GIMP#

GIMP# is an excellent API wrapper built around GIMP that is written in C#. It adds a great deal of functionality beyond just serving as a wrapper, with a thin layer that incorporates C#-specific features, such as iterating through a collection. An example of this can be seen when iterating through an image’s guides:

foreach (Guide guide in image.Guides) {
// Do something
}

Compared to C, where you would have to use the following code:

gint32 guide_ID = 0:
while ((guide_ID = gimp_image_find_next_guide(image_ID, guide_ID)) != 0) {
// Do something
}

GIMP# also offers a base plug-in class that handles the difficult parts for you. With a few virtual methods overridden, implementing a new plug-in becomes a simple task. You can find examples of how to do this by looking at the samples directory.

GIMP# serves an essential purpose lying between scripting languages and C, where scripting languages are easy to use but slow, while C is tough but fast. Scripting languages are an excellent option for calling existing functionality and shortening manual tasks. However, you may not want to manipulate pixels on Scheme. On the other hand, creating a plug-in in C takes longer as building the GUI is tedious, and pixel handling is not trivial.

GIMP# isn't as fast as C but much quicker than a scripting language. Additionally, building a decent GUI is much more comfortable than in C.

For GIMP# to run, you will need GIMP and Mono. The latest version comes with various updates, including improvements to the Photoshop actions plug-in, porting of an abandoned plug-in to load GEM image files, and an update to the Russian translation.