156
GIMP is gearing up for a massive upgrade
(testing.gimp.org)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
156 points (99.4% liked)
Opensource
6613 readers
553 users here now
A community for discussion about open source software! Ask questions, share knowledge, share news, or post interesting stuff related to it!
⠀
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
That's not a circle, that's a grid of pixels being colored in. It's a lossy representation of something else.
A circle is a shape which is a graphics primitive. Graphics primitives can be moved, transformed, skewed, etc... with no loss of information.
If you do that with a grid of pixels, you're going to lose information.
Edit: Five downvotes. Apparently people don't know how to use vectors in bitmap authoring software, or why selections are the lossy way to create shapes. See details in my comments below.
You want a vector editing software like inkscape. GIMP only does rasterized graphics.
Raster editing programs can support vector shapes. They are rasterised during export, not when the shape is created.
Look at how to create, move and transform a circle in photoshop (or if you don't want to give adobe money, use photopea).
@SaharaMaleikuhm @spartanatreyu As of GIMP 3.2, we have vector layers: https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.2.html#vector-layers
You can also export to vectorized PDF or SVG (with an option for Inkscape SVG to retain shared project settings). Inkscape is definitely the better choice for dedicated vector work, but vectors as part of a composition is possible now in GIMP.
Do you understand how bitmaps and raster drawing works? Everything is represented as a 2d array of pixels. The circle selection before you paint can be moved/scaled/etc and then when you actually want to draw the circle trace the path with the appropriate thickness and use antialiasing if you need to smooth it.
If you want to make vector drawings, take a look at InkScape. GIMP is the wrong tool for that, so use the right tool for the job if that's what you want to do.
Yes I know the difference between vector and bitmaps
Only after the rasterization has taken place.
The problem is that the selection itself can lose information, it's handled internally as a raster mask. That's why you should use a real vector shape.
No. Raster editors can support vector shapes. They vectors are rasterized during the final export, not while creating the shape (which is lossy and what selection shapes are).
Look at how to create, move and transform a circle in photoshop (or if you don’t want to give adobe money, use photopea).