raavikant reviewed v5.0.8 Final on Aug 2, 2023

Pros: User-Friendly Interface: Paint.NET offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced users.

Feature-Rich Editing Tools: Despite being free, Paint.NET provides a wide range of powerful editing tools, including layers, filters, effects, and a variety of brushes, enabling users to create and enhance images effectively.

Active Community Support: Paint.NET has an active and dedicated community that contributes plugins, tutorials, and assistance, enriching the overall user experience.

Regular Updates: The software receives regular updates, ensuring bug fixes, performance enhancements, and the addition of new features to keep up with evolving user needs.

Lightweight and Fast: Paint.NET is lightweight and runs smoothly even on older systems, making it a suitable choice for quick image editing tasks without excessive resource consumption.

Cons: Limited OS Support: Paint.NET is primarily designed for Windows and does not have native versions for other operating systems like macOS or Linux.

Advanced Features Missing: While Paint.NET is a competent image editing tool, it lacks some of the more advanced capabilities found in professional-grade software like Adobe Photoshop, which might limit its suitability for complex graphic design projects.

Bottom Line: This is one of my favorite tools.

Tech 011 reviewed v5.0.6 Final on May 26, 2023

Pros: User-friendly interface.
The layers feature allows for editing with advanced features.
Unlimited undo functionality.
Provides an extensive range of effects.
The software was developed and is maintained by Microsoft Alumni.

Cons: Only available for Windows This limits its availability to other operating systems.
The software has a few limitations when compared with high-end photo editing software.
Not appropriate for professional or complex task of editing images.

Bottom Line: Paint.NET is a Windows-based software for photo and image manipulation which offers a simple interface, support for layers and unlimited undo options, as well as special effects and a wide range of tools that are useful. The program was originally designed to be a free replacement to MS Paint, it has developed into a robust yet user-friendly tool for photo and editing. Though it doesn't have the sophisticated capabilities that you would find in professional grade software, it is an ideal solution for simple to intermediate editing requirements.

Tech 011 reviewed v5.0.5 Final on May 23, 2023

Pros: Paint.NET is a robust and easy-to-use image editing program that runs on Windows.

Cons: It works with layers, provides numerous tools and effects and offers unlimited undo..

Bottom Line: It was initially designed as a no-cost alternative to MS Paint, it has been a favorite choice to edit photos. It's developed primarily using C#

Someone reviewed v on Mar 19, 2023

Pros:

Cons:

Bottom Line:

Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

Someone reviewed v4.2.9 on May 7, 2020

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carlvui reviewed v4.0.4 on Dec 8, 2014

Many bugs has gone, the application itself got faster. Nice job.

carlvui reviewed v4.0.2 on Jul 20, 2014

Very user friendly, easy to use, but much too buggy. The previous versions often crashed, than the newer releases sometimes didn't load, the present one refuses to change language even after changing it in the option window. ( Accepts changes in language settings but whatever language I chose it will only display system’s default language ).

Their forum moderators are occasionally unnecessarily impolite and rude.

I opted for GIMP but yet, after Paint.net will get fixes and start working reliably I would be happy to download and use it for simple and quick, less demanding works. Unfortunately the last few versions were disappointing, I removed it and gave up further experimenting.

uberfly reviewed v4.0 on Jun 26, 2014

The reviews speak for themselves. 5 stars and free.

Monkey_Punch: "does damn near everything Photoshop does"

When you learn how to use Photoshop beyond opening photos and applying the sharpen filter you'll feel stupid for your comment.

Monkey_Punch reviewed v4.0 on Jun 25, 2014

Dear Adobe:

What's it like to not have a program that installs from a 6.1MB installer, does damn near everything Photoshop does, has gobs of free filters available and is free itself? Suck it long. Suck it hard.

Amazing app that handles almost any image file format you can throw at it.

Andem reviewed v3.5.10 on Oct 3, 2012

Paint.NET is the program I use on all of the systems where I don't have a license for Adobe Photoshop, that is on all of the systems where I sometimes need to do light image editing such as resizing, cropping, adding text, etc.

It is extremely fast and if you're not doing much more than minor image modifications, then Paint.NET is perfect. I have it installed on our home PC (which is a touch screen) and the kids love creating things with the touch screen.

MikeTechno reviewed v3.5.8 on Mar 8, 2011

I absolutely love this program. I am a professional photographer and use Paint.net for editing on 95% of the shots that I take now. Sure, there are things that this program can't do and that you need a program like Photoshop for, but those are things that most people are likely to need to do only once in a great while (and maybe never). Since this program came out, I have (almost) stopped using Photoshop all together. This program is so much smaller, lighter, faster, less boated and easier to use than a huge editing applications like Photoshop, that unless there is a specific reason to have to do so, Paint.net is just a far better tool to use for nearly all of your editing needs, at just about every level. Well done!

PaulWilliams reviewed v3.5.6 on Jan 21, 2011

This is so much easier to use than Photoshop. You can save in almost any image format, resize, crop, add layers, adjustments and effects. Basically Paint.NET is everything that Microsoft and Adobe programs should be, but aren't. Thanks for your hard work.

us3r reviewed v3.5.5 on Apr 27, 2010

Paint.NET v3.5.5 - Download, released on April 25th, 2010
This update fixes a bug when saving 8-bit images, improves layer composition and Gaussian Blur performance, and is now updated to support the new .NET Framework 4.0 in some cases.

* Fixed the bug where saving as 8-bit PNG/GIF/BMP wasn't always working, usually with larger images.
* Improved the performance of the Gaussian Blur effect by 30-40%.
* Improved the performance of all the layer blending modes by 15-30%.
* Improved the performance of zooming with the mouse wheel on dual-core Intel Atom systems.
* Updated to support .NET 4.0 if no other version of .NET is installed.
* Reduced download size from 4.8MB down to 3.5MB.
* Fixed a small error in the Chinese translation.

Please note that the system requirements have been updated. For Windows XP, you must now have Service Pack 3 (SP3) installed; SP2 is no longer supported. For Windows Vista, you must now have Service Pack 1 installed.

frankwick reviewed v3.5.5 on Apr 26, 2010

I am a pro photo and this is not a Photoshop replacement for me. However, this tool is great for people who don't need a full-blown photoshop. If you use Photoshop Elements, then you should consider this tool. Paint.net is MUCH easier to use than the GIMP.

Mystenes reviewed v3.5.3 on Feb 9, 2010

Changes and fixes since v3.5.2:

* Fixed DirectDraw Surface (.dds) file format support for CPUs which do not have SSE2 (Pentium III, Athlon XP)
* Fixed an issue with the File->Save dialog related to file type plugins that were only written for opening (importing).
* Fixed some crashes which were supposed to be "out of memory" errors.
* Fixed a race condition with the New Image, Canvas Size, and Resize dialogs. If you typed extremely fast you could cause a crash by typing a negative number and immediately pressing OK or Enter.
* Fixed a File->Save dialog issue in Win7/Vista where it could ask you about overwriting the wrong file.

JustForMyMemory reviewed v3.5.3 on Feb 9, 2010

i prefers GIMP for more advanced features.

Paint.NET should be included in Windows so long ago as "basic paint program", but Microsoft did not.

rstat1 reviewed v3.5.2 on Jan 20, 2010

Wouldn't use anything else. Plus its dependence on .NET is a non-issue since .NET is kind of embedded in windows now and has been for a while.

nugro reviewed v3.5.2 on Jan 5, 2010

changelog?

While this is a great program on its own, I question the usefulness of it.
I have this, GIMP, and your standard MS Paint on Win 7.
I ended not using this, cause if I want to do something serious, GIMP is more powerful despite the horrendous UI and MS Paint if it's just a printscreen and small quick text placement is more than enough.

And then we have Photofiltre which is also as good (or more) as this and faster cause no .Net dependency.

3 stars for now.

roj reviewed v3.5.2 on Jan 4, 2010

DudeBoyz:

First of all, .NET is the NOW of application development. Not the future, the NOW. Accept it and move on.

