Calling Gimp from PM5

[Imagenomad]

Hi guys

I'm running Photo Mechanic Version 5.0, build 13915 (a16ea99) on a Mac Mini OSX 10.8.3 with an i7 Intel QuadCore.

I've set up PM to call Gimp (v2.8.2 so the latest stable release) as an external editor. When I do call Gimp from PM, none of the text shows in the Gimp. All letters are replaced by rectangles within the splash screen, windows, tooltips, dialogue boxes, even the Preference dialogue itself. This happens if I "right click > Edit with..." or choose "Edit" from the toolbar for associated filetypes.

Ufraw, the FOSS equivalent of ACR also shows the same problem when a NEF is opened into Gimp from PM.

If I open Gimp from the dock or Applications folder, everything's fine. Likewise if I call Gimp as an external editor from another browser like Nikon ViewNX2 or XnView MP, all text shows as normal.

Here's the output from Locale --

LANG="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_CTYPE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

I've also asked on GimpChat (and searched the interwebz, obviously) but can't find any solution.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled Gimp and also tried it on my MacBook Pro but exactly the same thing happens - only a problem calling Gimp from PM.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Russell

[Kirk Baker]

Russell,

No ideas at this time.  PM5 uses Apple's Launch Services to send files to applications.  It's pretty standard.

-Kirk

[Imagenomad]

Ah well, thanks Kirk. Odd though that other programs that use OSX Launch Services don't seem to have this issue. The ones I've tried anyway.

On the other hand, Gimp is the only external editor that gives me problems when invoked from PM. Capture NX2, onOne PhotoSuite, and PS CS5 all play nice with PM.

Is there any way I can tell PM to use environment variables on opening Gimp so that it's absolutely using the Locale information? (This possible solution was suggested on GimpChat - OTOH, you may feel it's a red herring).

[Kirk Baker]

Ah well, thanks Kirk. Odd though that other programs that use OSX Launch Services don't seem to have this issue. The ones I've tried anyway.

On the other hand, Gimp is the only external editor that gives me problems when invoked from PM. Capture NX2, onOne PhotoSuite, and PS CS5 all play nice with PM.

Is there any way I can tell PM to use environment variables on opening Gimp so that it's absolutely using the Locale information? (This possible solution was suggested on GimpChat - OTOH, you may feel it's a red herring).

If I had to guess, I'd say that the real problem is some sort of working directory issue.  GIMP can't find its files for some reason.  PM certainly isn't changing GIMP's locale.

-Kirk

[Imagenomad]

Thanks Kirk. I'll dig a bit more and if I find a solution, I'll let you know.

BTW, I'm a new user of PM and I wonder how I've managed to do without it for so long. It is an astonishing bit of software. And I'm finding useful new features every day.

Cheers.

Russell