Basics - GIMP 2.6 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source Software - page 42

The Toolbox

Since GIMP 2.4, the graphics and tool symbols appear in Linux's Tango style.
The icons have more detail, are more colorful, and are much easier to grasp.
The tools in the Toolbox will be introduced in a couple of the following
chapters.
The Toolbox used to be the central window. The major change since GIMP
2.4 has been that it has been reduced to a utility window. It contains all the
tools that can be used and applied with the mouse:
• Selection tools for selecting speciic areas of your image that you wish to
edit, manipulate, and/or add new elements to
• Tools that can select colors, minimize or magnify view, and measure and
position image elements
• Tools that can cut or transform the size and shape of image objects
• Text, painting, illing and touch-up tools
• Tools to manipulate an image's or partial image's sharpness, brightness,
and contrast
• Tools that deine colors, illings, and ill patterns

Figure 1.21
The Toolbox

In GIMP 2.6, the Toolbox is separated into a tool palette and the tool
options. What appears to be one window are actually two separate windows.
The Tool Options window is a dockable window and can be closed to save
space on the desktop. Click the button with the small arrow pointing to the
left ( (Configure this tab) and select Close Tab from the drop-down menu (see
figure 1.17). The next time you double-click on a tool symbol, the tool options
appear in a separate floating window. You can dock the Tool Options window
to the palette again by hovering the mouse arrow over the tool option's
name. A hand cursor will appear. Click on the tool option and you will see a
tool options symbol, which can be dragged onto the bottom of the Toolbox
window. The dockable section there will turn blue. It simply attaches itself
(see figure 1.20).
The new feature in GIMP 2.6 is the little Configure this tab button, which
you can use to add new tabs to the palette. You can also add tabs that are
included in the dock or in the Windows menu. If you want to limit yourself to
the most important tabs—Layers, Paths, and Undo—you can do without the
dock window. Just open these tab windows in the Tool Options window and
you obtain more space for the image window (see figure 1.17).