Secondly, The GIMP is pure and utter garbage, rendered that way by a pathetic excuse for an interface that was designed by propeller-headed weenies FOR propeller-headed weenies - not humans. It is the equivalent of dropping a 442 engine block into a Lada. No one I know who uses Photoshop (including several professional graphics artists) would replace it with that ersatz.

This program has both power and usability (something the GIMP cannot spell the "U" in) and is developed in a very credible application framework that is now standardized since two major Windows releases. It continues to grow, evolve and (again unlike the GIMP) enjoy interface enhancements. While no Photoshop replacement, it can easily hold its own against the GIMP or Paint Shop Pro.

FIVE stars.

gubmonte reviewed v3.5.1 on Dec 13, 2009

So wait, you come to a program named "Paint.NET" just to rate it down because it uses .net? Again, all of your reviews seem to have jack to do with the application and instead focus on stuff that has little impact on the usability of the application. Stop being a troll Dudeboyz and rate the application for usability and not some oddball thing like using dot net when ".NET" is in the program title!

On that note, Paint.NET is not designed to be a Gimp/Adobe PS replacement but a paintbrush replacement for windows. So comparing it to such tools is laughable and like comparing apples to seaweed. 5/5

DudeBoyz reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 26, 2009

Dependence on DOT NET is a big negative, and GIMP has it all over this program. I see no reason to use this app given the alternatives.

Yes, it has some ok features, and it is free, but it certainly is not the best in class - not by a long shot.

skizatch reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 24, 2009

Bill2, um, multiple document editing has been a feature for almost 3 years, since the v3.0 release ...

Bill2 reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 23, 2009

Missing multiple documents editing but may be with version 4?
It's a really good soft, having simples and advances features for simple and quick image edition.

RWW reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 22, 2009

Sure hope you are wrong about your "about to go shareware" feeling.

emanresU deriseD reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 21, 2009

The professional appearance and functionality this project is taking on give me the "about to go shareware" feeling... I hope I'm wrong.

thartist reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 21, 2009

Much faster and way more beautiful than 3.36, and very well balanced in features for the medium-complexity tasks sector it targets. It doesn't lack a thing for the tasks i want to accomplish, but for being a program thought for home users, it could add some more artistic filters by default to toy with. An absolute pleasure to use.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.5.1 on Nov 20, 2009

New: For Windows 7, added taskbar progress reporting for long running operations (effects, adjustments, Image->Resize, save, install)
Image
· Made some corrections to the French translation
· Running setup with /auto will no longer launch Paint.NET when it’s done
· Fixed an issue where Paste into New Image would refuse an image on the clipboard, even if regular Paste would take it
· Fixed a race condition with Edit->Paste and Image->Resize whereby it would take up 100% CPU and take between 1 minute to 1 hour to finish
· Fixed an issues with Copy/Paste where it would leave an extra line of transparent pixels on the left, top, right, and/or bottom edges
· Fixed lag with the paintbrush tool that was being seen on some systems
· Fixed some issues with the paintbrush and eraser tool being misaligned when zoomed in
· Fixed a crash that would happen at (seemingly) random times, such as after drawing with the paintbrush tool, on some systems
· Fixed a minor and obscure rendering glitch with the Move Selected Pixels tool
· Fixed an issue with glass over Remote Desktop or Windows 7 Virtual PC
· Fixed a minor glitch whereby the "Unsaved Changes" confirmation dialog could never finish rendering the image thumbnail if one of the Move tools was active

VilainChien reviewed v3.50 on Nov 10, 2009

One of the best freeware to edit photos.

schuler reviewed v3.50 on Nov 10, 2009

good program

emanresU deriseD reviewed v3.50 on Nov 7, 2009

The first thing I noticed after updating to 3.5 was that it loads MUCH more quickly (after the initial launch, anyway). This is great because the previous version took an annoyingly-long time to load on my crappy old system.

GadgetPig reviewed v3.50 on Nov 7, 2009

Great freeware app that has evolved nicely in a relatively short period of time. Incredibly easy to use and very intuitive. Great for touch-ups, logos, web graphics, simple layering and text effects. Supports third party plugins for additional features, just google "paint.net plugins".

@rom8_3139
for missing spray paint feature, simply use the spray paint add-in: (part of plugin pack)

http://www.isimonbrown.co.uk/plugin-pack.htm

free GIMP "brushes" for the spray paint addin above:
http://www.techzilo.com/gimp-brushes

free paint.net tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/r...al&orig_query_src=4

spiked reviewed v3.50 on Nov 7, 2009

Still a great program, but no longer Open Source (officially beginning with version 3.5 released November 6, 2009 but informally announced on December 30, 2008 on the developer's forum).

EMOgirl reviewed v3.36 on May 27, 2009

aaaa

rom8_3139 reviewed v3.36 on Mar 6, 2009

Although I think paint.net is a great update to ms paint, I'm very disappointed that they left out one of the most important tools you can have, and that is the spray tool....darn!

brucola reviewed v3.36 on Jan 23, 2009

Layers, effects, tools....II couldn't ask more for free. It's easy, complete and robust enough for every home user.

MikeB reviewed v3.36 on Dec 10, 2008

Great free program, 4 out of 5 from me. I would have given it higher but it doesn't support the .8bf format ( http://dotwhat.net/8bf/6039/ ) among others - which is a slight shame.

shelb reviewed v3.36 on Nov 29, 2008

Is there ANY free or affordable program that includes magnetic lasso? No- so it is irrelevant to mention it. Paint.net is a good balance between ease of use and features. GIMP is more powerful, but only a few % of people will be able to learn to use it. Picasa can't do much. If you need TWAIN it only takes a few seconds to scan/upload to Irfanview and then copy and paste into paint.NET.

picsoetje reviewed v3.36 on Nov 16, 2008

I just bought PhotoShop Elements 6 for only $25 via a totaly legal sales channel.
If I would have decided to use Paint.Net on a permanent basis, I would have spent the same amount of money for a donation.
The programs are however not at all comparable : PhotoShop is much more powerful and much more user friendly.
A 1-rating because people are invited to make a donation for a program that does not even have a "magnetic lasso" or a "quick selection tool".
Oh and by the way : PSE6 does Twain too (without cutting and pasting via another intermediate program).
PDN is better than Windows Paint like so many others - but that's about it.

argybee reviewed v3.36 on Oct 29, 2008

For free ! this has got to be 6 out of 5 stars.

twood reviewed v3.36 on Sep 12, 2008

It's a good program for users who have no image editting experience. small download and install makes it powerful for its size, although. Not as powerful an application as I need. so it gets a 4/5.

myboy reviewed v3.36 on Sep 12, 2008

Good but still missing some things such as re-editable text and re-editable nubs on the lines/curves. Once you save, that's it. Oh, it doesn't feather the selection (although there is a 3rd party plugin for it) and the paint brush only has one shape.

Galifray reviewed v3.36 on Aug 27, 2008

It's a good, strong program, but it has some flaws that have not been fixed. On slower systems, like mine, it can take ten or more seconds to open images, regardless of the image's size. The program simply hangs with a busy cursor until it's finally ready. This is a real annoyance when I'm attempting to open several images at once, or I've pasted content into a new image.

Metshrine reviewed v3.36 on Aug 27, 2008

This is one of those programs which, if changed to commercial status, I would gladly pay for just because of the years of free use I have been given out of this program. I cannot rate this higher than a 5 on bn, but it deserves much higher. Use it, you won't regret it

shdwstar reviewed v3.35 on Jul 29, 2008

This is one of the best open source graphics programs out there.
I wrote a more detailed review for it at http://mzk.gofreeserve.c...s.php?lng=en&pg=127

argybee reviewed v3.35 on Jul 8, 2008

As freeware this is truly a work of art!
Superb... thank you all.

jogygeorge reviewed v3.35 on Jul 8, 2008

If only this would allow us to use the 8bf filters we have collected over the years!

Co0L reviewed v3.35 on Jul 8, 2008

Very nice entry level photo editing software.
Extra plus for variety of (free) plug-ins.
Missing TWAIN-support is a minus, there still are huge amount of twain scanners on users desks ...

