Re: [Gimp-user] recording changes

[scl <scl gplus gmail com>]

On 06.04.2014 at 04:52 A.M Gary Aitken wrote
> I'm frustrated by large storage requirements for xcf files resulting from
> processing many jpg image files.  [...]
>
> Are there any plugins, or is any work being done / planned, on some means to
> save (even a selected set of) operations so the result can be reconstructed
> from the original?  It would save me many GB of space.
Hi,

besides the original payload data (here: image information) every file 
format contains
additional technical information for the application's internal use. 
This explains it from a
technical point of view. From a user's point of view: yes, you are 
right. Thank you for pointing it out.

As far as I know there's at least a chance for improvement with the 
switch to GEGL in GIMP 2.10.
GEGL is a graphics library for non-destructive image editing. This means 
it internally stores the set
of processing commands instead of bulks of image data. User of RAW photo 
processors know
this as 'receipt'. Indeed, such a receipt can be stored in a very small 
file.
GEGL itself (separately from GIMP) stores receipts in XML files. For 
more information about a new,
GEGL-based file format for GIMP Mitch could be able to tell more.

Kind regards,

Sven