I don't think there is something like that in GIMP yet, but I remember that there has been a discussion about Layer-Sets in the past. It will be hopefully implemented in the future.

best regards, bernhard

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006, mfi3 wrote:

[... Layer Groups ...]

Is there such possibility in gimp ? It would be very useful.

Not at the moment.

There is a request in Bugzilla for Layer Groups http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=86337

On Saturday, August 19, 2006 6:52 am, mfi3 wrote:

I have
so much layers that I feel lost (and there will be even more layers). Despite of using logical names, sorting layers - there is a big mess. It would be ideal if there was a possibility to group layers, and collapse groups I am currently not working on (i.e. when I am working on content area I would like to collapse all "footer", "top", "navigation" layers, etc.)

Is there such possibility in gimp ? It would be very useful.

No, but you can link them together in the layers dialog and move them around as a group, so that if you need to do so, you won't mess up your carefull alignment.

Quoting mfi3 :

Thanks for all replies - main reason why I need tree view (and grouping) of layers is cleaning up of layers window - and it would be hard to accomplish in other way than grouping layers and displaying them in a tree view. So I will wait, hoping that some day gimp developers will work on http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=86337

I have written a Script-fu which implements layer groups but it is intended mainly as a test-bed for determining how they might someday be implemented. It is actually quite functional but the user interface is definitely lacking.

If you would like to give it a try, I have a version which might provide the functionality you desire (my other versions consist mainly of replacements for the various buttons and menu functions so I might determine how they might take into account to the presence groups).

The script allows you to collapse and restore the groups in the image but you cannot edit a "collapsed" group; when a group is collapsed, it is replaced by a "preview layer" in the layer stack and any changes to the preview layer will be undone when the group is restored (however, it can be relocated in the layerstack).

Only one level of grouping is currently supported. The approach I am using should easily support a hierarchical nesting (the infrastructure of this version is close to doing so); however, I am not even close to resolving the user interface issues with regards to this and, to be honest, I am not sure doing so would be worth the complications.

The most important caveat on using the script is that you MUST restore any collapsed groups before saving; not doing so means the "preview layer" is what gets saved to your file and, upon quiting the GIMP, the separate layers of the group are lost. You will also have to be careful about deleting a fundament; after doing so, you should perform a "Script-fu->Layer Groups->Update display" so that its adjuvants are ungrouped.

I would prefer it not be distributed beyond your own use as I intend neither to "maintain" it nor to "defend" its implementation. It is a far cry from what "layer groups" should be and it is, in the fullest sense of the phrase, a work-in-progress.

If your are interested in pursuing this, the script (and a very short document) is available at
http://flashingtwelve.brickfilms.com/GIMP/Scripts/Alpha