Johnbald1 reviewed v3.35 on Jul 8, 2008

Solid medium type photo editing program. Not in the caliber of photoshop, PhotoImpact, or Paintshop Pro but a good solid program for the average person who does not have intense knowledge of advanced graphic software

NunjaBusiness reviewed v3.35 on Jul 8, 2008

Calling this program "MS Paint-like" is similar to calling the new Mercedes SLK "VW Beetle-like."
Let's face it, Paint.NET is what MS Paint SHOULD HAVE evolved into several years ago.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.35 on Jul 7, 2008

Doesn't need to.

skidmarks reviewed v3.35 Beta 2 on Jun 26, 2008

Doesn't support twain scanning :(

Winkler reviewed v3.31 on May 3, 2008

Perfect and easy to use!

ahjefri reviewed v3.31 on May 3, 2008

missing basic rotate, flip Hor,Ver within selected area,

Otherwise this program has improve a lot in performance and adding useful filters.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.31 on May 2, 2008

Already beats photoshop if you just want a light editor that is fast.

I don't want a bloated heavy photoediting app. If it heads that way I bail.

madmike reviewed v3.31 on May 2, 2008

Top stuff, looking forward to the day - which will eventually come round, when it beats Photoshop

skidmarks reviewed v3.30 on Apr 23, 2008

When is it going to support twain drivers/scanners?

With that feature, it's freeware perfection!

And| reviewed v3.30 on Apr 23, 2008

@roj

How can it be a "Gimp kill" when it only comes to Microsoft windows? It would be a gimp killa, if it came to linux and mac :)

roj reviewed v3.30 on Apr 14, 2008

Excellence that keeps getting better.

GIMP killa.

FIVE stars.

AntiochMedia reviewed v3.30 on Apr 12, 2008

It's a very capable, full featured application.

However, those comparing it to Photoshop are making a huge error. Photoshop does have many features that Paint.net lacks, namely support of the ubiquitous PSD format that is essential when using PAINT.net for commercial reasons and exchanging files with other people in the industry. It's for the same reason that any office suite must be backwards compatible with Microsoft Office.

If you read the plans for v4.0, you'll note that upcoming features are all features present in Photoshop and features that are widely used by professionals:

http://www.getpaint.net/roadmap.html

The PAINT.net team has made a fantastic product, and I think that they are doing a wonderful job of providing an alternative to Photoshop that is a more viable option to GIMP.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.30 on Apr 11, 2008

Great program... but why bother zipping it for a savings of ~6K? Silly-Wilies!

yokozuna reviewed v3.30 on Apr 11, 2008

Me too! I hate the interface of the GIMP! I am not a newbie - I use Photoshop at work and I have worked with Paint Shop Pro for almost a decade (till Corel has g**ed the app)!
Paint.NET - 6/5!

oafed reviewed v3.30 on Apr 11, 2008

Paint.Net is the best free photo editor that I've used. I recommend it to everybody. There is no way I'd ever recommend GIMP to the average user. Like the guy, I also prefer Paint.Net to GIMP.

SuzzyWoozy reviewed v3.30.3019 RC1 on Apr 9, 2008

This is tool, that can do virtually everything (no kidding) that Photoshop is doing - if you have the knowledge and creativity for it; is free and open source. I don't care if it does not support magnetic lasso, or other small features that can be accomplished with other edit operations... for me is 5 out of 5.

Good job guys!

nailzs reviewed v3.30.2993 Beta 2 on Mar 16, 2008

I actually prefer Paint.NET to Gimp.

theyletmein reviewed v3.30.2980 Beta 1 on Mar 11, 2008

Still awesome though I would like for them to have an option keep the ratio when resizing manually as well as better text support. Also, worth nothing that being beta, this is program suffers from crashes when using 3rd party plugins. So if you use a lot of plugins, it's best to use the stable.

keir reviewed v3.30.2980 Beta 1 on Mar 3, 2008

And that's worth giving it 1/5? Get some perspective!

tatool reviewed v3.30.2980 Beta 1 on Feb 29, 2008

Don't mess with the best ;-) Simply, but powerful - and it's free! Absolutely MUST HAVE!

madmike007 reviewed v3.30.2980 Beta 1 on Feb 29, 2008

Absolutley Fantastic, Freeware that (in due course) might even take on the mighty photoshop. Keep up the good work:)

Jorpheus reviewed v3.22 on Feb 26, 2008

Wonderful stuff, if a bit limited in scope, but I've had major issues with installing the new version, and nothing on their forums helped much, and it was finally solved by installing an older version and then a newer over it. I suspect it's phanthom of the .NET opera of really bad ideas from our beloved software tyrant, erm I mean giant, sorry.

Floodland reviewed v3.22 on Jan 14, 2008

Pretty and usefull application. One of the very limited .net applications that work as they should.
I think this may be the exception that confirm the rule: .net is pathetic...

GoodThings2Life reviewed v3.22 on Jan 14, 2008

Excellent program all the way around, and I always look forward to the new features in each release. It's easy to use, and it's generally fast and stable.

I'm a huge fan of the fact that the default format is PNG, since JPG image quality degrades over time, and it's just as compatible with GIF and JPG formats (unless you use transparency and IE6, but seriously, it's time to upgrade browsers already).

Fidelio reviewed v3.22 on Jan 13, 2008

This is a great program... I've been using it since it first became available and seen how it has evolved. Issues/bugs are fixed pretty quick and having in mind this is a FREE app, that was designed to replace the Paint application included in Windows, you get an amazing set of features.

Keep the good work!

rsx508 reviewed v3.22.2925 Beta 2 on Jan 5, 2008

Very nice for a free product. Still needs more tools and features to replace others, but it is very helpful.

white lightning reviewed v3.22.2925 Beta 2 on Jan 5, 2008

Great software & easy to use .
I would like to see Outline objects plug-in in the next Beta release

keir reviewed v3.22.2918 Beta on Dec 28, 2007

it would be great if my chosen format would persist, I must have changed from png to jpg over 1000 times by now when saving scans, that's a lot of clicking I shouldn't have to do.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.22.2918 Beta on Dec 28, 2007

It would be great if the /auto parameter also worked silently so I could install this via batch script quietly...

wiak reviewed v3.20 on Dec 21, 2007

Great photo editing tool, looks great, supports 64-bit OS, loads RAW (NEF) 10mpix images fast using the Weird Silence's Raw File Plugin or rawloader with dcraw (supports most SLR cameras with RAW), supports plugins, check out the forums, does not cost you bank (600 usd vs Free!), supports layers, great for school work, my aunt is a teacher and is useing it

skizatch reviewed v3.20 on Dec 19, 2007

wox, It absolutely can edit two images at once. Just use the File->Open command twice, then click the respective thumbnail in the upper right of the window to switch between the two images... tada.

wox reviewed v3.20 on Dec 18, 2007

Just found out that the program cannot edit two images at once.
If I'm editing one image and want to copy something from another image into this one, I have to use another program to open that image.
The first time, I did a lot of editing on one image, and when opening a new one, all my work was lost.
Paint.NET NEVER alerted me to save my work.
How sad. Would've gotten a 5/5 but this is a big downside.

@panic82:
have you EVER used Photoshop? Saying that this is even "close" just proves how much you know.

panic82 reviewed v3.20 on Dec 13, 2007

Great app. From a feature perspective it's not quite Photoshop (but close), but from a pricing perspective (free) it beats the crap out of photoshop!

