Well, if you're like me, you've collected a few (read: way too many) brushes by now. And you may have noticed that GIMP takes up a humongous amount of your computer's resources now. I did some experimenting, and found out that the reason GIMP is such a resource hog is the way it handles brushes. ALL of your brushes are opened whenever GIMP loads, and they sit there in your computer's temporary memory the entire time GIMP is open. For me, that meant about a gig and a half of RAM was being used up before I ever opened an image (I have a rather large library of rather large brushes).
So, I found this plug-in, called
Brush Manager. It took me a while to figure out how to use it, since the instructions were written for Linux and are not very clear, so I'll detail using it for Windows.
First, you need to have Python installed on your computer. Python is a programming language, like C++ etc. If you need to install Python, I highly recommend downloading
this package from DeviantArt. You may need to update the scripts in it, but read his instructions, he tells you exactly where to go and how to do that. Many plug-ins for GIMP use Python, so I highly recommend doing this, even if you don't want Brush Manager.
OK, once you've got Python installed and working, download the Brush Manager plug-in linked above. Install it in your plug-in directory, the default location is Program Files\Gimp-2.0\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins. Just drop the file in that plug-ins folder.
Now you will need to set up two different folders. One folder will be the brushes you want to load every time that GIMP loads. The other will contain the categories of brushes that you will load only when you need them. That is what is meant by the "ACTIVE_DIR" and "INSTALL_DIR" on the horribly unclear instructions that come with the Brush Manager plug-in, the "ACTIVE_DIR" being the ones that will load every time, and the "INSTALL_DIR" being the ones that you will switch in (basically, install) whenever you need them. I used the default brush folder in GIMP (Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\brushes) as my active directory and left only my most used brushes in it. Outside of that folder (it doesn't matter where or what you call it, just as long as it is outside of the "active" folder), I made a new folder. I called it "Additional Brushes" and put it at Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0, but again, it doesn't matter where you put it or what you call it, as long as you can remember where it is and what it's called. Inside that folder, I put all of my other brushes in folders by type. For instance, inside "Additional Brushes" I have "Stars, "Hearts," "Flourishes, "Floral," etc. It doesn't matter what you call them, just organize them however suits you.
Once you've got your brushes sorted however makes you happy, we'll have to tell the plug-in where to find your folders. Open the brushManager_2.01.py file in a plain text editor like Notepad (I use
Notepad++). At the very beginning, you will see two file paths, clearly labeled. The first one is the ACTIVE_DIR, and you will need to change that path to the location where you put the brushes you want to load every time (again, mine is Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\brushes, yours may vary). The second one is the INSTALL_DIR and is the location of all your other brushes (mine is Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\Additional Brushes, yours may vary). Save the file (don't change its name or location), and start Gimp.
After Gimp loads (see how much faster it is now?!), you'll see only those brushes you left in the Active Directory in the brush panel. To see your others, go to Filters -> Python-Fu -> Brush Manager. A dialogue box will open that lists all of your folders where you organized your brushes with check boxes beside them. Select one or more of the check boxes and hit "OK." Voila! The brushes you selected will load into the brush panel! Open the Brush Manager again and unselect the check boxes, hitting "OK" again. Boom! Those brushes unload!
Now your brushes are there only when you need them, and are safely hidden when you don't! I hope this plug-in is as helpful to you as it was to me! Please let me know if any of my instructions are not clear. I may make a picture tutorial of this on DeviantArt, too.
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