[Gimp-user] Include external images by reference?

[Joel Polowin <jpolowin hotmail com>]

Possibly a silly question: is it possible to include external images
by reference, for example as layers?  That is, to "link" to external
images, rather than to import them directly into a GIMP image, so that
changing the external image would also change the GIMP image.

For example, I'd like to be able to have a "cards.xcf" which
incorporates "diamond.png", "spade.png", etc., by reference, so I
could experiment with various .png files and see how they affect the
final GIMP image.  The .xcf file would, in essence, define the overall
structure, but the components would be flexible.

Thanks,
Joel