Fix: “Edit with GIMP” context menu in Windows 7 x64
July 21, 2010 24 Comments
I can’t remember when it happened but at some point, I lost the “Edit with GIMP” context menu for image files after I started using Windows 7 about a year ago. I just installed the GIMP 2.6.10 x64 version and I noticed that the issue wasn’t fixed. (I had a further problem because the Open With shell magic was broken because the 2.6.10 installer uses a different directory than the 2.6.9 x64 installer did.)
With my context menus thoroughly busted for images, I had a look in the registry. For every sort of image file, there were shell verbs configured. For example, here’s jpeg:
jpegfile\shell\Edit with GIMP] @="Edit with GIMP" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpegfile\shell\Edit with GIMP\command] @="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.6.exe\" \"%1\""
This all looks fine. It’s a custom shell verb called “Edit with GIMP” with the menu label “Edit with GIMP” that invokes the gimp-2.6.1.exe executable, passing the argument of the file name.
Except it doesn’t do anything in Windows 7.
I channeled Mark Russinovich and fired up Sysinternals ProcMon and had a look at what the explorer.exe process is accessing in the registry when I right-click on a jpeg.
It turns out that Explorer isn’t looking at jpegfile or pngfile or giffile et al. It is looking at “image files" as a class via HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\image. Therefore, the solution is to add a custom shell verb there:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP] @="Edit with GIMP" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP\command] @="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.6.exe\" \"%1\""
And success.
Brian Reiter's Thoughtful Code 
Thank you very much.
It has worked.
Hello,
This is probably a really dumb question because I’m not really that familiar with registry keys and editing them but where exactly do you put the custom shell verb? I’d really like to get the “Edit with Gimp” back in my context menu and it’s proving much more difficult that I thought.
Thank you so much.
after 2,5 hours of research using google and youtube I found out that you only have to copy the the text and save it anywhere as “.reg”
then all u have to do is to run this file and click “yes” and “ok”
There u go…
btw. picasa is causing this problem (know this because i got the problem after installing picasa and i found a post of a user who said that aswell… google company sucks!)
greets
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Sry, but I don’t have this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations
My OS is Win 7 Home Premium 64bit.
Ok, now i found it 🙂
Did as suggested above, copying the text to Notepad and saving as .reg. Unfortunately, when I tried to install it, I got a “dinger” telling me that it “is not a registry script,” and “you can only import binary registry files from within the registry editor.”
What now?
Same here please help….
I had the same problem and took a look at other registry files to figure out what was wrong. I added the registry version at the top and it worked. This text saved as .reg worked:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP]
@=”Edit with GIMP”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.6.exe\” \”%1\””
Aspen’s reply helped me on win8.1 thanks!!!
Tks very much … it is not really simple to do, but it works!
Thank you so much. I spent ages trying to fix this.
This is a much better solution, and doesn’t require modifying any registry stuff.
http://www.gimptalk.com/index.php?/topic/44029-edit-with-gimp-in-context-menu/page__view__findpost__p__370308
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Taking it a little further in 2012…
Micrografx Picture Publisher 10 Context Menu Enable.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with Micrografx PP10]
@=”Edit with Micrografx PP10″
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with Micrografx PP10\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Micrografx\\Picture Publisher 10\\Pp10.exe\” \”%1\””
TiltShift.reg (TiltShift a free adobe Air application — http://labs.artandmobile.com/tiltshift/ )
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with TiltShift]
@=”Edit with TiltShift”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with TiltShift\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\TiltShift\\TiltShift.exe\” \”%1\””
I know this is only a simple reg hack, but I have to say, I’m quite impressed here. Having TiltShift, Micrografx Picture Publisher 10, PhotoImpact 10, and the Gimp in the context menu is NOT too cluttered, and indeed is actually a productivity home run! A context menu can get cluttered up fast, so maybe your mileage will come up shorter than mine. I also used other tools over the years to add and remove un-needed context entries, Context menu can be quite a pain to maintain, as there are different ways that programmers software get their entries into it. Some as simple as turning off a switch inside the application, but when you are looking for it in the registry your ripping your hair out cause it won’t be found.
This is my way of saying thanks back…
Thank you SO MUCH! I’m running Windows 8 (64, not RT but the full version) and put it in a reg file, adjusted the path to the location of my GIMP installation, and it worked immediately.
Neat blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my
blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks
Excellent article. I definitely appreciate this site.
Stick with it!
Hi,
This tool helped me within 5 minutes, I suggest it for those who are a bit regedit-phobe 🙂
http://defaultprogramseditor.com/
Thanks. Worked for me. I was getting some sort of “Access Denied” error when I tried to change “C:” to “%systemroot%” or “C:\Program Files” to “%programfiles%”.
Cum a aparut Fix: “Edit with GIMP” context menu in Windows 7
x64 la mine pe perete?
Great work. It’s Really Helpful. Also appreciate your effort on Sysinternals’ ProcMon 🙂
Thank you. It’s work!
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