i would like to request this feature too. gqview and gimp work great together, but not supporting XCF format really cripples this... um... "synergy" (sorry)
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I totally agree... It could be very nice to have a complete
support of the xcf format in gqview... using gtklib or
some-what-else could do this "tricky" I guess... without
needed to "copy/paste" the gimp source code into gqview (the
ugly way :)
Keep it the good work !
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The GIMP developers recommend against other programs
implementing their file format (and for this reason I use
other formats if at all possible). http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-user@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/msg04283.html
To quote Sven the lead developer:
"There is no documentation on the file format. It's entirely
GIMP's job to deal with this format. Don't try to use it
outside the GIMP."
If someone were determined to have support for rendering XCF
it would make sense to try and add it to gdkpixbuf so that
all sorts of GTK applications could benefit.
Even though it is proprietary PSD is well known enough that
it is a better bet if you want to avoid lock in and be able
to open your mutlilayered image files in other programs in
the future. (Hopefully MNG will catch on and provide
another alternative for layered images.)
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I would also like to see support for xcf added especially now that the GIMP has a documented file format. I think it would be a great addition to GQview. Perhaps xcftools (mentioned below) could also be of some help. The following is excerpted from a Newsforge article:
Documenting the GIMP's file format resolves technical and political issues
Friday August 04, 2006
The GIMP finally has a documented file specification. The free image editor has long been criticized over the fact that its native image format XCF was not publicly documented. ... Once the argument cooled off, however, an independent developer decided to tackle the problem head on -- to the benefit of all.
GIMP developers also contended that the accusation that they were locking out outsiders was a misunderstanding. Rather, when asked about XCF, the most common response was to discourage its adoption in new projects -- not out of fear of competition, but because the format is difficult to work with (not designed for interchange, its structures are tightly bound to the GIMP's internals), and it is targeted for replacement in the GIMP's next major development cycle.
Both of those points may be true, but they don't speak to the needs of a software developer who needs help with XCF today. The difficulty factor is an obstacle, but no one chooses to implement file format compatibility because it's easy -- you implement it because you have to, easy or not. And for someone working on a software project today, the future plans of the GIMP are of little consequence; there is no set timeline for deprecating XCF, and legacy files will persist long after the current GIMP codebase is retired.
Henning Makholm took matters into his own hands after the most recent flare-up over this issue, writing a specification based on his own knowledge of the XCF-handling code in the GIMP.
Makholm is the creator of xcftools, a suite of command-line utilities for reading .XCF files and converting them to other formats, so he has had to tackle the format directly in the past. He posted his initial draft spec to the GIMP developers mailing list and has made updates and corrections to it based on their feedback. Though still a work in progress, the GIMP project happily added it to the official documentation.
Adding image formats individually to GQView instead of supporting the GDKpixbuf interfaces is not a particularly good use of anyones time but as with all Open Source development if someone wants to make it happen it is up to them how they choose to spend their own time. Since I'm the only named/not anonymous commenter on this report and it has been open since 2002 it doesn't look like anyone is very interested in this feature if they do not even put their names to their requests, and the chances of anyone volunteering to do the work are would seem even slimmer. At the end of that day somone doing the work is what matters.
The newsforge article quoted below took a very very VERY optimstic view of the XCF file format. It is better documented than it was before but hardly resolved once and for all. Sven was very clear and cannot be misunderstood when he said "Don't try to use it outside the GIMP". http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-user@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/msg04283.html
XCF is not a formal standard and isn't making any big promises not to change things and even though they probably wont that is quite a difference from being a stable formal standard anyone should be promoting.
The Create group is working under the umbrella of Freedesktop.org and the GIMP GEGL team and KOffice Krita team are working on an new graphics interchange format borrowing some ideas from OpenDocument. This proposed OpenRaster format has great potential but it could be a long time before it gets released.
