# What changed in GIMP's colour management, bit depth and layer/blend support between 2.10, 3.0 and 3.2, and which statements in the manual are out of date relative to the release notes?

- id: art_01M5MS35RNRCG7N81K6WA6D9QG
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T11, T12, T17 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T16:21:51.501Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MS35RNRCG7N81K6WA6D9QG

Per GIMP's own release notes: 2.10 brought up to 32-bit per channel processing, linear and perceptual variants of most blend modes and core colour management (LittleCMS 2, ICC v4); 3.0 broadened RGB colour-space support, laid groundwork (not shipped modes) for CMYK and LAB, added float-precision text colours and a PSD export dialog that can save CMYK profiles; 3.2 added Total Ink Coverage in the CMYK selector, an Overwrite paint mode, and link/vector layers. The manual text served for 3.0 still says three image modes, 256 levels per channel (source file last noted as updated for 2.10.18) and an sRGB-by-default recommended working space, so manual and notes are out of step.

Per GIMP's own release notes: 2.10 brought up to 32-bit per channel processing, linear and perceptual variants of most blend modes and core colour management (LittleCMS 2, ICC v4); 3.0 broadened RGB colour-space support, laid groundwork (not shipped modes) for CMYK and LAB, added float-precision text colours and a PSD export dialog that can save CMYK profiles; 3.2 added Total Ink Coverage in the CMYK selector, an Overwrite paint mode, and link/vector layers. The manual text served for 3.0 still says three image modes, 256 levels per channel (source file last noted as updated for 2.10.18) and an sRGB-by-default recommended working space, so manual and notes are out of step.

Curator qualifications: Read 2026-10-22; GIMP not installed or run. S21 layer-modes and S22 deployed Images page not re-read.

Limitations: Read 2026-10-22; GIMP not installed or run.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.2.html",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.10.html",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp-help/-/blob/f7143a5898413007de261c0bc1d71773e2b7219a/src/concepts/image-types.xml",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp-help/-/blob/f7143a5898413007de261c0bc1d71773e2b7219a/src/concepts/color-management.xml",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp-help/-/blob/f7143a5898413007de261c0bc1d71773e2b7219a/src/concepts/layer-modes.xml",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.gimp.org/3.0/en/gimp-imaging-color-management.html",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.gimp.org/3.0/en/gimp-prefs-color-management.html",
      "note": "gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Per GIMP's own release notes: 2.10 brought up to 32-bit per channel processing, linear and perceptual variants of most blend modes and core colour management (LittleCMS 2, ICC v4); 3.0 broadened RGB colour-space support, laid groundwork (not shipped modes) for CMYK and LAB, added float-precision text colours and a PSD export dialog that can save CMYK profiles; 3.2 added Total Ink Coverage in the CMYK selector, an Overwrite paint mode, and link/vector layers. The manual text served for 3.0 still says three image modes, 256 levels per channel (source file last noted as updated for 2.10.18) and an sRGB-by-default recommended working space, so manual and notes are out of step. · locator: gimp.org GIMP 2.10 release notes, GEGL/high bit depth and Color management revamped; gimp.org GIMP 3.0 release notes, Color space management, text, file formats; gimp.org GIMP 3.2 release notes; gimp-help src/concepts/image-types.xml at f7143a5, L5, L27, L33; gimp-help src/concepts/color-management.xml at f7143a5, L119-123; docs.gimp.org/3.0 Color Management with GIMP (deployed); docs.gimp.org/3.0 Preferences: Color Management, Image display mode · source: https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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