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I'm shocked that this isn't done by default:

https://docs.gimp.org/2.10/en/gimp-concepts-undo.html

Even though the Undo History is a component of an image, it is not saved when you save the image using GIMP's native XCF format, which preserves every other image property. When the image is reopened, it will have an empty Undo History.

Others apparently were too (several years ago) and filed a bug report, which is still sort-of open: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/issues/89

Be that as it may, are there any ways to effectively save the "undo history" in GIMP still? E.g., by creating a new layer (if so, with which settings/options?) for every single operation?

There is an earlier, related question gimp: can you save the file with all the undo history? which was basically answered in the negative; I'm interested in (beginner-friendly) work-arounds to still make it work.

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  • No you can not save undo. This is a fairly typical limitation in most applications. Maintaining undo in a file would blow your image files to really big files. Plus youd have to save in a properitary format that only can be opened by one application. This isnt really suitable for direct data manipulation tools like gimp. So a workaround is to save a copy of image every time you do something.
    – joojaa
    Commented Jan 16 at 7:17
  • The answer is still the same. There is no such feature in GIMP, not even in Adobe Photoshop. It's unlikely ever to happen TBH because it would create huge file sizes, making it ompletely impractical. It's not a bug. You're "shocked"? No, this is the norm for most (if not all) graphics software, and even other software like Word, Excel, etc. Once saved and closed, all undos are lost.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 16 at 9:57
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    Workarounds are possible: Saving a copy of your file with a different file name every so often. It's a bit cumbersome however. Another possibility within GIMP is to create a new layer from visible every so often, then continue editing., although no less cumbersome I'm afraid. Adding all edits as individual layers is also possible, but again not really very practical if you need to do that for every single edit.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 16 at 10:08
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    There's no macro recording in GIMP either. There's something similar in Photoshop called Actions, but not every single function in Photoshop is necessarily actionable. It has its limitations, and is not the same as recording all the history. Actions in PS are usually recorded for steps you would repeat often.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 16 at 10:16
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    In addition to all the comments above: in Gimp 2.10, by using layer groups and proper layer blend modes and composition modes, you can avoid some destructive operations, so you can later further edit/tweak the image without having to undo anything. And non-destructive editing will be generalized in Gimp 3.0.
    – xenoid
    Commented Jan 16 at 15:16

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I have found it helpful to use a screen session recorder with a Pause button or hot-key, as well with audio recording of your microphone to make a playable MP4 or better yet a Matroska file. That way you can at least review all your editing and option settings. I try to write a brief log of steps and settings from the recordings. That may be tedious but you can either construct PS Actions from it or something similar in GimP using Python macros. On Linux , I use GimP and the screen recorder "SimpleScreenRecorder". On Windows you can use Photoshop or other editor and any good public domain or commercial screen session recorder.

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