Hi everyone

I've developed a new Python plugin for GIMP 3.0/3.2 called Puppet warp, after Gimp added powerful Non-Destructive Editing (NDE) features and N-Point Deformation Tool but it is buried in Edit > Preferences > Playground as an experimental feature , and many users report that it has not worked properly since around GIMP 2.10.14. Some people also mention it crashes when you try to commit the deformation. In practice, most GIMP users simply do not have a usable mesh deformation workflow.

So I built a Puppet Warp plugin that actually works as a proper tool.

How it works:

1. Warping

Click to add pins, drag to deform; Shift snaps a drag to an axis
Rotate and scale around any pin (orange ring: drag the dot to rotate, drag the body to scale; or Alt+wheel / Ctrl+wheel)
Per-pin taper — how far a pin's influence reaches before it fades to the rest of the mesh (Shift+wheel, or the T field)
Per-pin depth — when two warped regions overlap, higher depth draws in front ([ / ], or the D field). See Pin depth
Pin Edge keeps the outer mesh border at its rest position
Stiffness mesh derived from the layer's alpha: transparent areas stay soft, so a pin on empty background barely tugs the artwork

2. Canvas & preview

Extend image grows the layer when pins pull pixels outside its bounds; the layer mask (if any) grows with it
Live preview with three background modes: Below (first visible layer under), Composite (stack of all visible layers under), Off
Mesh overlay in four styles (Cells / Triangles / Both / Off) with a custom line color, so you can see the quad grid while you work
Pan, zoom, fit-to-view; the view widens automatically to show extended pixels

3. Workflow

Undo / redo inside the dialog (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Y)
Multi-select pins (Shift+click, Ctrl+A), nudge with arrow keys (Shift = 10 px)
Save / load the whole setup (pins, depth, taper, grid, options) as a JSON preset
Non-destructive: every parameter is stored as JSON on the layer filter and travels with the .xcf. Reopen the tool to continue editing — including after an extend, where the padding is re-detected so pins never drift

I would be grateful if you could let me know if you encounter any issues.

I hope this speeds up your workflow in GIMP.

Here’s the installer file for Windows. Give it a test and let us know if you find any bugs!

I placed the dll file in the gegl-04/plugins folder and the python file in the puppet-warp folder in the gimp-3.2 plugins folder and restarted gimp.

I am able to run the GEGL plugin thru GEGL Operations under the tools menu. But it doesn't work. No dialog window to work with.


No other menu options show up. No item under filters, nor tools menus.

This is with Windows 10 64 bit.

EDIT: I should also mention that the python file does register when Gimp-3.2 loads. So it does find the plug-in but doesn't register any menu items.

It should work, a bit about it here: https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-puppe ... 3#pid47903

The newest dll fix doesn't work either.
Possibly it doesn't work in windows 10?

Who knows ? Fired up my old laptop.

This a Win 10 VM / Gimp 3.2.2 (not got round to updating yet )



Maybe check the file sizes
C:\Users\rich\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\3.2\plug-ins\puppet-warp\puppet-warp.py file size 150 KB (154,144 bytes)
C:\Users\rich\AppData\Local\gegl-0.4\plug-ins\puppet-warp.dll file size 72.1 KB (73,856 bytes)

Thanks for testing Rich. File sizes match up here as well. Dunno what the reason could be that it doesn't work.
I'll keep working at it and keep you updated. I downloaded the latest release and will re-install.

I even tried removing all installed plug-ins in the plug-in user folder except puppet-warp.
Still no go.

Probably a GEGL thing. It is the sort of plugin that Krita has and Gimp lacks.

A similar plugin without a GEGL dependency https://github.com/bunnywaffle/gimp-mesh-warp I wonder if it works in your Win 10 / Gimp 3

Download the zip. A bit strange, two identical plugins with different names mesh-warp.py or mesh_warp.py Choose one and make sure the folder name matches the plugin name. ie mesh-warp.py in a folder mesh-warp

looks like this:

This gimp-mesh-warp plug-in does not work either. Must have something to do with the python file itself. Too bad.
I even removed the pluginrc file and restarted Gimp. Still no menu items. Kind of weird that it works for you in a virtual machine for windows 10 and not in mine. Also something kind of strange is my stablehorde AI python plug-in for Gimp-3 no longer works.

Thanks for all your help though Rich.

Looks like something the author of the plugin needs to fix.
One thing i really do not get is that all the no show plugins get registered when Gimp-3.2.6 loads.
stablehorde AI
gimp-mesh-warp
puppet-warp

Is anyone else having this problem running Windows 10?

So I looked into it, and it turns out Microsoft tightened their Mark of the Web security, which is why downloaded files are getting blocked. Just check the Unblock box, unzip it, then toss the .dll file into C:\Users\XXXXXXXXX\AppData\Local\gegl-0.4\plug-ins\ and the python file into C:\Users\XXXXXXXXX\AppData\Roaming\GIMP\3.2\plug-ins\puppet-warp\.



Sorry for the late reply! I've been working on a major GIMP fork to turn this plugin and the mesh warp plugin into native tools that run right on the GIMP 3 canvas.

Actually i just decided today to re-install Gimp-3.2.6 and it now works!
I am pretty sure it had something to do with uninstalling the dev version of Gimp-3.3.1. It could have possibly removed my Python files as well.
I had noticed that foggify and py console were not loading as well so i just re-installed and that fixed it!

Thanks for your response though. Great plug-ins. I really believe they are a great addition to Gimp.