How to Install the Resynthesizer Plugin for GIMP on Macs with Apple Silicon (2024)

This post is only for Macs with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.) processors. If you’re unsure which processor you have, follow this support page.

This post is currently only valid for GIMP 2.x. The instructions on this page will not work with GIMP 3.x. I’m looking into a solution for GIMP 3.x.

Intro

Welp, back at it again with another GIMP and resynthesizer update. Per usual, this update is long overdue. But, I think this is the easiest installation yet and I did a good bit of tweaking to make this install as easy as possible. All you need to do is copy a few files over, and you should be good to go.

Additionally, I have this post titled 2024 (even though I’m publishing it in 2025) because the most recent version of GIMP for Mac (2.10.38 revision 1) was published on May 22, 2024. GIMP is currently working on releasing GIMP 3.0, and it seems like they’re very close to releasing it. The resynthesizer files that I created only work with GIMP 2.x so I will definitely need to modify the resynthesizer files for GIMP 3.x. I’m saving the 2025 post for GIMP 3.x.

Backstory

A little bit of backstory, I originally had trouble installing the resynthesizer plugin back in 2021. Once I managed to install it, I made a post and video about how I did it. There was a good bit of interest from the community! I then had someone reach out to me and point out an easier way to complete the installation, so I made an update video in 2022. Again, with a decent amount of interest. However, a few months later, GIMP released an updated build for Apple Silicon (ARM) processors, which broke my installation steps. My installation still worked as long as you used an older version of GIMP, but now I’ve found a way to make things work with the newest version of GIMP. Let’s jump into it.

TL;DR

1. Download and install GIMP 2.x from here.
   • Recommended to use the latest 2.x version: gimp-2.10.38-arm64-1.dmg
2. Download and unzip resynthesizer-mac-arm-v2.10.38-revision1.zip
3. Copy all the files to /Applications/GIMP.app/Contents/Resources/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins.
4. Restart GIMP and use the plugin (Filters –> Enhance –> Heal selection…)!

Removing Old Versions of GIMP

Uninstalling GIMP is as easy as dragging the GIMP application from the /Applications folder to the trash.

If you’d like to remove all GIMP user settings and other preferences (not necessary), look into AppCleaner to help you find these files.

Installing Newest Version of GIMP

Download the latest version of GIMP 2.x: gimp-2.10.38-arm64-1.dmg. Other GIMP 2.x versions can be found here. Double click the .dmg installer, then click and drag GIMP to the /Applications folder to complete the installation.

I have tested the below resynthesizer installation with GIMP 2.10.38 (revision 1), so if you are having issues on a different GIMP version, try 2.10.38 (revision 1), linked in the paragraph above.

Installing the Resynthesizer Plugin

Installing Resynthesizer with Pre-Built Libraries (easiest)

I’ve made a repository on GitHub to hold the resynthesizer files that I modified: GIMP-Resynthesizer-for-Mac-on-ARM. You can go to the releases page to see which versions of GIMP I’ve made releases for.

For GIMP 2.10.38 (revision 1), download and unzip resynthesizer-mac-arm-v2.10.38-revision1.zip

Copy all the files from the unzipped folder:

• resynthesizerLibraries folder
• All the python files (*.py)
• resynthesizer
• resynthesizer_gui

To /Applications/GIMP.app/Contents/Resources/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins.

Relaunch GIMP and you should see the plugin under Filters –> Enhance –> Heal selection… 🥳

Installing Resynthesizer via MacPorts (more difficult)

You can also install the resynthesizer plugin via MacPorts (sudo port install gimp-resynthesizer) if you would like to build from source. It will take a little bit longer + could be more difficult (to build) and require some more hard drive space (libraries) but this is a perfectly valid solution as well. See the markdown page on my GitHub repo: BuildingResynthesizerViaMacPorts.md for more information on the difficulties I had and their solutions.

How I Modified The Resynthesizer Files

See the markdown page on my GitHub repo: RepoCreation.md for more detail on how the resynthesizer files were built and how they needed to be modified for an easier installation.

Alternative to the Resynthesizer Plugin

As I mentioned in my previous resynthesizer posts, you can manually recreate what the resynthesizer plugin does with the “heal” and “clone” tools. I’m not going to do a full writeup about it here, but I did go into a quick example in my past YouTube video. I’m sure you could find some similar or even better tutorials on those tools online.

Additionally, I think it’s safe to say that you have a Mac (as this tutorial is only applicable to Macs). All Apple Silicon Macs have a “clean up” functionality in the Photos app which will basically do the same thing as the resynthesizer plugin, and sometimes it will even do a better job. This functionality is also available to newer iPhones in certain regions (requirements here). So if you can’t get the resynthesizer plugin working, this is a great backup option.

Outro

Thanks for reading! I hope this is able to help get your resynthesizer plugin up and running again. If so, the best way to say thanks is by subscribing to my YouTube channel, and/or following my socials. If I have updates or fixes to future GIMP / resynthesizer things, that is where I will post updates.

If your plugin still isn’t working after this, leave a comment below or send a message in my Discord server and I’ll do my best to help you out!