Much has changed in the GNU Image Manipulation Program since the release of GIMP 3.0There are improvements, of course, the opposite would not make sense, but also Some things have changed that can drive more than one person crazy.At least it's given me a bit of a headache, so I've decided to write this article in which I explain a couple of things, starting with the differences when selecting layers, which in v3.0 isn't as intuitive.
In GIMP 2.x, layer selection was almost automatic: with the move tool selected — the one at the very top, with the 4 arrows forming a cross — you just clicked on a layer and that was it. In GIMP 3.0, this behavior has changed, and it makes some sense: previously we could accidentally move elements. Now, by default, the layer selection It has to be from its section at the bottom right of the user interface.
If you're looking for the previous behavior, you can activate it from the Edit/Preferences menu, go to "Tool Options," and under "Move Tool," select "Set Layer or Path Active." If you hover over it, you'll see a text explaining that this was indeed the previous behavior.
Aligning guides in GIMP 3.0
Another thing that has changed is the alignment of the guidesIn v2.0, guides behaved like any other layer, but in v3.0… I think they're a bit self-indulgent and the project should return to its previous intuitive behavior. Selecting elements is different in GIMP 3.0, and that also applies to selecting guides. You can still extract them from the rulers on the left and top, dragging them inside the image, and if you're looking to place them by eye, nothing has changed. The problem is whether you want them in a specific spot. How do you do that?
For example, if we want a guide on the left, we can no longer move it from the left ruler to the top of the image, press Q (select the align tool), click on the guide, and then click the button to move it to that side. Now we have to:
- We take the guide from the ruler on that side.
- We drop it on top of the image.
- We press Alt before clicking on the guide to select it. The click selects it.
- Important step: In the tool options, uncheck "Selected Layers." Otherwise, and this is where it can be confusing—I still don't understand the behavior—it will move both the guide and the selected layer. It doesn't matter if you deselect the layer at the bottom; it will always move the guide and at least one layer.
- Now, we click on the align left button.
- “Selected Layers” is checked again, or the align tool will not align layers.
- Finally, deselect the guide by Alt+Clicking somewhere other than the guide itself. The guide will change from red (selected) to blue (unselected).
Is there any other way to do it?
There's another way to do it, and it's from the Image/Guidelines menu. To set it at a precise point, I recommend using the percentage option. If we continue with the example on the left, we would choose "Vertical" and set the value "0," which would place it vertically and at the leftmost point. To set it to the right, we would set the value to 100, and set it to 50 in the middle. The same applies to horizontal guides.
What do I prefer? The previous behavior. I can understand having to press Alt to select guides, since they're very thin and it's likely you'll select something you don't want. But what I don't understand, and I've searched for information and even asked ChatGPT and DeepSeek, is that the align tool aligns both the selected guide and the active layer. I can't understand even more how to move a layer that I've unchecked.
Still, I will continue to research and share news.