GIMP is a popular open source Image editing and manipulation software, the acronym of GIMP is GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a cross platform software it means it can be installed on different Operating System like Linux, Windows, MAC OS and Other Unix like Operating System.

In this tutorial, we will learn installation method of GIMP in our Ubuntu / Debian Operating System. Because GIMP is used for Image Editing, your Operating System must be running in a Desktop or GUI (Graphical User Interface) mode.

3 Command Line Methods To Install GIMP

In this section, we will install the GIMP through command line on terminal.

It is always a recommendation to install the software from the Official Source or Operating System default repositories.

Install GIMP with apt

The apt command is Advanced Packaging Tool in Ubuntu and Debian Operating System. Here, with the help of apt command we will install GIMP from packages which are available in repositories of Ubuntu/Debian distributions.

Run the following command to quickly install the GIMP.

sudo apt update -y

sudo apt install gimp 

Install gimp-plugin-registry to extend the GIMP by installing plugins, scripts etc. This step you can skip if you do not want to install the GIMP plugins.

sudo apt install gimp-plugin-registry

GIMP is installed and ready. You can open the GIMP by clicking on Dash Home and type GIMP in search field.

To know the version of GIMP, go to Help>About.

Uninstall GIMP (apt command)

The given below apt commands will help you uninstall the GIMP.

sudo apt --purge remove gimp gimp-plugin-registry
sudo apt --purge autoremove

Install GIMP with Flatpack

Flatpack is also another utility as a package manager for managing and deploying the packages in Linux Operating System. You might not have the Flatpack installed in your system then with this command install the Flatpack.

sudo apt install flatpack

Add the Flatpack remote repo address.

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Install GIMP now.

sudo flatpak install https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref

Now open the GIMP. If you are not able to find the Gimp in Dash Home then logout and login back. Now you must be able to open GIMP. Through Flatpack we got 2.10.38 version. (Compare with other installation method)

Uninstall the GIMP (Flatpack)

You can uninstall the GIMP by Flatpack ( Applicable when you have installed it through Flatpack only).

sudo flatpak uninstall org.gimp.GIMP//stable

Install GIMP by snap

With the help of snap utility you can also install the GIMP on Ubuntu and Debian. (To install snap in Debian, find it in FAQ section of this post.)

sudo snap install gimp

Now open the GIMP by clicking on Dash Home and in search field type ‘gimp’.

Uninstall GIMP (snap command)

To remove or uninstall GIMP use the given below command. Because we have installed the GIMP by using snap command hence this command will be applicable.

sudo snap remove gimp

GUI : Install GIMP by using App Center

Installing GIMP through App Center is very easy.

Go to Dash Home, in search type ‘App Center’ , click on its icon to open.

In ‘App Center’ type in search ‘gimp’. You can select either of the options ‘Snap packages’ or ‘Debian packages’.

As per the selection it will open the window. Click on ‘install’ button for installing GIMP. The given below screenshot referred when we select the ‘Snap package’.

The installation permission authentication window will pop up. Give the super user password and click OK.

GUI : Unstall GIMP by using App Center

Open ‘App Center’ as we did during above given installation step. There is a 3 dots next to ‘Open’ button. Click on it, you will find the ‘Uninstall’ button. Click on ‘Uninstall’ button for removing the GIMP from the system.

Frequently Asked Question (F.A.Q)