I would copy the files somewhere safe, update gimp, see if the files open, and then either roll back and try something else, or be happy that it worked and delete the copies.

The most important thing when file formats change is to ensure you have known good copies.

And let us know what solved it.

-jason

On Sat, Jan 10, 2026, 10:45 CAREY SCHUG via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:

I only run gimp on my main desktop computer. I use it from weekly, up to 6 weeks apart.

I can't open any of my projects, I get this error message:

Opening '/home/carey/sourcematerial/myproject.xcf' failed:
XCF error: unsupported XCF file version 19 encountered

which a query tells me means the file was created with a newer version of gimp than I have.

I have not knowingly backleveled.

I could try to update to see if there is a newer gimp, but thought I'd ask here in case that might only make it worse.

Carey
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