
The Deviant Art page that describes the GIMP 2.8 Photoshop tweaks is available at. Step 1: Follow the instructions listed at to install the excellent GIMP 2.8 Photoshop tweaks by the Deviant Art contributor who goes by the handle, Doctormo. This article outlines one such method that I used to change the theme such that the look and feel is simliar to the one portrayed in the image below.

There are multiple suggestions and tutorials all over the web to help you achieve it. While there is a learning curve involved in getting used to GIMP, it may help new comers migrating from Photoshop to change the look and feel of GIMP to the one they are used to while using Photoshop. The default look and feel (after selecting Window => Single-Window Mode) is similar to the screenshot below (captured on MacBook Pro with GIMP 2.8.22 installed). The developers of GIMP have designed the look and feel of GIMP to signify and portray the strengths of GIMP. Use your favorite text editor to open “~/.gimp-2.8/gimprc” or “~/.config/GIMP/2.10.” Add either or both of the following two lines, as you prefer.If you had ever planned to switch over from Photoshop to GIMP, the first thing that comes to mind is to figure out a way to learn and adjust to a look and feel that is different from Photoshop. You can make GIMP snap layers to the canvas with a couple lines of configuration. Moving a layer, then, is much less exact. Snap to Canvas Edgeīy default, GIMP doesn’t snap layers to the canvas edge or grid lines by default. Click on “Edit,” then “Preferences.” Select “Tool Options” and finally, “Save Tool Options Now.” You can either restart or keep using it. In the right set of menus you’ll find the available options for the Move Tool. Select the Move Tool from the Toolbox window.

That said, there is an option that you can use to make it behave more like Photoshop. The move tool in GIMP is similar to the one in Photoshop, but it isn’t exactly the same. These are simple things, but they can certainly go a long way in easing your transition to GIMP. There are a couple of additional features and tweaks that will make GIMP feel more like home.
