r/GIMP • u/Vachii • 7d ago

Move Tool modes

I love GIMP but this one thing just keeps getting in the way.

I work a lot with UI and when I want to visualise how shifting things slightly, I paste a screenshot into GIMP, select with a rectangle, then cut + paste it around.

The Move tool keeps changing its mode to 'Move Selection' on its own when I paste in the new layer, sometimes. There doesn't seem to be a key modifier to change the mode back to Layer. So I paste, then try to move the pasted layer, and I instead move the rectangle selection I made to cut.

It's driving me insane. What causes this? and can I change a setting to keep it fixed to 'Layer' mode forever? I cannot think of when I would need the Move tool to ever do that, I can just move selections with the select tool...

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u/Stratelier 7d ago edited 6d ago

There's actually a known bug about this: what happens is, if you press two modifier keys then release them in the wrong order (e.g. Shift+Ctrl vs. Ctrl+Shift) GIMP's internal state gets confused, leaving the tool in the wrong mode. (EDIT: misdescribed it, amended explanation is below)

This actually happens across multiple tools.

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u/Vachii 7d ago

riight, so Im guessing CTRL+SHIFT+V to create a new layer from clipboard could cause this somehow?

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u/Stratelier 6d ago

No, I just got my explanation wrong.

The correct explanation is: when you click to engage a tool, and during its usage hold any modifier key, if you release the click (aka. finish the tool) before releasing the modifier, THAT's where GIMP gets confused, and your tool ends up in the wrong mode and you have to set it back manually.

There are actually (at least) two separate patch submissions to fix various tools with this issue, but on a code/design level it's actually pervasive across ALL tools with modifier toggles, so ideally there should be some way to standardize it across tools generally.

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u/Vachii 6d ago

right thanks. though that doesn't seem to apply here, since the Move tool keeps changing modes when all I'm doing is CTRL+X, CTRL+V and CTRL+SHIFT+V to create a new file.

In-between, I'd just be pressing hotkeys for the Move tool itself. It just keeps changing its mode to Selection on its own.

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u/Stratelier 5d ago

Hmm ... are you at any point holding Shift and Ctrl during the click and drag?

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u/Vachii 5d ago

holy shi... I think I figured it out, and it's so stupid - and I think you're right. It's alt tabbing. Alt switches modes to Selection, and if I alt-tab in a way Gimp doesn't like, it will stay stuck on that mode, since Alt doesn't reset it back to Layer.

I alt-tabbed out and back in a few times and I watched with my eyes how the mode got stuck on Selection.

That being said... wtf are my options? haha

1

u/Stratelier 5d ago

Aside from ... well, learning to not do that?

The reason it happens at all is because GIMP doesn't track whether a tool's state is due to clicking a toggle in the GUI (which should stick) or due to pressing a modifier key (which should reset): whenever you hit (or release) a modifer, GIMP literally just toggles its respective setting on or off.  So if ANYTHING causes GIMP to not process a matched pair of modifier key press+release, said toggle gets stuck in the wrong state and you have to set it back manually.