@oomingmak
Are you serious? Who the f uses 2000 anymore? You make it sound like they stopped supporting 2000 "just because". I'm sure there's a technical limitation of some sort.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.20 on Dec 13, 2007

Incredible work. Light is the key, and it's stayed that way. This is not a photoshop replacement. Why? We don't need one. we need something basic users can use and get their feet wet into. this is what we use...

bobad reviewed v3.20 on Dec 13, 2007

Good, and getting better. The authors are trying to keep the program light, which is very wise and commendable. I wish they would make it portable like PhotoFiltre, another 5/5 photo editor. People tend to use 2-3 computers these days, and portability is getting to be a must. I consider Paint.Net and PhotoFiltre to be tied for best Freeware graphics editor. Gimp may be a little more powerful, but I consider the exploding window GUI to be unusable. Thanks to the authors of Paint.Net for a worthy and usable photo editor.

gehtnix reviewed v3.20 on Dec 13, 2007

Nice piece. It's somehow like Photoshop 3 which i still have archived on my pc, somewhere. A very good alternative and free application for doing some basic picture editing and even creating own grafics.
I rate it 5 for being free, if it was a commercial demo in the price range of 20,- - 30,- US$ i would rate it 4. Maybe.

aruprc reviewed v3.20 on Dec 13, 2007

Excellent, a very light and functional free alternative to many expensive PS type programs. Best of all, it has native x64 support for XP, that means with resource hungry big images, you get full speed from your x64CPU in case you are running XPx64.

oomingmak reviewed v3.20 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 10, 2007

Pretty good program.

Minus 2 points for deliberately making it not work on Windows 2000.

b0mmel reviewed v3.20 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 9, 2007

I don't have a need for this program as it's so limited. It can't work with fonts having Postscript outlines (OpenType/T1). The Gimp is much better.

rotjong reviewed v3.20 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 9, 2007

A superb freeware program!

wox reviewed v3.10 on Dec 2, 2007

Very, very good. More than enough for me, perhaps because I don't need much.
For those that compare it to Gimp and PhotoShop, get a brain. Paint.net is supposed to be an advanced version of mspaint, not a free version of PhotoShop.
For a free alternative to PhotoShop, Gimp is a winner- not Paint.NET

yokozuna reviewed v3.20 Alpha 2 on Nov 12, 2007

0.02$ In general something is wrong with the organisation of FileForum. IMO the organisation of Softpedia is better - the program would be announced there as Paint.NET 3.10 Final/Paint.NET 3.20 alpha 2 with links to both versions.

The proggie is great. I love it!

arjesus reviewed v3.20 on Nov 6, 2007

i didnt understand that either, and they changed the screenshot for the changelog link.. well, still its an awesome prog and very useful

horsecharles reviewed v3.20 on Nov 6, 2007

Why the separate thread for this release?

hell0 reviewed v3.10 on Oct 24, 2007

Keep crying you babies, this app is great.

roj reviewed v3.10 on Oct 22, 2007

This would be a wonderful app - if I could use it.

Unfortunately, it is incompatible with Windows Magnifier which I need to be able to see things like the options and configuration panels. Those panels are invisible to Magnifier - and also a host of other screen enhancement / enlarging tools.

My son uses it and from his description of the feature set, it's quite a piece of work. However, lack of Magnifier and screen enhancement tools is a show stopper for me.

FOUR stars.

Point Zero reviewed v3.10 on Aug 24, 2007

Fantastic piece of software !

rsx508 reviewed v3.10 Beta 2 on Aug 23, 2007

It should have been named Photo.Net since it doesn't have things like airbrushing, smearing, or off-canvas placement of objects. However, with respect to image editing and enhancement, it rocks (for being free). Each upgrade continues to show major progress.

Pensador reviewed v3.08 on Aug 22, 2007

I use this program to quickly edit pictures (crop, resize, etc). It is quick, light and does exactly what I need it!

Just one thing: I wish it would remember the last tool I used—I always mess my pictures thinking I have the selection tool selected!

xsnred reviewed v3.10 Beta 2 on Aug 12, 2007

It started out as replacement for MS paint, at what point will it be a replacement for Photoshop. Eventually you will lose the people who just want to dabble in photo editing. Nevertheless, it is a great program and hats off to the developers.

some guy reviewed v3.10 Beta 2 on Aug 12, 2007

great free program should be in Linux destro

A_T reviewed v3.10 Beta on Jul 30, 2007

Great program. Just a shame the CPU gets flooded when using the magic wand tool.

bobad reviewed v3.08 on Jul 7, 2007

This program just gets better and better. Is it just me, or is it also getting smaller and quicker?

One problem. When doing an automatic update from 3.07 to 3.08, my Paint.Net files disappeared. That was a shock, because it usually updates just fine.

dawmail333 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 6, 2007

Who needs expensive stuff like Photoshop with great freeware like this? Make sure you check for plugins and effects!

A_T reviewed v3.08 on Jun 5, 2007

Good program. Shame it swamps my CPU when using the magic wand.

thehunger reviewed v3.08 on Jun 3, 2007

Coming soon to Linux (and possibly Mac OS X) thanks to Mono, the open source implementation of .NET.

http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2007/May-15-1.html

RWW reviewed v3.08 on Jun 3, 2007

I appreciate this program so much. I try to teach some graphics to others on their machines and always wish they had Photoshop so I could do it right. Paint.Net is the only freeware that let's me get even close.

ricktendo64 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 2, 2007

Keep It Simple Stupid... Thanks Paint.NET Team

internetworld7 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 2, 2007

Pain.NET is an excellent product and a must have for me.

screamin_jesus reviewed v3.08 on Jun 2, 2007

this is a great lightweight app for quick photo editing, my favorite.

forresterinc reviewed v3.08 on Jun 2, 2007

An excellent freeware tool -- does everything I need. Easier than the Gimp, IMHO. The GUI beeter matches the Windows GUI.

@ V.A.: crop is found under menu: Image -> Crop to Selection (Ctrl-Shift-X)
File -> Acquire gives you the option to read an image from a Scanner of Camera, it works for me with my digicam.

Johnbald01 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 2, 2007

Not a bad program for free, it is a little past basic as it has some of the better features of a graphic software. It cannot be compared with Photoshop elements, PSP, PhotoImpact not on that level.

utomo reviewed v3.08 on Jun 1, 2007

Great software, as alternative.
However it still need some improvements
Good critics are welcome.

critics which is not true, is a junk.

ModderXManiac reviewed v3.08 on Jun 1, 2007

Does not have as many features as The Gimp, but it's simplistic interface and small install size makes up for this.

With plugins and fast development, this could render photoshop useless...But for being sponsored by Microsoft, surely they could hire more than two developers?

Second Shadow reviewed v3.08 on Jun 1, 2007

Yes, it looks like Adobe decided to hire some trolls to post in this forum :D
They must be beginning to feel the heat ....
Anyway, scanning is supported by Paint.NET via the new standard (WIA) and cropping IS easy.
Just wanted to set things straight ...
This is an excellent piece of software.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 1, 2007

Scanning and cropping work fine for me? what is this, a war between paid for products and free ones?

Adrian79 reviewed v3.08 on Jun 1, 2007

no easy crop tool?

V.A reviewed v3.08 Beta on May 30, 2007

It does not suppport TWAIN, what a pitty !
This means that you cannot acquire a scanned image from you TWAIN scanner.

taxis reviewed v3.08 Beta on May 30, 2007

The interface of this application is very well written, runs smooth and looks impressive. The functionality is still very basic; most advancement over Paint are just strange effects which are nice to watch once but in my opinion don't help much for seriously editing pictures. Others like adaptations according to a histogram are already nice to look at but lack configuration options (like defining a function that defines how the colour space should be transformed).

As the overall quality seems good, it is a pity that the .NET environment was chosen (starting with an installation that tells me to wait because my system is configured for optimised performance, although I only expected it to install the software).

Diam0nd reviewed v3.08 Beta on May 29, 2007

Quality stuff.

Diam0nd reviewed v3.07 on May 28, 2007

If there is a FREE program like this out there, Adobe is NOT doing its job good enough.

vercinstex reviewed v3.07 on May 19, 2007

maybe cool but not till it support all win system also without service pack

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.07 on May 9, 2007

installed fine for me. tested on up to date Vista and XP SP2.

tinkerdill reviewed v3.07 on May 8, 2007

what can i say. easy, fast, simple and still like professional. thanks!!!

bigmama reviewed v3.07 on May 8, 2007

best image processing tool

rsx508 reviewed v3.07 Beta on May 4, 2007

Very nice! Been a longtime user of PN and it's nice to a project progressing so well. I'd still like to see an airbrush tool, some additional text effects, and maybe enhanced spline vertex editing, but this is still a nice upgrade. Great work!

