About

About

Artbox Project Update - October 2025

The current version of Artbox has proven extremely reliable. It has handled hundreds of hours of complex work without a single crash, including large compositions and repeated plug-in use. This stability comes from many performance and reliability fixes applied over time.

Artbox can still be rebased onto the latest GIMP if required, but recent upstream changes have moved in directions that don’t fit Artbox’s focus. Reintroducing instability without clear benefit isn’t worthwhile.

Artbox will now remain as a stable, maintenance-only project. Updates will be limited to essential fixes or build adjustments when necessary.

Development will continue in a new project, starting from the current Artbox codebase as a hard fork. This new fork will have a new name and a more focused direction. Without the need to maintain a rebase, I can simplify development and use AI-assisted refactoring to turn it into a lean, specialized digital painting application. File formats will remain compatible with Artbox and GIMP.

I want to thank the GIMP developers for their long-standing work and commitment to open-source graphics software. Artbox exists because of their efforts, and future development will continue to draw from upstream GIMP patches when they align with the goals of stability, simplicity, and painting-focused design.

About Artbox

Artbox is a version of GIMP made for Linux, focused on digital painting and illustration. It was created by an artist and is maintained for daily, practical use.

Updates improve the stability of the GIMP base and add small features to help the workflow. Artbox Stable is tested for reliability, while Artbox receives updates more often with new fixes and features.

Practical notes:

  • Artbox keeps its own .config directory (named “Artbox”) and separate data resource folders to avoid altering GIMP user data.
  • For safer work make use of Incremental Saving and use the Almost-Autosave plugin with an autostart command.

Resources:

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