Paint.NET is a free graphic and design program for PCs developed by dotPDN, LLC. It is a lightweight image creation and editing program that boasts a rich feature set. It was created to be as simple and intuitive as possible without sacrificing usability or versatility across different types of use cases.
Intended to be the spiritual successor to the Windows MS Paint native application, Paint.NET was designed to address the shortcomings and limitations that the original had while still retaining the classic and familiar UI that users have become accustomed to. It achieves all that by being free of charge.
Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system for PCs used by millions worldwide today. It comes with its own set of built-in native applications to cater to all kinds of needs. Aside from the ubiquitous Notepad, MS Paint is one of its most iconic programs that many users rely on for quick and simple image editing and creating.
That said, the beloved application was far from perfect and had its fair share of shortcomings and obvious limitations, especially when compared to other solutions that offer more options and advanced features. Enter Paint.NET, a program inspired by the original and aims to be a more robust and capable alternative for those who are looking for more.
While the ‘Classic’ edition of Paint.NET is a free download, the creators launched a new release that is a paid version. This purchasable version from the Microsoft Store introduces automatic updates, easier installations, and more. Given that the paid and free downloads are virtually the same, the developer has answered the question of why he decided to begin offering the app for a fee.
While offering friendly help to answer additional questions about the change, the creator alluded to charging money for the new version of the app for financial reasons on the Paint.NET blog. Despite users mentioning that they were willing to pay for the design project, the developers were not receiving adequate donations to mirror those claims.
The team at Paint.NET did clarify that their preferred method of receiving financial support is through the donation option on their official website because Microsoft takes a percentage from sales.
Both the free and paid offerings support plugin capabilities. You can disable the use of plugins with the registry key. On both versions, users work with multiple layers and have access to unlimited undo, to name a few.
Paint.NET is an intuitive hub for creating and editing images on PC desktops and laptops. The right portion of the program has the menu bar and icon bar where users can perform actions: save, print, etc. Beneath the two bars, users can customize chosen mediums. The tool will be shown along with factors associated with that medium: brush width, hardness, and others.
Four main categories sit in the upper right corner of the innovative user interface: tools, history, layers, and colors. The tool tab is represented by a hammer. To access the history feature, you just press on the clock. The layers section is symbolized by sheets of paper. The color wheel button is associated with the color menu.
A wide variety of powerful tools within Paint.NET are accessible by a click of the hammer button. To hide this category, you just need to click the icon again. The tools available within the rectangular structure that appear are rectangle, ellipse, lasso, magic wand, move pixels, move selection, zoom, paint bucket, gradient, eraser, pencil, color picker, clone stamp, recolor, shape, etc.
The group of selection tools within the panel are the rectangle, ellipse, lasso, magic wand, and pixel-moving tools. Users can highlight a specified area and move that selection away from the original image. This feature can create special effects when people layer another image underneath the edited one because a portion of the upper image has been cut to reveal the lower photo.
For those who are new to this concept, getting rid of any area created can seem difficult. Paint.NET created a helpful ‘Deselect’ button in the upper-left icon menu: the box with a red x. If users highlight an area that they want to undo, then they can click on the ‘Deselect’ button.
By pressing on the color wheel in the upper right corner, you can access a variety of pigments. The left dropdown menu in the ‘Colors’ window is for ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’ color options. To the right, the ‘More’ function reveals detailed controls: hex, opacity, etc. Users can choose their preferred paint palette by clicking and dragging directly on the color wheel.
The layers tab lets users add, delete, duplicate, move, and customize different content elements. This separation allows for people to easily manipulate the media. Within the ‘Layer Properties’ window, the community can tailor the visibility. You can access the properties by double-clicking on the specified layer, selecting the final icon in the pop-up, or pressing F4 on the keyboard.
The history tab keeps track of the changes made during the session. You can scroll through the list to locate an action. To backtrack, you just need to select the desired prompt and press ‘Undo’. When an action is undone, then users are not able to redo that command again.
Compared to Adobe Photoshop, Paint.NET is a simple image creator and editor. Photoshop is intended as professional multimedia software, whereas Paint.NET is considered an editing platform for beginners. Adobe Photoshop is a paid program. Other free digital photo software packages include Corel DRAW, FireAlpaca, GIMP, Krita, and Inkscape.
Aside from Photoshop, the software mentioned above boasts similar user interfaces and is lightweight. Excluding Paint.NET, all of the apps are cross-platform. The systems are able to save creations in various file types.
To conclude, Paint.NET set out to be an alternative to the classic MS Paint for those who need more, and it handily succeeds in its goal. It retains the familiar UI but elevates the user experience to a much higher level, offering a more robust set of tools and options. While not enough to replace Photoshop, it has become the de facto choice for Windows users.
Version
4.3.12
License
Free
Platform
Windows
OS
Windows 10
Language
English
Downloads
3
Developer
paint.net