ModderXManiac reviewed v3.07 Beta on Apr 26, 2007

Now small enough to fit on a floppy disk! Kudos to that, by the time this reaches a 5 meg download size again, the number of features will be phenominal.

While not being as feature-filled as GIMP, it's definitely a smaller download, nicer interface, and less of a resource hog.

For having only two programmers,or even a dozen, this project is excellent, despite being funded by M$ :D

Hazim_azim5020AD reviewed v3.07 Beta on Apr 26, 2007

Hem...nothing happen yet...but why the effect still the same..is there any plugin that we can install like photoshop...

G0tchas reviewed v3.05 on Apr 24, 2007

Great program! Don't ever stop enhancing it.

Just one small request - never stop it from working in XP. I refuse to upgrade to Vista until it's at least been on the market for 5 years and MS has plugged all the wholes on it.

Apart from that, fantastic tool.

Adrian79 reviewed v3.05 on Mar 30, 2007

kramy.. windows2000? one word... upgrade.

we are getting closer to the year 2008 skip xp go straight to vista ultimate btw

benyahuda reviewed v3.05 Beta on Mar 27, 2007

PaintDotNet is quite useful for me as it does some things in a fraction of the time that they could be done in Photoshop.

They complement each other in a way that makes my day much simpler.

Thanks people.

bigmama reviewed v3.05 Beta on Mar 26, 2007

" ...... It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows ....... "

-----------------------------------------

I like MsPaint, I'm not a n00bie but for some silly jobs like copy-pasting screenshots,
bitmap-2-jpeg etc, msPaint is great.

i know it's not paintshop, gimp or photoshop but...

---------------------

i don't understand why microsoft doesn't include this fine piece of software in windows by default

Programs MsPaint & Notepad are good but they have been the same since windows 95

-----------------------------

Paint .NET is great and FREE! 5 out of 5. thnx

-----------------------------

Kramy reviewed v3.01 on Mar 25, 2007

v3.0 no longer supports Windows 2000. A bit sad, since Win2k suffers from MSpaint as well, but nothing we can do about that.

Found the last version to support Win2k:
http://tinyurl.com/2opk6n

Would be nice if betanews mirrored it, for people with Win2k.

mikefromuk reviewed v3.01 on Feb 26, 2007

Excellent program, having just bought Photoshop CS2 - with due resentment, I am hoping in future , when I need an alternative that this program comes of age and knocks PS off the post

Vimes reviewed v3.01 on Feb 26, 2007

A pleasure to use, especially after trying the now bloated PSP.

uberfly reviewed v3.01 on Feb 26, 2007

Great app, free or not. This program is great to learn and use indefinitely on its own merit, or even as a jumping off point to a higher-end program like Photoshop. The interface is very clear and standardized.

VirtualGhost reviewed v3.0 on Feb 4, 2007

This is an awesome piece of software! However, unless I just haven't found it, there doesn't seem to be a direct way to "browse" a particular folder. You have to keep going back and opening individual files. Am I missing something?

hemu_u reviewed v3.0 on Feb 1, 2007

very nice software and plz ignore that crap rating by 'lesliejb' with equally f* comment!

The features I like most are:
1) Layers (you can use visibility control to get an effect of transparent wallpaper!!!)
2) Undo (history)
3) Lots of effects.

Gimp look promising too, but is slow as compared to this.

Chacky reviewed v3.0 on Jan 30, 2007

Does everything an everyday computer user needs. Very fast and easy to use.

guitardave78 reviewed v3.0 on Jan 30, 2007

Superb! Still the easiest to use freebie photo editor!
The autolevels is better than photoshop as well.
Still needs layer masks to help with image cut outs!!

cacko reviewed v3.0 on Jan 30, 2007

Very handy!

gabtrat reviewed v3.0 on Jan 29, 2007

Proves to be a very promising photo editor & one I will definitely keep my eye on.

If it ever adds the ability to group layers into folders and something like Photoshop's blending options it will become my number 1 choice.

ricktendo64 reviewed v3.0 on Jan 28, 2007

Beats the crap out of MSPaint... Thank YOU!

Johnbald01 reviewed v3.0 on Jan 27, 2007

This is a good intermediate type photo editor. It does more than the basic photo editors in comparison to standard Paint, or even Irfanview, but it of course does not come close to programs such as Paint Shop Pro or PhotoImpact.
Tools are standarized and easy to recognize across other platforms, is small in size overall a pretty solid program.

yokozuna reviewed v3.0 on Jan 27, 2007

Paint.NET is a gem!

However, gems can be further polished. I miss following things:
- Linux port
- magnetic lasso
- compatibility with Photoshop plug-ins (at least basic functionality like PhotoFiltre Studio or Paint Shop Pro)
- opening RAW files (dcraw is open source...)
- denoising and purple fringing removal
- better autolevel algorithms and putting the button in a visible place (you have to digg it now)

Anyway, I am impressed by Paint.NET!

laurince reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

Very nice program, but why drop win2k support?

DudeBoyz reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

I also agree - there seems no reason to drop 2k support.

Nice concept, slick design, but it doesn't feel quite "finished", ya know?

Maybe it needs more configuration options, such as anti-aliased and/or feathered selection settings.

Also, the Red Eye thing is just garbage. Pupils should come out black, not green or whatever. Not enough refinement controls for blur / feather / etc.

I hope that they keep up the good work, cause for a FREE program, it's pretty nice, even with all that .NET junk you need to run it.

Pensador reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

Once upon a time, Adobe Photoshop...

antigin reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

Yeeah!! Finally!! First release version with MDI support! Awesome.

Altman reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

WOW, Nice program. I have used Photoshop and I think I like this better. I know it doesn't have the same amount of features as Photoshop but they were features I didn't use. I love the new feature with having multiple pictures open at once.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

My users love this app. Good work! Donate!

Mandeep reviewed v3.0 on Jan 26, 2007

The only problem I had with the earlier versions is that they took too long to load, almost as long as PSP and Photoshop. With the new version I can click on the shortcut and it opens instantly. Same ole program but even faster now. Nothing has changed from the RCs from what I can see.

z0TK reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2007

Its a good application but the only thing to me is
the lock down when the beta period expires a real
pain in the arse.

So i give it 4

skrag reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 24, 2007

I find a couple of things both amazing and somewhat amusing. First I find the Paint.NET program pretty amazing and that is it just darn good and offered to users for FREE! That is the amazing part, and I also find both amazing AND amusing how some people will come to a site like this to rail on a program such as this and make disparaging comments about the program and tout the fact that there are other better ones, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah... what is amusing to me is WHY do they come here in the first place? If other stuff is so much better, or they have it so good on some other front, then shew, shew, be off with you... go play with your other toys! I am glad someone has the skills, the time and talent and just desire to create something for others to use because they can, and because others appreciate it. Keep GOING! I find this program to be just GREAT! Photoshop it ain't... YET! But does it cost near as much as Photoshop!? ;-) And it has plenty of power for a lot of us. About the only thing I have difficulty with in most cases is how text is handled. I admit I am used to how Photoshop handles text more or less as an object that can be resized, etc. on the fly and I can't seem to do this in Paint.NET, but that isn't enough to disuade me from using it in the least.

belthurgp reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 21, 2007

@tipsboy,

I bet you haven't written a line of code in your life. You have no right to degrade the hard work of others. I am sure there are other better applications, go and use it. Why do you come and b**** here?

Instead of cribbing about something not working, why don't you write something even remotely equivalent to Paint.NET. I am sure you just don't have the brains to do it.

ChristOff reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 20, 2007

@tipsyboy: it has nothing to do with MS... this prove how far you've gone with testing this app

I personnaly find this program is really good for its category. Of course it doesn't compete with heavier ones (like photoshop, paint shop pro, etc). It's fast, easy to manage (respects windows logic) and has features that seems to be enough for occasionnal use. So for me it's worth a 4

tipsyboy reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 20, 2007

This is typical MS stuff. It may be good, but I hate programs that do whatever their programers like and - especially this one - won't work suddenly no longer and treat users as little dumb idiots. I don't care that they give it away for free. There are other freeware or open source programs out there that do similar or better things than this one.

What are these programmers thinking who they are?!

