Gamma hack required to get certain expected results, there needs to be a better way
This patch for GIMP 2.99 (updated through commit d7345a6a )removes the "Advanced Color Options" and the per image "Enable/Disable Color Management" option from the user interface:
0001-Remove-Advanced-and-Enable-Color-Management-UI-optio.patch
I realize this patch is not likely to be applied even to GIMP-2.99 :) , but here it is anyway, and here are my reasons for posting it:
General advantages of removing these two user options are a simpler user interface and somewhat simpler code: currently the phrase "color managed" in GIMP code and user interface refers to three different situations; this patch eliminates two of the three situations.
Speaking more specifically:
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The "Assume pixels are sRGB" vs "Convert to sRGB" option produces results that sometimes are technically wrong and sometimes technically correct, with no way for most users to know what is really the right answer for any given editing operation. The babl space invasion makes this option even less useful than it was before the invasion.
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The gamma hack produces different results depending on the particular operation (and previous and perhaps still on the precision of the image). These results vary from technically correct to very wrong, again with no way for most users to know what is really the right answer for any given editing operation. Currently many operations already have the user option to be done on either linear or perceptually uniform RGB. If there are any remaining operations that need this option, it would be better to provide a linear vs perceptual option directly in the operation, on a per op basis, giving predictable and transparent results, rather than retain a gamma hack that ends up being a guessing game unless the user is willing to dig into the code.
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It seems to me that the option to disable color management by unchecking "Enable Color Management" on a per image basis creates opportunities for user confusion, with no commensurate benefit given that users already have the option to assign sRGB to the monitor and to an image, resulting in "no transform".