This is just a short and sweet post for people who need to open 16-bit images, since GIMP stable refuses to load layered 16-bit PSDs as a layered image.
Disclaimer
_This post suggests use of a beta version of software already supplied in the default system repositories. It is recommended by system maintainers to always use the latest stable version for the least problematic experience. While the end-user is under no obligation to follow this advice, in ignoring it all responsibility for system malfunction are to the end-user and any issue with a development version of the software should go to the maintainer of the package archive the software was acquired from or to the development resource of said application, if the archive where the software was acquired has limited affiliation with its developers._This is just a simple guide for people who need to open images that are not saved as 8-bit PSD files. While there are other functions that GIMP 2.9 provides, this is not the scope of this guide. To upgrade GIMP, do the following;
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp-edge sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
After, when you run gimp you may notice the interface is in black and white; This is not a malfunction of GIMP, but rather, it is a different default theme setting. If you're use to the default interface options, then go into Edit > Preferences and look under the Interface category. Set as follows;
Theme: System
Icon theme: Colour
Else, enjoy these newfound capabilities of opening higher-bit PSD files.