Keep it for yourself and your kids - annoy them with your stuff.

So - because of their arrogant attitude - only a one. A pity that you have to give them a one, anyway ...

scrantic reviewed v3.0 RC1 on Jan 20, 2007

Would love to see an Airbrush included in the package about the only thing its missing.

yokozuna reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Jan 9, 2007

I am amazed by the proggie almost like everybody here. Maybe you should also try some plugins for Paint.net, which are available here: http://paintdotnet.12.fo....com/viewforum.php?f=16 ?

brusco reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Dec 25, 2006

A class act! This has matured nicely over the short time since it started.

I only wish it had an multiple document interface like photoshop.

some guy reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Dec 24, 2006

Amazing this gets better and better hats off to you guys for sutch a great job.

aruprc reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Dec 24, 2006

Excellent, for those of us who can't afford PS or need that big a program, seems to do all that and best of all, superb 64but performance that even Adobe can't match due to Paint .Net having native 64bit support.

hainrs reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Dec 23, 2006

This is better than Gimp and better than Photoshop. I'm not an idiot and have experience with every 2D package on the market.

DatabaseBen reviewed v3.0 Beta 3 on Dec 23, 2006

a work in progress that is worthy of a high 5.

all my fonts appeared exquisitely and unfortunately the view/grid needs a bit more
fine tuning - but who needs it. But any talented graphic artist knows how to make a grid if needed....

Watchout Adobe, you'll be goin out of business with programmers like these...!

I guess my only question is the microsoft's copyright that is mentioned in the agreement... I hope that this will not be another good program stolen from the "free marketplace".

vcorvinus reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Dec 14, 2006

Good for basic tasks but still a bit unpolished though. Some fonts on the dropdown list are invisible and the font that are listed looks uneven, choosing View/Grid does nothing, the aforementioned limited text options, etc.

mjm01010101 reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Dec 12, 2006

Rating a 5 because free versus $hundreds it does the job I need wonderfully.

Don't rate it down because you are angry.

ds0934 reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Dec 12, 2006

Anyone who compare this to PaintShop or PhotoShop is either stupid or has VERY limited experience with those two products. This is "nice" for a freeware app and definitely has it's uses. I'm really tired of people using this REVIEW posting to espouse their GENERAL feelings about a product, instead of the VERSION POSTED for download. I'm commenting on 3.0 Beta 2.

STILL NO AIRBRUSH or SPRAY tool. Still very limited text effects. Still limited bitmapping capability. This makes it low on my list for doing graphic arts. Useful for quick and dirty image edits and cleanups (crops, simple effects, etc.) NOWHERE near powerful enough for press work, but as I said, useful for many common chores. More likely to add to my arsenal than to replace anything I have. I keep using it in the hopes they continue to improve it enough to where it might replace other things and make my life easier.

jimdean reviewed v3.0 Beta 1 on Dec 5, 2006

Paint.NET is the best free photoshop alternative out there, and it does so much with so much less system resources and no $700 cost. Its better than gimp, has a vigorous development, and rocks as a program overall. Its filters/effects are astounding, and the new version 3.0 beta1 has tolerance slidebars, which rule over photoshop's format, and has the best save/dont save/cancel dialogue ive ever seen.

Paint.NET is a super-great image program, calling it a replacement to ms paint is absurd, its more like a replacement for photoshop itself.

XNeo``` reviewed v3.0 Beta 1 on Dec 4, 2006

I never imagined that something like this would ever make it to be in Windows, it's great and really awesome professional yet simple at the same time, i love it, i wish all the windows products are like :) and i hope windows Vista is the OS that will revolutionize the way of making Operating systems...
Let's just hope it is... But Paint.Net is a good start!

kbstanley reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 29, 2006

like it alot, but would like to ask for one thing, if you ever get the time a magnetic lasso would be great! If i missed that you had it please let me know, i have been known to do that someimtes..........

Felinity reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 24, 2006

I think the changes are awesome, but I really miss the colors being available at the bottom of the tools box. It's a bit of a pain to close the Colors box then have to go to Window > Colors to bring it back up. Maybe a minimize feature would solve this?
I think an airbrush tool would be great as well or some options with text such as being able to curve and such.
I love this program, I use it almost daily and enjoy seeing the new features, keep up the great work guys!

ds0934 reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 22, 2006

Getting better all the time (Beatles). However, I'm still waiting for an airbrush/spraycan tool. Some nifty-er text effects would be nice as well.

onbir reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 22, 2006

An excellent application with a very reasonably resource usage and wide capacity.

zridling reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

In the words of Borat: Very nize!

The_Zeroorez reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

utomo; get a plugin :-)

Anyways, a great program for the home-users..

some guy reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

great paint program in sutch a small package !
has low resource footprint great for lowend machines, great work guys!

rafaelcage reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

Great utility!!!

Frank Bicking reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

Excellent piece of software. I especially like how the developers have successfully avoided a cluttered configuration dialog and placed options just where I need and expect them.

utomo reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

Can It open .PSD ? Can It save to .PSD ?
Can It Open RAW ?

If Paint.net can open and save .psd It will be great :)
Yes, there is Plugin here
http://frankblumenberg.d...p?id=paintnet:psdplugin

It still have a lot to do.
For the following Paint.Net blend modes I don’t see a direct counterpart:

Reflect
Glow
Negation
Xor
And also for these Photoshop blend mode keys

hue
sat
colr
lum
diss
hLit
sLit
smud

and it will be great if it is included in the paint.net original installation

Good work guys

Eemeli reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

In Paint shop pro 9, there is a spot, "One step photo fix". When clickin it, it fix photos fast. Can this software make that. If yes, then I will download this pretty good looking program.

yanike reviewed v3.0 Alpha 3 on Nov 6, 2006

Still one of the best top paint programs :)

Nikkie reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 31, 2006

i love you guys.. keep up the great work!!!

guitardave78 reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 27, 2006

Outstanding, this is nearlly what I need!!
All we need now is masks and paths so I can do some proper cutting out :)

utomo reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 26, 2006

I wish we make a table comparison of fetures between paint.net and photoshop, and paint shop pro.
and then we decided what is important features till missing from paint .net which mostly needed by user. and hopefully the developer will consider to implement it in maybe version 3.1 ?

I hope the developer listen and try to make user more happy with paint.net.

Good luck guys.

jrezin reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 26, 2006

It's a good app. Too bad it doesn't support Tablets and dev don't want to add this feature.

But it's good with what it does.

xiaozhang reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 26, 2006

GOOD

the artist reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 25, 2006

DARN! the same as cowgaR here! Gradients and Layer Merging!!!
A perfect replacement for Paint now! i guess i'll no longer need Photoshop...

cowgaR reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 25, 2006

New: Gradient Tool
New: Merge Layer Down command

AAAAAAAA could my prayers be heard? :) 5/5

an extremely powerfull app in good hands, I am twice (or more) as productive in it compared to say Paint Shop Pro X, althought I miss some important features I already wrote authors about...

but as a complementary editor it is the king!

Mark Gillespie reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 25, 2006

Essential application on anyones system. The new gradient tool is also VERY good.

Video of it in action here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=z5CBWpX08lk

The_Zeroorez reviewed v3.0 Alpha 2 on Oct 25, 2006

@alexweber15

That's what it is for. People like you and me, who sometimes want to edit something, but don't feel like using a heavy-duty tool for it, which they have to pay for, or even use illegal.

PdN is a great tool for people who like editting some things but don't need pro-like stuff :)

Azreal89 reviewed v2.72 on Oct 24, 2006

This is great. I have been using Gimp, which is, well, not close to good compared to this. There is one thing I noticed that I think could be better. I think you should be able to open multiple files within the program.

Keep up the great work.

zridling reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 22, 2006

For basic photo editing, Paint.NET has come a long, long way. The keyboard shortcuts are quirky, but not a big deal. Damn fast, and it has some nice UI tweaks like remembering all your last settings that other apps should just steal.

donpacman reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 20, 2006

Can the EXIF info be modified?