But again it all means nothing unless a developer is interested in doing the work.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
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i would like to request this feature too. gqview and gimp work great together, but not supporting XCF format really cripples this... um... "synergy" (sorry)
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I totally agree... It could be very nice to have a complete
support of the xcf format in gqview... using gtklib or
some-what-else could do this "tricky" I guess... without
needed to "copy/paste" the gimp source code into gqview (the
ugly way :)
Keep it the good work !
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I'd like to add my vote for this feature.
Thanks for this software anyway.
Logged In: YES
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The GIMP developers recommend against other programs
implementing their file format (and for this reason I use
other formats if at all possible).
http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-user@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/msg04283.html
To quote Sven the lead developer:
"There is no documentation on the file format. It's entirely
GIMP's job to deal with this format. Don't try to use it
outside the GIMP."
If someone were determined to have support for rendering XCF
it would make sense to try and add it to gdkpixbuf so that
all sorts of GTK applications could benefit.
Even though it is proprietary PSD is well known enough that
it is a better bet if you want to avoid lock in and be able
to open your mutlilayered image files in other programs in
the future. (Hopefully MNG will catch on and provide
another alternative for layered images.)
Logged In: NO
I would also like to see support for xcf added especially now that the GIMP has a documented file format. I think it would be a great addition to GQview. Perhaps xcftools (mentioned below) could also be of some help. The following is excerpted from a Newsforge article:
Documenting the GIMP's file format resolves technical and political issues
Friday August 04, 2006
The GIMP finally has a documented file specification. The free image editor has long been criticized over the fact that its native image format XCF was not publicly documented. ... Once the argument cooled off, however, an independent developer decided to tackle the problem head on -- to the benefit of all.
GIMP developers also contended that the accusation that they were locking out outsiders was a misunderstanding. Rather, when asked about XCF, the most common response was to discourage its adoption in new projects -- not out of fear of competition, but because the format is difficult to work with (not designed for interchange, its structures are tightly bound to the GIMP's internals), and it is targeted for replacement in the GIMP's next major development cycle.
Both of those points may be true, but they don't speak to the needs of a software developer who needs help with XCF today. The difficulty factor is an obstacle, but no one chooses to implement file format compatibility because it's easy -- you implement it because you have to, easy or not. And for someone working on a software project today, the future plans of the GIMP are of little consequence; there is no set timeline for deprecating XCF, and legacy files will persist long after the current GIMP codebase is retired.
Henning Makholm took matters into his own hands after the most recent flare-up over this issue, writing a specification based on his own knowledge of the XCF-handling code in the GIMP.
Makholm is the creator of xcftools, a suite of command-line utilities for reading .XCF files and converting them to other formats, so he has had to tackle the format directly in the past. He posted his initial draft spec to the GIMP developers mailing list and has made updates and corrections to it based on their feedback. Though still a work in progress, the GIMP project happily added it to the official documentation.
http://programming.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/2041236&tid=25&tid=75&tid=138
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Adding image formats individually to GQView instead of supporting the GDKpixbuf interfaces is not a particularly good use of anyones time but as with all Open Source development if someone wants to make it happen it is up to them how they choose to spend their own time. Since I'm the only named/not anonymous commenter on this report and it has been open since 2002 it doesn't look like anyone is very interested in this feature if they do not even put their names to their requests, and the chances of anyone volunteering to do the work are would seem even slimmer. At the end of that day somone doing the work is what matters.
The newsforge article quoted below took a very very VERY optimstic view of the XCF file format. It is better documented than it was before but hardly resolved once and for all. Sven was very clear and cannot be misunderstood when he said "Don't try to use it outside the GIMP".
http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-user@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/msg04283.html
XCF is not a formal standard and isn't making any big promises not to change things and even though they probably wont that is quite a difference from being a stable formal standard anyone should be promoting.
The Create group is working under the umbrella of Freedesktop.org and the GIMP GEGL team and KOffice Krita team are working on an new graphics interchange format borrowing some ideas from OpenDocument. This proposed OpenRaster format has great potential but it could be a long time before it gets released.
But again it all means nothing unless a developer is interested in doing the work.