Gimp 2.10.36 and .webp

[pp4mnklinux]

Hello everyone,

I'm using EasyOS with GIMP 2.10.36 installed, but I've noticed that I can't open .webp files. Every time I try to open one, either nothing happens or I get an error message. Has anyone else encountered this issue or knows how to fix it?

I've tried looking for a solution in the repositories or forums, but haven't found a clear answer. Is there a plugin or library I need to install?

Till now, I didn't noticed the problem, because I was using a portable version (gimp 2.10.25), older than this one but who made the portable prepared it for .webp

What should I do to solve this?

Can it be solved for next EasyOS distro?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[FeodorF]

Hi @pp4mnklinux

How to View WebP Images in Ubuntu and Other Linux Distribution https://itsfoss.com/webp-ubuntu-linux/

webp-pixbuf-loader 0.2.7-1 https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 ... uf-loader/

The old portable version should have this library plus some others too. This is what you need to look for:

$ apt show webp
Package: webp
Version: 1.2.4-0.2+deb12u1
Priority: optional
Section: graphics
Source: libwebp
Maintainer: Jeff Breidenbach <jab@debian.org>
Installed-Size: 604 kB
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.34), libgif7 (>= 5.1), libgl1, libglut3.12 (>= 3.4.0), libjpeg62-turbo (>= 1.3.1), libpng16-16 (>= 1.6.2-1), libtiff6 (>= 4.0.3), libwebp7 (>= 1.2.4), libwebpdemux2 (>= 1.2.4), libwebpmux3 (>= 1.2.4)
Homepage: https://developers.google.com/speed/webp/
Tag: role::program
Download-Size: 175 kB
APT-Sources: http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main arm64 Packages
Description: Lossy compression of digital photographic images Image Compression format, based on the VP8 codec. WebP uses the modern VP8 compression format to deliver efficient compression of images for the web. More than 30% extra gain over optimized JPEG, for same quality, is not unusual.

[BarryK]

I think, from memory, that .webp can be opened in LibreOffice Draw.
In fact, I seem to recall, Draw is offered in the right-click menu.

Opened in Draw, it can be saved in another format.

EDIT:
Just checked. Yes, Right-click, choose "Open With..." and Draw is offered.

[mikewalsh]

@pp4mnklinux :-

There's been quite a bit of discussion round this point in recent years. The following is subject matter I split off into its own thread - the original was getting very messy - and discusses several workarounds:-

viewtopic.php?t=2166&start=10

Or there's the wee conversion utility I put together using Google's own publicly-available binaries/libraries (also includes a converter for WebM to MP4 (and back again), since WebP and WebM are both sister componenets of the same Google project):-

viewtopic.php?t=11859

May help, may not. Up to you what you make of it.

Mike.

[p310don]

webp sucks for desktop usability.

The easiest solution to have GIMP and webp working nicely together is copy & paste.

Either, use the original web source and copy the image and then paste as new image or new layer in GIMP

or, open the .webp image in a browser, and then copy and paste it into GIMP

It's a bit clunky, but it works

[Stogie]

My opinion is that WEBP sucks. It's SOMETIMES a bit smaller in filesize than JPG or PNG but the usability and compatibility problems are too great and disk is ludicrously cheap nowadays, so universal compatibility with long-time standard formats wins easily.

These two command lines will, in just seconds, convert all the .webp files in a directory to either JPG or PNG (your choice, PNG for line art or screenshots and the like or for continuous-tone photos where mathematically-perfect preservation of all pixel values is required (rare), and JPG for continuous-tone photos where very good indeed but not perfect quality is acceptable (which is almost always)).

These work at least as far back as Easy Buster and they work fine on Kirkstone too, and you don't need to install any more software, it's all already baked into Easy:

for i in *.webp ; do ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i%.*}.png" ; done

for i in *.webp ; do ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i%.*}.jpg" ; done

When I get one or more WEBP files, I make an empty directory (or use an existing one), put the WEBP file(s) in there, then open a shell and "cd" to that directory, then I use one of the command lines above. Watch for red errors in the spam (almost never are any), then check that your new PNG or JPG files look good and are viewable, then delete the crappy WEBP versions. That's it, you're done!

I never store WEBP files; when I download one or more, they get immediately converted to PNG or JPG and those get stored, with the WEBP files deleted.

Note that while converting to PNG preserves all the pixel data in the WEBP source file perfectly, JPG does not (but it's much smaller in filesize). In my long experience with the commandlines above, ffmpeg makes quite good choices for what quality level to use for the JPG conversions and the quality is well beyond that needed for casual viewing, but if you're a perfectionist or want to archive in the highest quality, either use PNG or use a more complicated set of tools to hand-tune the JPG output to your needs. It shouldn't be necessary often though.

