GIMP plugins transform our favorite free image editor from a good program into a near-Photoshop equivalent. Plugins add new features, improve your workflow, and help you customize GIMP to your exact preference.

Like all great things in life, however, installing GIMP plugins can be complicated. They can be hard to find, tricky to install, and you may run into compatibility issues. In this guide, we'll walk you through how to use GIMP plugins and which ones are worth your time.

How to Find GIMP Plugins

The GIMP plugin scene is a bit of a mess. Plugins used to be aggregated by the GIMP Plugin Registry, but that no longer exists. Now, you'll find them scattered all over the internet.

Some GIMP extensions are very old and haven't been updated in a decade or more. There's no guarantee that the GIMP scripts that you find will play nicely with the version of GIMP that you use. Plugins that were popular in the past, like the GIMP DDS plugin or BIMP, are now abandoned and no longer work.

How to Install GIMP Plugins

There are two main ways to install GIMP plugins. First, the manual way.

If your GIMP plugin is in a ZIP file, you'll need to copy the contents to GIMP's Plugins and Scripts folders. Make sure that the downloaded plugin has been unzipped before continuing.

In GIMP, go to Edit > Preferences > Folders. Locate the Plugins and Scripts folders under this menu.

Installing GIMP extensions involves locating the appropriate folders for GIMP to pull from

There are two folders in each section. One is a system folder, and the other is a user folder. Select the latter, and click Show file location in the file manager to open it. It's the icon that looks like a little filing cabinet.

The folder for GIMP scripts and GIMP plugins can be found through this menu

If your downloaded GIMP extensions are in the PY format, move them into the Plugins folder. If they're in the SCM format, move them into the Scripts folder. Restart GIMP, and they should be ready to use.

Related: GIMP vs. Photoshop: Which One Should You Choose?

The second way is the automatic method. Some GIMP extensions come pre-packaged with their own installer. Double-click on the installer and follow the prompts as you would with any other application.

Installers are platform-specific, so you might find plugins that are only available for Windows, but not Linux or Mac. It's also worth remembering that opening random installers off of the internet can be risky, so make sure that your antivirus software is up-to-date and running properly.

Once you've installed your GIMP plugin, you should see it appear under the Filters menu or another one of the submenus nearby. It may be under Image or Layers, or you may get a whole new menu called Script-Fu. Sometimes, GIMP plugins may run as a separate app, triggered to launch whenever they're needed.

Let's go over some of the best GIMP plugins you can download.

1. Darktable

darktable gimp raw editor

As you probably already know, GIMP is one of the best free photo editing apps available. You can even use it with RAW photos, but you need to add your own RAW editor first. There are two main options: Darktable and RawTherapee. Both are worth trying out, but we prefer Darktable because it's easier to use and offers some advanced features, including masking tools.

Once installed, you can drag your RAW images into GIMP. Darktable will launch, and you can begin editing. It's just as good as the famous Photoshop and Adobe Camera RAW combination. Read our Darktable guide to pick up the basics of this popular RAW editor.

2. G'MIC

gmic gimp plugin

Another GIMP plugin for photo editors, G'MIC, offers over 500 GIMP filters and effects that you can use to jazz up your shots.

The range that it offers is astounding. There are basics like film stock emulators and frames, as well as more advanced effects like noise reduction and other repair tools. You've even got some 3D effects to choose from.

You can use each one with its default settings with a single click. If you prefer, however, you can also use the adjustment sliders for each filter to customize your look and get the exact result that you want.

3. Resynthesizer

resynthesizer gimp heal selection

Resynthesizer is one of GIMP's oldest and most essential plugins. It provides a series of tools designed specifically to work with textures. You'll find the most important part under the Enhance menu: Heal Selection.

This GIMP Heal Selection plugin is the equivalent to Photoshop's Content-Aware Fill tool, one of the things Photoshop can do that GIMP can't. It enables you to seamlessly remove unwanted objects from a photo.

Heal Selection magically replaces the blemish or intrusion with surrounding content from the background of your image, blending everything together perfectly. If, for example, you remove something from the sky, the space will be automatically filled with more sky, just like in Photoshop. For this reason, this GIMP Photoshop plugin is one that we cannot live without.

4. Hugin

hugin panorama gimp

When you need to stitch together a series of images to create a panorama, Hugin is the GIMP extension for you. It's simple to get started; just load up your images, specify a few common points on each, and the app will merge them together. It'll also help you compensate for mismatched angles and exposures.

Hugin functions as a standalone app, and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

5. Wavelet Decompose

wavelet decompose gimp plugin

Skin retouching is an integral part of portrait photography. Wavelet Decompose is the best plugin for GIMP if you're a professional in this field.

The plugin uses an advanced form of frequency separation. It splits the image into multiple layers, each containing different sets of details. This gives you minute control over which details you want to smooth and which to keep.

Sound complicated? Well, the concept is, but the practice isn't. Just load up the plugin and use the blur and smooth tools to make your subject's skin shine.

6. Duplicate to Another Image

duplicate to another image gimp plugin

This simple script is an incredible time-saver. Its name describes exactly what it does: it duplicates a selection to another image file.

Can't GIMP already do this? Yes, but not very well. The Duplicate to Another Image plugin lets you copy a selection onto a new image scaled to the same size as your original, keeping the object in the same place.

This makes it easy to change the background of an image quickly and neatly. You can also copy your selection to a new image and crop it to size. Alternatively, you can even copy the object to another image you've already got open.

7. Nik Collection

nik collection gimp plugin

Finally, we arrive at the Nik Collection, a professional-class suite of photo editing tools, GIMP filters, and other extremely useful additions. It gives you access to pro-level sharpening and noise reduction, color filters, HDR effects, and lots more. You may be wondering why we've reserved it for the end of the list if it's so great. There are two main reasons for that.

First of all, the free version of the Nik Collection is no longer officially available. You can still download it from The Internet Archive, and you can set it up if you've already got it installed on your PC. Secondly, even at this point, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it working. Rest assured that it's worth the effort.

Related: How to Get the Nik Collection's Photoshop Plugins for Free

How to Use GIMP Plugins to Customize Your GIMP Experience

No matter what, most creatives will agree that GIMP is a great app. To ride it for all that it's worth, however, you've got to try all of the best GIMP plugins available online.

Hungry for more GIMP plugins? New GIMP plugins are never in short supply—all that you need to do is keep your eyes peeled.