Install gmic with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gmic

Project history

G'MIC began in the late 2000s and celebrated 15 years of development with the 3.2.5 release article in 2023. The project is developed by the IMAGE team at GREYC, a public research laboratory associated with CNRS, ENSICAEN, and the University of Caen, and is distributed under CeCILL free-software licenses.

The framework grew around a dedicated image-processing language designed for prototyping algorithms and operators. The command-line tool exposes that language from a shell, libgmic embeds it in applications, and G'MIC-Qt brings the same processing catalog to desktop image editors.

By the 3.x series, the project had accumulated hundreds of filters and a formal software citation through a 2025 Journal of Open Source Software article. GitHub releases in 2025 and 2026 show frequent tagged releases, while the official reference documents the command language and command catalog.

Adoption history

G'MIC spread through multiple user interfaces rather than through a single application. The official README lists the gmic CLI, libgmic, G'MIC-Qt, G'MIC Online, and ZArt, and describes G'MIC-Qt as a plug-in for GIMP, Krita, Photoshop, Affinity Photo, PaintShop Pro, PhotoLine, and Paint.NET.

Its adoption in package managers follows that breadth: distributions package both the CLI/library side and editor plug-in side, giving image-processing users a reproducible way to install the same algorithm catalog on Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like systems.

The project also has an ecosystem role in open creative tooling. The README names Flowblade, PhotoFlow, Veejay, and EKD as open-source projects integrating G'MIC features, while the official site points users to galleries, tutorials, community forums, and scripting resources.

How it is used

Practitioners use gmic from the shell for scripted conversion, filtering, visualization, and batch processing of generic image datasets from 1D signals through 3D+t volumetric sequences. The README explicitly positions the CLI as a companion to ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick.

Desktop users often encounter G'MIC through G'MIC-Qt, where filters can be previewed inside image editors and copied as equivalent command-line invocations. That bridge between GUI experimentation and terminal automation is a major part of the project's workflow appeal.

Developers use libgmic to embed the framework in C++ applications. The library is documented as portable, thread-safe, multi-threaded, and designed to expose G'MIC features through a compact API.

Why package nerds care

G'MIC matters to package users because it is both a command and a plug-in ecosystem. A single packaged framework can serve shell scripts, creative image editors, online demos, and third-party applications.

Its filter catalog also behaves like a living standard library for image processing. Packaging it keeps a large body of research-lab and community filters installable without each editor or workflow carrying its own implementation.

Timeline

• 2008: Approximate beginning of the project, inferred from the 15-year anniversary article in 2023.
• 2023: G'MIC 3.2.5 article marked 15 years of development.
• 2025: G'MIC article published in the Journal of Open Source Software.
• 2026: Version 3.7.x releases published on GitHub.

Related projects

• G'MIC-Qt connects the framework to GIMP, Krita, Photoshop, Affinity Photo, PaintShop Pro, PhotoLine, and Paint.NET.
• ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick are adjacent command-line image-processing suites mentioned by the G'MIC README.
• Flowblade, PhotoFlow, Veejay, and EKD are named by the README as open-source projects integrating G'MIC features.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/GreycLab/gmic
• https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.06618
• https://github.com/GreycLab/gmic
• https://gmic.eu
• https://gmic.eu/gmic325/
• https://gmic.eu/reference