GIMP 3.2.8 is now available as a maintenance update to the 3.2 series of the free and open-source image editor, introducing improvements to text editing, faster dialog performance, and bug and security fixes.
One of the most notable changes concerns the Text tool, which now offers improved support for right-to-left languages. Arrow-key navigation has been corrected for right-to-left text, including cases where left-to-right content appears within the same text.
Moreover, new RTL and LTR direction icons are available directly in the tool’s on-canvas interface. Until users select a direction, GIMP automatically determines the base text direction using the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm.
Another improvement is the faster opening of the Preferences dialog. The update also improves initial dialog positioning, fixes system theme leaks, and corrects dot rendering in the Dot to Dot feature when integer display scaling is used.
Regarding image editing, GIMP 3.2.8 restores the ability to use Offset as a non-destructive filter. Previously, this was mistakenly disabled when loading the filter. Additionally, font loading can now be canceled when users quit GIMP before the process finishes.
Platform-specific improvements are also included. On macOS, handling cross-process transient windows now uses the NotificationCenter API instead of the Accessibility API, addressing repeated permission requests. The application also respects the system accessibility setting for distinguishing switch states without relying on colors.
On Windows, the Dashboard now uses WorkingSetSize to report memory consumption more accurately. Printing has been improved, fixing an issue where Page Setup remained tied to the default printer and working around problems with Windows 11’s UnifiedPrintDialog.
Several plug-ins have received fixes as well. Script-Fu’s Add Border function now respects the alpha channel of the selected border color when determining opacity. ICO/CUR import now sorts icons using the same algorithm already employed during export, while the Screenshot plug-in includes a workaround for the Windows Magnification API on HDR displays.
Finally, GIMP 3.2.8 addresses various security bugs in plug-ins and improves error handling. Meanwhile, the IFF plug-in has been ported away from unmaintained external libraries to an internal implementation with support for RGBN and RGB8 variants, although the updated plug-in is not currently built in this release branch.
You can download GIMP 3.2.8 directly here. The official announcement is expected soon.
