LayerGroups subsystem for Gimp

melocotone — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:23:53 +0200

LayerGroups subsystem for Gimp

New version 1.0a, uploaded June 30, 2009

LayerGroups is a comprehensive layer groups subsystem for GIMP. It allows the creation of groups and subgroups of layers without limitation, based on the layer names. It allows you to hide or show many layers simultaneously, link or unlink them, rename them, delete them, duplicate them in the same image or to another image, move them up or down in the layer stack (raise or lower) in relation to a specific reference layer, generate external image files (for example png, gif, jpeg etc) from each of the layers of the group, and several other operations.

The selection of layers for the group can be enhanced with filters, for example only layers that are linked, or contain a specific keyword in the name.

LayerGroups contains a built-in help system that works two ways: when you are on the GIMP menu system with the mouse above one of the menu options you get a multi-line window with help and instructions on how to use the specific functionality and when you are in the dialog box where you enter the parameters, there is a menu that you can open to read the same help text. This help system is prepared in such a way that it can be easily translated into other languages, like French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc.

LayerGroups has been thoroughly tested in a project with images containing hundreds of layers where most of the mentioned layer group functionality was required. As a useful spill off, the LayerGroups script contains many generic script-fu functions that could be very useful in other scripts for GIMP. It has been tested under Windows XP and Vista with Gimp Portable version 2.6.6 and under Ubuntu Linux, Gimp version 2.6.6. To install the script, copy the script file "mig-gimp-layer-groups.scm" to the scripts directory and from GIMP execute the menu option Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh scripts. You should get a new main menu option labeled 'LayerGroups' between 'Filters' and 'Windows'.

New version 1.0a: features

The new version 1.0a has a built in option to allow the LayerGroups subsystem to be placed under the 'Layer' menu of the Gimp image window. By the default you get a new 'LayerGroups' menu entry directly in the Gimp Image window. If you change the script file at line 35 - which contains the text '#f' in the first 2 characters - (change the 2nd character in that line from 'f' to 't') the 'LayerGroups' menu entry will become a sub-menu entry of the 'Layer' menu entry. Use any text editor to edit the 'mig-gimp-layer-groups.scm' file. For example, under Windows you can use NotePad to edit the file. Make sure the saved file maintains the extension '.scm'

This new version contains some bug corrections and new functionality. The new functionality includes 'delete linked layers', 'reverse the stack order of a layer group' and 'reverse the stack order of the currently linked layers'.