GIMP 2.8 doesn't allow to save usual image file formats (jpg, png) via Save dialog

I used to save images as usual image file formats (jpg, png) by pressing Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Shift+S (Save or Save As dialog). Now in version 2.8 GIMP doesn't allow it anymore: you can Save only as .xcf but to save as .jpg or .png you must Export.

Is there a way to get this old file saving functionality back?

I remember reading on heise (german) that someone wrote a plugin to revert back to the old functionality.

Runnning the following commands in a terminal will download the latest version of the plugin to Gimp 2.8's config directory and make it executable:

gimp_dir=".gimp-2.8"
wget https://github.com/akkana/gimp-plugins/raw/master/save-export-clean.py -O ~/${gimp_dir}/plug-ins/save-export-clean.py
chmod a+x ~/${gimp_dir}/plug-ins/save-export-clean.py

But I have to say that it's not a big deal learning the new shortcut Ctrl+E. Also having a clean distinction between destructive export and save is actually a good thing.

Starting from GIMP 2.8 we need to use the "File → Export" or "File → Export to..." menu entries, or alternatively the Ctrl+E or Ctrl+Shift+E keyboard shortcuts respectively, which will result in the Export dialog to allow you to save the work in your favorite image format.

The former Ctrl+S and Ctrl+Shift+S is now used to work with the project only. To save the project or "Save as" the project.

Good luck!

For the comment of @Eric Leschinski I am dropping this edit:

That's about how you use your software. Many people uses mouse and it's ok if they love to do so. Personally I made my process as OpenFile/Tweak/Export/CloseFile[CloseGIMP] in a faster way by doing the CtrlO/Tweak/CtrlE/CtrlW[CtrlQ] and it takes 3~5 seconds (depending on your machine's speed. For the "Save as" Process it takes just one more step but it did the same before. So I suggest you to start by tweaking your key binding in order to make it faster. Good luck!

Starting from GIMP 2.8, the behaviour changed:

• XCF is now the default format for saving images. This is because of the non-destructive nature of this file format: it retains the layers in the image.
• PNG/JPEG are import and export formats. Use File -> Open to import these and File -> Export (or Overwrite) to save PNG/JPEG images.

This change was done to prevent people from accidentally losing their layers. However, this change has received immense criticism from many users.

To revert to the old behaviour as was the case in GIMP 2.6, follow these steps:

• Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/akkana/gimp-plugins/master/saver.py
• Save to ~/.gimp-2.8/plug-ins/ (so the location becomes something like /home/myuser/.gimp-2.8/plug-ins/saver.py)
• Make saver.py executable: chmod +x saver.py
• Restart GIMP
• Go to Edit -> Shortcuts and search for "Saver"
• Assign the shortcut CTRL+S to "Saver". Confirm you want to reassign the shortcut.
• Assign the shortcut CTRL+Shift+S to "Saver as". Confirm you want to reassign the shortcut.

Now you can simply use CTRL+S (save) and CTRL+Shift+S (save as) to save your files. Also, on exit GIMP won't ask to save your files to XCF anymore (if they have already been saved with saver).

Now train yourself: in the File menu, use "Saver" and "Saver as". This two commands replace these 4 items: Save / Save As / Export / Export as. So click "Saver" or "Saver as" from now on :)