making a cute raccoon-like animal the mascot doesn't help. We all know that he's wearing nothing but leather and pain below the neck.

Re:What The Gimp really needs for professionals

[lukewarmfusion]

Management types aren't likely to admit that they know what BDSM even means... or that they spent nearly three and a half hours last night trying to download the latest installment of "Pain in the Ass."

Contest.Gimp.org

[grumbel]

When I think about contests and Gimp, I think about
http://contest.gimp.org/. Was a lot of fun browsing through the entries and submitting work. To bad its now defunc since 1999. Even so its long gone I kind of still miss it, always makes me think of good old times, I guess I am just getting really old...

How about a logo contest

[bcarl314]

I mean really, what is that brown pointy haired beast anyway? Is it a rat, or some twisted BSD ripoff?

My submission

[ZackSchil]

I made this submission but it was rejected outright.

My Splash Screen [cthome.net]

MOD UP PARENT!

[mustangdavis]

MOD UP PARENT!

That is a great splash page - I'd never guess why they threw it out!?!?!? :)

Re:My submission

[sapped]

I can see why. On your splashscreen the copyright expires in 2003. Tsk. Fix that minor little detail up and I am sure you will be in the door.

Re:My submission

[ZackSchil]

Shhhhh!!!

GPL issue

[JoeBuck]

The contest page [gnome.org] says that the entries must be available under a GPL license. I hope everyone remembers that the GPL requires source to be provided, and that "source" is defined as the preferred form form making modifications to the work. For GIMP-produced images, the source is clearly the .xcf file. That means that either the .xcf file has to always accompany the .png or .jpg version, or at least be on the same FTP or web site, or else there has to be an offer, good for three years, to give the .xcf file to anyone who has the .png or .jpg file. Sharing only the .png file would be like sharing only the binary for a GPLed program.

For many purposes, GPLed images are a pain in the ass because of this requirement. On the other hand, if the GIMP developers want the splash image to serve as a tutorial, this mignt be exactly what they want to require. In that case, they might want to give bonus points to splash images with really nicely organized .xcf files.

A serious question about Gimp.

[SharpFang]

Let me put it simply: Airbrush sucks. I need something better.
The task is preparing gray-to-heightmap images from photos for later 3D engraving using a CNC engraving machine. I "spray" more white using airbrush where the image in the background is higher, leave dark where the bottom should stay deep. The effect is very neat for small details or simple shapes. But it really sucks when it comes to large areas. The fact that the output is slightly grainy is not that bad - a single pass of blur and the "grains" are gone. Much harder is achieving bigger smoothly curved surfaces - just try to spray a regular flat gray area (using white), it's just as hard as to get a smooth gradient - you get low-depth, several pixels wide depressions, bumps etc that are very hard to remove.
Regular "gradient" is not an option either - I need shapes much more sophisticated than regular "spherical" or "shapeburst" - maybe something like Bezier curved gradients could help...?

Any ideas, suggestions?

(no, don't suggest Photoshop. It does exactly the same.)

My Nomination

[douthat]

My vote goes to this gem [gnome.org]

All in favor? Say "eye"

Re:Name change

[suso]

Over-zealous parents and school teachers are a serious barrier to the adoption of anything in America.

It is not a good reason to change the name simply because people can't accept that the words don't carry the meaning, but how you use them does. After all, check out the latest TV trailers for "Meet the Fockers" (Sequel to Meet the Parents). How can that be socially acceptable title (it may yet not be) and "The Gimp" not be?

Re:Name change

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think the problem is necessarily the association with Pulp Fiction's character, 'Gimp' ... but rather that the word gimp actually means 'disabled'.

Why not just call it:
'NotAsGoodAsPhotoshop' and see if that helps the adoption. Using your logic, it shouldn't matter, as it's not the meaning the words currently have, but instead the ones you want to give them.

Seriously, the name GIMP makes it sound like the software knows that it will make you unproductive and is warning you ahead of time.

Disclaimer:
I'm not saying that the GIMP actually is bad ... but the name makes it sound like it is.

Re:Name change

[bbc]

Nobody is asking you to adopt the GIMP.

Free software is often written to scratch an itch the programmers might have. So was the GIMP. If you can use it, fine; if you cannot, fine too.

If you want to give it a different name, grab a copy off of cvs.gimp.org and distribute it under a different name. There's lots of people doing that on eBay. (Well, perhaps not lots, but both The GIMP and Project Gutenberg books have been sold on eBay under different names, presumably to draw attention away from the fact that you can get these items for free.)

Re:YRO: They censor the images!

[ceeam]

Well, it's a painting program. You can't just use arbitrary image. Something should tell that it's a painting program. Add brushes and pencils sticking out of it, I dunno... Be creative!