# GIMP 3.2.8 restores Offset filter, speeds Preferences dialog, improves RTL text

> **Key takeaway:** GIMP 3.2.8 re-enables Offset as a non-destructive filter, accelerates Preferences loading, and corrects right-to-left text navigation with new on-canvas direction controls.

**Published:** 2026-11-02T22:23:09+00:00 
**Source:** Linuxiac 
**Category:** distro-news 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/gimp-328-restores-offset-filter-speeds-preferences-dialog-im.html 

## Summary
GIMP 3.2.8, a maintenance release in the 3.2 series, delivers targeted fixes across the open-source image editor's text handling, dialog performance, and cross-platform behavior. The Text tool gains corrected arrow-key navigation for right-to-left languages and new RTL/LTR direction icons in the on-canvas interface, with automatic base direction detection via the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm. The Preferences dialog now opens faster and positions more reliably, while the Offset filter returns to non-destructive operation after being mistakenly disabled in prior builds.

Platform-specific changes include macOS switching from Accessibility API to NotificationCenter API for cross-process transient windows, eliminating repeated permission prompts, and Windows gaining more accurate memory reporting through WorkingSetSize in the Dashboard alongside printing fixes for Windows 11's UnifiedPrintDialog. Security bugs in plug-ins have been addressed, and the IFF plug-in has been internally reimplemented to replace unmaintained external libraries, though this updated plug-in is not yet built in the 3.2.8 branch.

## What changes in GIMP 3.2.8
- **Preferences dialog:** Faster opening speed, improved initial positioning, and fixes for system theme leaks.
- **Offset filter:** Restored as a non-destructive filter after being mistakenly disabled during load in previous versions.
- **Platform-specific fixes:** macOS uses NotificationCenter API instead of Accessibility API for cross-process transient windows; Windows Dashboard uses WorkingSetSize for memory accuracy and works around Windows 11 UnifiedPrintDialog issues.
- **Plug-in changes:** Script-Fu Add Border respects alpha channel for opacity; ICO/CUR import sorts icons matching export algorithm; Screenshot plug-in works around Windows Magnification API on HDR displays; IFF plug-in ported to internal implementation supporting RGBN/RGB8 but not yet built in this branch.

## Why it matters
For Linux distribution packagers and graphics professionals relying on GIMP as a Photoshop alternative, the restored Offset filter and faster Preferences dialog remove friction in daily workflows. The RTL text improvements broaden accessibility for Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian users, while the macOS Accessibility API removal reduces permission fatigue that had degraded the user experience on Apple Silicon systems. The IFF plug-in rewrite, though not yet activated, signals longer-term maintenance health by eliminating an unmaintained external dependency.