Gimp permission problems after Catalina upgrade

GIMP 2.10.14 has been released yesterday, and the releasenotes contain this paragraph (emphasis mine):

Improvements for the macOS version

Alex Samorukov introduced various improvements to the macOS build of GIMP.

First and foremost, GIMP is now compatible with macOS Catalina and doesn’t have the file permission issue that the 2.10.12 build had.

Secondly, the DMG will now open a window with an Applications shortcut that explains how to install it. He also added some fixes for command line users.

Finally, Alex built the new version with updated 3rd party components. Among other things, this means support for color profiles in HEIF/HEIC files.

Download is still in progress, but I really hope this has been fixed as announced.

Hi. In my case I resolve the issue momentarily after moving all files to a new folder inside pictures folder. Mac OS Catalina doesn’t require permission inside picture folder to read and write files. Other way to use GIMP is using the Terminal to open Gimp instead the normal way. Only you need to Open a new window and write :

open /Applications/GIMP-2.10.app/Contents/MacOS/GIMP --args

But you need made this each time that you want to open GIMP

I saw some videos from the WorldWide Developers Conference and it said that applications that were not generated via the standard scripts in xCode may not work as expected. From what I saw on the Gimp discussions page, it looks like they are trying to regenerate the application using the standard scripts. There is hope, at least until Apple dashes our dreams.

The best workaround at this time appears to create a new directory in the root directory of your user files and do all your work there. If you use shared services like Dropbox, move the files via other applications.

This worked for me with Gimp and it worked for another app with the same problem, xtrkCAD.

A workaround for the meantime; In the terminal:

$ cd /Applications/Gimp.app

$ ./Contents/MacOS/Gimp

Here's what worked for me:

Move your file to desktop, right-click to open with gimp, do what you need to do, then go to "save as", give your file a new name and (desired) extension then "save"->export prompt->"export" ignoring the (2) "no-permission" prompts in the process by clicking "ok". The new file (and extension) will be saved on your desktop as it should.

No full disk access required.

Hope this helps.

Please see my comments on https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250610191?page=1

The problem is that third party applications requiring access to Desktop, Downloads, and Documents are supposed to trigger a pop-up menu that asks if you want to give access to the application for the folder. It works for LibreOffice and iMovie. The menu does not appear for GIMP and that is why the directories can't be accessed.

See https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/issues/3710 and https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/7-big-security-surprises-coming-to-macos-10-15-catalina/

As I mentioned previously, the GIMP team will need to assess what needs to be changed for full Catalina compatibility, and that may involve changes to the code, to libraries used, and most likely an updated release of GIMP. Only the GIMP team will know the details, if they are willing to share them.

Just being a 64-bit application, is not the sole criteria for proper Catalina compatibility.

I did something similar in that I created a Projects directory inside my user directory. I also put the Projects directory in the sidebar for Finder to make it easier to use. Creating a new directory in the user directory seems to be best solution for the moment since it doesn't require other tricks with right clicks or copying the contents of images from one application to another. Does anybody know of any other programs that have problems with the Downloads/Documents/Desktop directories. The more data that is collected, the easier it will be to resolve the problem.

A workaround for the meantime; In the terminal:

$ cd /Applications/Gimp.app

$ ./Contents/MacOS/Gimp

I was able to solve this problem, and many more, by doing a system restore and downgrading from MacOS Catalina back to MacOS Mojave. I'll revisit Catalina after it becomes a bit more mature.

I couldn't get Gimp to access my desktop after update but found that if I put a photo that I wanted to work on in dropbox I could access it from there and save back to dropbox.

This is not only GIMP related. Other programs have the same problem (MAMP for instance).

It getseven weirder... if I right-click a PNG in my DOWNLOAD folder I can open it in GIMP. When I export this file and select the DOWNLOAD folder again I get a warning I don't have permissions to read it, but if I continue to save the file in that folder it will end up in there...

The "right-click" suggestion here was a great help in GIMP. I tried it on a .jpg file on the external volume where I store images. Opening files from that volume on GIMP gave an error message in Catalina. After modifying and exporting that file, I was able to launch GIMP, open files, and export files using the previously unavailable drive. I do not know whether this will survive sleep or a restart.

I suspect that both Apple and the GIMP development team have work to do. I can image that macOS 10.15.1 may be as large as the original install considering the issues with this 10.15.0. It also suggests to me that macOS Catalina could not be developed by developers that are running it, or all of the in-your-face restrictions would have delayed the product for months.