Ubuntu – How to set default program to open specific file type

defaultdefault-programsfile typefilesgimp

I wish to set the default program to open .jpg files and other image files to GIMP. To do this as said in one of the answers here, I went into this section (Right-click > Properties > Open With):

Open With Properties Image Viewer

And selected GIMP Image Editor from the list of Recommended Applications, then I clicked the button Set as default, and this is what I then saw:

Open With Properties GIMP

And then sure enough when I right-clicked on a file of the file type that I had changed the default program for, the normal Image Viewer:

Image Viewer Right-click

Had been replaced with:

GIMP Right-click

But yet when double-clicking on a program, it still opens in Image Viewer and not GIMP, even though in all the settings it still says that that the default is now GIMP.

So really that is my question, why is this happening and how can I fix it?

OS Information:

Description:    Ubuntu 14.10
Release:    14.10

Best Answer

For some of the system default apps you can go to System Settings/Details e.g.:

Or for more advanced you can open Ubuntu-Tweak and go to Admins section and click on File Type Manager:

To install Ubuntu-Tweak:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

P.S.

I see you edited a bit your question you want Gimp to open all your photos or pics right? Using my workaround please do mention also that if you change from Image Viewer to Gimp it doesn't mean that you will open all photos with Gimp because this setting serves for .jpg/.jpeg and Gimp for example saves its work in .png portable network graphics by default and the default for .png will be Image Viewer anyways :) so to change that you need to configure all photos formats using Ubuntu-Tweak so they open with Gimp when you double click on them.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to set a wine program (ex. Foxit Reader for Windows) as the default program

I solved the problem myself. Here's how:

Step 1: Create script

I followed the procedure in the https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wine page:

gedit ~/.wine/Foxit5

Now paste the following script in it, save and close gedit. If you changed the installation path, modify the 2nd line accordingly.

#!/bin/sh

QUICKPARLOCATION="c:\\Program Files\\Foxit Software\\Foxit Reader\\Foxit Reader.exe"
PARAM=`winepath -w "$*"`
wine "$QUICKPARLOCATION" "$PARAM"
exit 0

Make sure the file is executable with this command.

chmod +x ~/.wine/Foxit5

Step 2: Create .desktop file

Info from this site: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1863021

cd to the directory /usr/share/applications
use 'grep -i foxit *' this will search for the name foxit ignoring case.
if it's not there make one from one of the smaller ones.
I used sol.destop and copied it to my own fake app.
Don't forget the %f, this shows that the application can be passed a file name, it has to be there to show up in the list.

sudo cp sol.desktop foxit.destop

gksudo gedit foxit.desktop

foxit.desktop Code: (I created an icon and saved it in the .icons folder)

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Foxit Reader 5
Comment=Read and annotate pdf files
Exec=~/.wine/Foxit5 %f
Icon=~/.icons/Foxit.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Office;
X-GNOME-Bugzilla-Bugzilla=Foxit
X-GNOME-Bugzilla-Product=foxit reader
X-GNOME-Bugzilla-Component=Zwischenlager
X-GNOME-Bugzilla-Version=3.2.1
StartupNotify=true
X-HildonDesk-ShowInToolbar=true
X-Osso-Service=org.gnome.Games.AisleRiot
X-Osso-Type=application/x-executable
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=aisleriot

Step 3: Set as default

Open file manager and find any pdf file. Click properties. Open with. Show all. Choose Foxit Reader

That's it! Well sort of… This method works only if Foxit reader 4 is not running. If it is a "file not found" error pops up.

EDIT: This methods works fully with Foxit Reader 5 but you would need to install wine 1.5 for this version to work. Visit http://www.winehq.org/download/ubuntu to do so.

Ubuntu – How to set the default program to open a certain file type in a certain folder

You need a desktop file, and a wrapper script:

The desktop file
- Create a desktop file
```
nano ~/.local/share/applications/jpeg-wrapper.desktop
```
- Add the configuration below (change the property for Name)
```
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Special or Standard
Comment=Open a JPEG depending of the path
Exec=/home/user/bin/jpeg-wrapper %f
Icon=
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Editor;
StartupNotify=true
MimeType=image/jpeg;
```
- Replace user in Exec=/home/user/bin/jpeg-wrapper %f with your username, the output of
```
echo $USER
```
- Replace the icon name in Icon= with a name or path of your choice
- Use MimeType=image/jpeg to specify the mime types of files for which the decision is to apply. Separate multiple mime types via ;
  
  Get the mime type via
```
mimetype your_file
```
  e.g. for a text file
```
text/plain
```

The wrapper script

Create a new script
```
mkdir -p ~/bin
nano ~/bin/jpeg-wrapper
```

Add the code below

#!/usr/bin/env bash
image_path=$(dirname "$1")
my_special_path="$HOME/tmp"
open_with_special="gimp"
open_with_standard="eog"

if [[ $(mimetype -b "$1") == "image/jpeg" ]] && [[ "$image_path" == "$my_special_path"* ]]; then
        "$open_with_special" "$1"
else
        "$open_with_standard" "$1"
fi

Change my_special_path to your artwork folder. All subfolders are also considered.
Change open_with_special to your special application (e.g. gimp)
Make your wrapper script executable
```
chmod +x ~/bin/jpeg-wrapper
```

Restart Unity/GNOME Shell, for the GNOME Shell e.g. Alt-F2, type r and Enter
Associate one or more file types with the desktop file
- Open your file manager and right click on a file for which the decision is to apply
- Click Properties
- Activate the tab Open With
- Select the entry Special or Standard
- Click Set as default
Enjoy ;)

^{Script checked here.}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to set a wine program (ex. Foxit Reader for Windows) as the default program

Ubuntu – How to set the default program to open a certain file type in a certain folder

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