Dinkum reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 18, 2006

Been using P.net since the beginning of the project. It is always evolving and getting better. Just when my own editing skills develop into a new facet and the application becomes inadiquite, they come with a new release and address the problem! It is briliant and never lets you down. Falls a bit short on web graphics though. Otherwise no complaints!

nefarious1 reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 16, 2006

just one word: AWESOME!

ernest33 reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 16, 2006

It's a really bad news, because this new version don't support Win2000. It's not a good news because at least the multi-doc interface it's a great evolution for this great program. I hope he will support Win2000 again in futur version.
Philippe

aruprc reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 15, 2006

This program turns into a powerful beast eclipsing Adobe PS once you use it under 64bit OS like XP64 with 64bit dual core CPUs like AMD XP64x2 or Intel C2D. The memory management and multi threading is excellent and filters work out much faster than Adobe PS.

utomo reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 15, 2006

Yes, please add
- Magnetic Lasso selections. It is usefull.
- Support the common Adobe .8bf plugins
http://www.fileinfo.net/extension/8bf

It will really Rocks. :)

Please reports any bugs with version 3 here or to the developer.

Good Luck.

Floske Tuf reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 14, 2006

Version 3 does still not have a "magnetic lasso" selection tool like Photo Shop Elements (which does not cost hundreds of dollars).

That's a pity, maybe version 4 will get a full 5 from my side. For now it is still a 2 because of the above shortcoming.

DatabaseBen reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 14, 2006

this program deserves a five star because it is a worthy challenge to those others that cost hundreds of dollars, like the ones i use.

i would encourage any student or novice to use this because it works good and it is generously contributed to the public for free by a bunch of hardworking programmers.....

jogygeorge reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 14, 2006

Yeah ... this is really nice ... but the 1 missing star is cause it still and I guess may never support the generally accepted Adobe (.8bf) plugins.

The_Zeroorez reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 14, 2006

Great program, very stable 'alpha' which can indeed be considered as a beta.

Keith Lard reviewed v3.0 Alpha 1 on Oct 14, 2006

Been testing pre-alphas of PDN3 for a month or so, and it's very stable. Although it's labelled as an alpha, I would consider it beta quality.

A worthy upgrade from PDN2.7

There are more features planned for PDN3, like Gradient Fill (a sorely mission option).

aruprc reviewed v2.72 on Sep 26, 2006

Excellent freebie alternative to Adobe PS, many plugins are being developed for it, best of all, its the only program that works under 64bit XP in true 64bit mode making its performance phenomenal as compared to PS which works in 32bit mode under XP64. Takes full advantage of your latest Athlonx2 64 or Core2Duo EMT64.

utomo reviewed v2.72 on Aug 31, 2006

It need some more features:
- More plugins please.
- It need to be able to manage photos to optimize the paper. example we can print few 2x3, 3x4, 4x6 photos. and paint.net will optimize the positions to make 4R print optimum. (almost all area used)

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.72 on Aug 31, 2006

Good stuff.
It has some compression issues with jpgs. We were unable to compress several test jpgs below 10KB, but this worked fine in photoshop and PSP.

JPSeixas reviewed v2.70 on Aug 25, 2006

I cant install the PaintDotNet because it gabe me a error message.

The error message it's:
You dont have the correct permissions in:
HKEY ... MAchine\soft\classes\.jpeg\OpenWithProgids

I have the permission to read/write ....

Regards

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.70 on Aug 3, 2006

Awesome!

PS. MDI is planned for V3, due later this year, according to the Paint.NET roadmap.

Mick Leong reviewed v2.70 on Aug 3, 2006

Excellent software. Beats GIMP (open src) hands down. Its fast. Very good UI. With a few more plugins this may give Adobe Photoshop a run ... great work guys/girls.!!!

urbanriot reviewed v2.70 on Aug 3, 2006

An awesome paint program with advanced features, totally for free! Eliminates much of the bulk of Photoshop for those that don't require the advanced features. This latest version includes third party effects that you previously had to download seperately. Great idea!

Personally I prefer this application not utlizing MDI for my setup.

spiked reviewed v2.70 on Aug 2, 2006

In addition to the wish that it were MDI, I find it really annoying that the source code download link is ALWAYS broken for several days after every new release. If they can't host the source reliably themselves, they either need to let others mirror it, or start describing the code as "sometimes-open" source.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.70 on Aug 2, 2006

dogwaffle, indeed.

We have seen some strange things when resizing files. We resize them, but we can't get them to reduce under 20kb in filesize, for *some* images. We've seen this with a few "free" image editors. Hopefully the paint.net team addresses this.

yanike reviewed v2.70 on Aug 2, 2006

I agree! If this program was MDI, it would take it to the next level. I still give it a 5 :)

roj reviewed v2.70 on Aug 2, 2006

DESPERATELY needs a MDI interface.

FOUR stars.

utomo reviewed v2.70 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2006

Better every release.

Please post your feature request in the forum or here, to make this better in the next release.

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.70 Beta 1 on Jul 31, 2006

* New effect: Glow
* New effect: Bulge
* New effect: Polar Inversion
* New effect: Tile Reflection
* New effect: Twist
* Updated system requirements
* Fixed nub selection for Line/Curve and Move tools where the cursor would sometimes affect the wrong nub when zoomed in

Togora reviewed v2.64 on Jul 30, 2006

This program may not be the best but at least it is free of price and spyware and not listed at http://www.spywarewarrio.../rogue_anti-spyware.htm as spyware unlike "Spywarebot" (exploits name "Spybot Search & Destroy"; same app as AdwareAlert [A: 5-14-06 / U: 5-14-06]) which is advertised on the right of this forum listing.

the artist reviewed v2.64 on Jul 29, 2006

i didn' like this proggie. it was really between purposes, lIke it couldn' do anything it touched really well...

for those who are looking for a FAST & SIMPLE mspaint REPLACEMENT, I STRONGLY RECOMEND "PROJECT DOGWAFFLE 1.2 FREE". SWEET!
http://www.thebest3d.com...ee/mirror_dw12free.html

pwned32 reviewed v2.64 on Jul 20, 2006

i really like the picture used in the screen shot

skizatch reviewed v2.64 on Jul 10, 2006

lequid, that is fixed with this release. It was just .NET trying to verify a digital signature anyway. http://paintdotnet.12.fo...com/viewtopic.php?t=657

S_K reviewed v2.64 on Jul 10, 2006

Very useful software. It does exactly what is advertised.

nordlicht reviewed v2.64 on Jul 10, 2006

Becomes better with every new Version. I love this Tool. Very nice.

DigiSyn reviewed v2.64 on Jul 10, 2006

5 from me. It does everything that I've needed so far, I'm happy.

crashoverride reviewed v2.64 on Jul 9, 2006

ok ...so it has a box asking for a donation. Big woop. you people need to get over yourselves.

paint it blue reviewed v2.63 on Jun 7, 2006

I was trying to do something SIMPLE in MS Paint and boy it is a piece of junk. I finally just gave up and thought I'd search around. Thank GOD for Paint.NET .. it's really saved the day. Easy to use, fast, great interface. I'm in love! Thanx! :)

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.63 on Jun 5, 2006

One step down with ads. Look, open source/rfee does not mean laden your apps with ads or splash screens. If you have a donate button, fine, but I refuse to give up my mindshare for any form of advertising.

urbanriot reviewed v2.63 on Jun 5, 2006

Note to the ignorant reviewer below - this is NOT adware, there's a advertisement displayed while you're installing. The software itself does not contain any advertising.

Awesome / free paint program that's a cross between Windows Paint and Adobe Photoshop. None of the bloat of Photoshop but featuring many advanced functions and runs very quick. Once more plugins are created by the user community, this program will rock even more. Extremely fast compared to Photoshop.

spiked reviewed v2.63 on Jun 5, 2006

If you're a Photoshop power user looking for an equally bloated replacement, you're going to hate Paint.NET so don't even bother.