Incidentially, this commandline will batch-convert all PNGs in a directory to JPG, for those websites that annoyingly give you large-dimensions images in PNG format and they're just for casual viewing, and you'd prefer to convert and store them as JPG which typically reduce their filesize to about 1/20th (5%) of the PNG original while retaining very nearly all of the quality (more than enough for simple viewing). It's a GREAT way to fit 20 times as many images on a given storage device. Don't do this for charts, graphs, screenshots, etc., only do it for what JPG is designed for: continuous-tone, high-color, photo-like images:

for i in *.png ; do ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i%.*}.jpg" ; done

This is incredibly useful after downloading a whole bunch of huge PNG files where you don't need perfect mathematical accuracy. 20-to-1 size reduction on ALL of them in SECONDS!

Hope that helps!

[pp4mnklinux]

Hello everyone:

I wanted to take a moment to SINCERELY thank each and every one of you who took the time to read and respond to my query. Your suggestions, insights, and advice have been incredibly valuable, and I truly appreciate the effort you've all put into helping me find the best solution. It’s clear that this community is full of knowledgeable and supportive members, and I’m grateful to be part of it.

At the moment, I find myself quite occupied with preparing teaching programs and developing course materials, which are taking up most of my time.

For this reason, I haven’t been able to dive deeply into the various solutions and ideas that you’ve kindly shared with me. However, please know that I’ve carefully read every single response and will revisit all of your suggestions when my schedule clears up.

In the meantime, I've decided to continue using two versions of GIMP: the default version that comes with EasyOS and a portable version that allows me to control and manage .webp files more easily. This setup is working well for my current needs, and it’s a temporary solution that allows me to focus on my other commitments without disrupting my workflow.

Again, I can’t thank you all enough for your support and for taking the time to help me out. When things settle down, I’ll be sure to return to this thread and explore your suggestions in more detail. This community continues to impress me with its generosity and expertise, and I’m lucky to be a part of it.

Thanks again, and I look forward to engaging with you all further when time permits!

Warm regards, pp4mnk

@BarryK , related with your answer, my easyos, could be not working properly. When I choose "OPEN WITH" option, it never gives me suggestions, I must write the command, because the list of suggested programs is empty by default.-

[BarryK]

@BarryK , related with your answer, my easyos, could be not working properly. When I choose "OPEN WITH" option, it never gives me suggestions, I must write the command, because the list of suggested programs is empty by default.-

Run this in a terminal:

Code: Select all

# build-rox-sendto

That will rebuild all the rox right-click menu.
might have to restart X afterward.

[pp4mnklinux]

Run this in a terminal:

Code: Select all

# build-rox-sendto

That will rebuild all the rox right-click menu.
might have to restart X afterward.

Hi:

As I said at the picture, there was NO ERROR, the problem appears because I use PCmanFM as file manager.
With ROX this problem doesn't exist.

Cheers / Thanks @BarryK

ADDED.- It is curious: When you click a mp4 file, the open with option gives you a lot of programs to run , but when click on a .png or .jpg, or webp or... the open with option appears empty.

Association problems ... ?=?=?=

[Stogie]

pp4mnklinux, we all help each other here, that's why it works so great! Sometimes I take time to post something to help someone else. That day, they benefit. Another day, someone will take time to post something to help me. That day, I benefit. What a beautiful system, isn't it?

[MochiMoppel]

@pp4mnklinux I know that your question is about Gimp and unfortunately I can't help you with Gimp.
However as @BarryK mentioned, LibreOffice Draw can open .webp files and what may even be more important, it can also save in this format.

But so can mtPaint. At least version 3.51 as installed in BookwormPup64 10.0.8. And Viewnior can view these files. Don't know if this applies to EasyOS.

BTW: The phpBB software seems to support WEBP
I created the attached screenhot in mtPaint, saved lossless as WEBP = 15,970 bytes
Same screenshot in PNG format would require 26,262 bytes.

mtpaint_webp.webp (15.6 KiB) Viewed 1174 times

When saved as WEBP lossy with Quality set to 30, the size is reduced to just 9,084 bytes. Similar quality in JPG would require more than 20K.
Quality surely is not great, but acceptable for the purpose:

mtpaint_webp_quality30.webp (8.87 KiB) Viewed 1174 times

[BarryK]

But so can mtPaint. At least version 3.51 as installed in BookwormPup64 10.0.8. And Viewnior can view these files. Don't know if this applies to EasyOS.

EasyOS has mtPaint 3.50.09. I checked the news page:

https://github.com/wjaguar/mtPaint/blob/master/NEWS

...and webp support was introduced in 3.50.

I compiled mtPaint in OpenEmbedded, without libwebp dependency.
OK, will bump mtPaint to latest version and add that dep.