Extensions
GIMP by itself can already do a lot. With plugins, you can extend the free image editor with complex functions, most of which allow you to see the final results before you apply them.
Adding new functions with GIMP plugins
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GIMP developers don't integrate many complex functions into GIMP itself; rather, these elements are stored in external plugins. Thus, the GIMP code base can remain lean. Additionally, there's always the chance that not even core team programmers use the plugin interface to add enhancements. For simple extensions, the scripts written in Script-Fu often suffice, but they don't provide preview capabilities and are limited in their execution speed.
Script-Fu also provides a challenge even to experienced programmers with its Scheme dialect as a Lisp variant. Plugins, on the other hand, can be written in C, C++, Python, Lua, Ruby, Perl, and other languages. As binaries, they are nonetheless bound to specific GIMP or operating system versions and need to be updated along with them.
Moreover, some of the plugins may lack some fine-tuning so they might crash from time to time – especially with larger images. When this happens, an error message will identify the problem, and the crash usually will not affect GIMP's stability, even though the error message may suggest otherwise. If you want to create your own plugin, GIMP developers provide a three-part How-To page [1], although they still have some catching up to do with new GEGL developments.
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