If you're a GIMP user who is already accustomed to its UI (or worse...if you LIKE it) then you're going to hate Paint.NET so don't even bother.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a substantial improvement in capability over Windows Paint without sacrificing ease of use, Paint.NET absolutely rocks.

zridling reviewed v2.63 on Jun 5, 2006

Now that's a great screenshot, but I'm not seeing the wonders of Paint.NET. Still very basic.

slyckidiot reviewed v2.63 on Jun 5, 2006

Boo to the new OneCare ad in the installer (not that you are forced to click it, or that it is visible for long) but otherwise this is a fantastic piece of software. Long ago replaced paint as my quick and dirty editor of choice.

agent2killa reviewed v2.63 on Jun 4, 2006

"It serves the digital imaging community as a free alternative to the standard paint application included with Windows."

To Nekobibu and all those bashing Paint.NET, I think it's better to read first before bashing this useful software. I agree it does not have as many feature as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, but it is superb for those who need simple image editing software.

Nekobibu reviewed v2.63 on Jun 4, 2006

Your having an IQ below 80 should not be used as a reason to trash perfectly good software simply because your head is stuck so far up your a** your brain doesn't get oxygen and isn't able to perform simple tasks anymore.
The Gimp is a great image editor, its interface is simply different from standard Windows software (no surprise here, it was not developped for Windows).
On the other hand, Paint.net is extremely poor and lacks a million functions. It should be enough to resize a couple pictures, though, so I'll give it a 2.

Gerwin reviewed v2.63 on Jun 4, 2006

The gimp sux because it's one of many OSS trash that is made by smelly programmers who can't get a paid job and refuse to understand that users are not programmers and not the computer's time is valuable, but the user's time is valuable. Paint.net is good, and will always be better then gimp, because any program is better then gimp. Even paint is better then gimp, because you can actually use it. The gimp is for wimps.

skizatch reviewed v2.63 on Jun 4, 2006

Oooookay Soulslayer.

SoulSlayer reviewed v2.62 on May 18, 2006

I don't understand what all the fuss is about... This is nowhere near Photoshop OR Paint Shop Pro. If you want a free image editor GIMP's as good as it gets. It has more functions than Paint.NET and is a HELLA lot faster. Yes, of course you can make gradients in Paint.NET. Just put 2 rectangles next to eachother and blur away. But in GIMP you'll get the gradient TOOL. In Paint.NET you have to click arrow buttons to move layers. In GIMP you can drag the layers. All very basic functions that Paint.NET should have but doesn't. And even if the day comes Paint.NET has all of GIMP's functions, I'll still use GIMP cuz Paint.NET will NEVER be faster than GIMP. Paint.NET is still better than Paint and the interface is nicer than GIMP's, that's all I can give ya.

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.62 on May 11, 2006

Awesome, use it all the time for regular tasks. very stable.

Win2k does not support the Imaging and Printing API required. (notice how if you print a picture in Paint.NET, it looks the same as the printing photos wizard that XP uses). This is why printing is not available in Win2k.

The XP userbase is HUGE, there is no way they will drop XP support when vista is released. Perhaps in 5 - 10 years maybee..

Whilst it's not photoshop, it does not pretend to be, it does a nice selection of tools, very well, and very nicely. It's ideal for the beginner, who would not stand a chance of getting anything done in Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or GIMP, due their complexities.

skizatch reviewed v2.62 on May 11, 2006

Who said anything about dropping support for Win2K? It works just fine in Win2K.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.62 on May 11, 2006

A great app. My one concern is how they dropped support for the newer versions of paint.net on W2K. Will they do they same for XP when Vista shows up?

W2K is still a MS supported OS, and it can run the latest .net framework.

thehunger reviewed v2.61 on Mar 30, 2006

Apparently an effort is underway to make this run on Mono, the .NET implementation for Linux. Porting would involve removing Windows-specific code and replacing it with new code for Mono on Linux.

Anyway, once it is ported to Linux it will really make an impression in those environments.

KAK reviewed v2.61 on Mar 30, 2006

VERY NICE WORK!
Respect to the Stundents °___°
This Fantastic piece of Software
is FREEWARE unbelievable!

Photoshop Setup 200-MB ($$$)
Paint.NET Setup 3,4-MB (FREE)

huppel reviewed v2.61 on Mar 30, 2006

Paint.net will take over from Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements on my machine as soon as it offers a "magnetic lasso" feature.

Madjock reviewed v2.61 on Mar 30, 2006

Impressive is the word that comes to mind, I don't have complex needs for my graphic apps, Paint Shop Pro 6 is what I usually need for image resizing and touchups, but Paint.Net is taking over.

huppel reviewed v2.61 on Mar 30, 2006

It will become my first and only choice as soon as it offers a magnetic lasso feature.

dono1216 reviewed v2.6 Final on Mar 12, 2006

very usable and stable. intuitive especially for beginners, but photoshop users like me are likely to keep this for quick editing.

Possible conflict with Windowblinds 5: include paint.net in the wb exclusion list and it'll work just fine.

urbanriot reviewed v2.6 Final on Mar 11, 2006

Excellent program for quick / lite photo editing. Loads up in 1/5 of the time it takes to load photoshop and is extremely stable.

MurrayH reviewed v2.6 Final on Mar 2, 2006

This is a great program, easy to use and navigate. A little slow at times (e.g. acquiring clipboard images) but on the whole a good product.

jermort reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 28, 2006

Still needs a lot of work!! Only took 45seconds to crash the program.
open a jpg for editing,
click file, edit
viola! crash

cybergen reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 26, 2006

Wow, for a free program this is excellent. Reminds of the bloat-freeness of uTorrent.

Having said that it does lack some basic features and I would reiterate what cowgaR said that I would have would have been included by version 2.6 of any program.

Can't beat the cost, file size and development activity. Well done all involved!

oomingmak reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 26, 2006

Very impressive (even more so given the fact that this program is free).

The program has not stagnated and seems to be actively developed, but the new features being added are forward looking and useful (e.g. 64bit support and resolution independent UI) rather than just a mass of useless bloat to bump the feature numbers up.

cowgaR reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

Best of the best =)

O.K. being honest, I would really like 'spray' tool added to this application + better function of red-eye removal tool. Free hand selection would also make me happy (I know I can use magic wand but..) and some better 'working' recolorer tool. So I could select one color, set tolerance like I can now, but begin to paint with another color this time with NO-SOLID color tone but with the same shades and lightness as the bottom color. So color change would not be such visible.

Cut->new image->paste will somewhat paste image with some offset most of the time.

But the most needed feature for me are some shade effects so I can shade image via some vector + better TEXT typing tool. Now, when I type a text in the image, the color and font and style of the font can only be changed till I switch to another tool (say pickcolor/selection). Then the font-position ability with all the features is lost in the layer. So if I won't start using another font layer, I cannot play with font much. But another layer is just a particular win (I can rotate font there) because once I switch back from typing it is again all lost, worser is that antialiasing isn't working the right job it would typing to another layer. Ability to rotate text would also make me smile (I can only position it after writing now).

In Paint Shop Pro you could allways select part of the text later and exchange the font or color. I would love to see it here.

jmbadger reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

It has been said of MS Office: "80% of users don't need 80% of the features, so why pay for them when you can use a free suite like Open Office?"

Exactly the same sentiments apply here. I have used Photoshop and as nice as it is, the only reason I'd use many of the features is to see what they do or show off to friends what I can do with Photoshop. Hundreds of templates, brushes, and special effects may be pretty or interesting, but for my needs it is overkill in the extreme.

Removing red-eye, adjusting the tint/hue, cutting out my sister's ex-husband from the family portrait—I can do it all with Paint dot NET for free.

skizatch reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

If you have a crash, instead of decorating this page with it, please report it in the forums, http://paintdotnet.12.forumer.com

Shadow Wing reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

To feverfive:

You might want to inspect/reinstall your OS, and/or make sure you have the lastest .NET (2.0) installed. Just about everyone else is able to install this program without any problems, so in all likelihood, your computer is at fault here, not Paint.NET.

This is a wonderful program, and free to boot. I'd give it a 10 if I could!

some guy reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

I think its the best free paint program out their.
Even being free I think it gives paintshop pro a grood run for their money,
1 adobe
2 jasc-coral
4 xara-Paint.net
my 2 cents

sn0wflake reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

Much better than the GIMP.

seier reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 25, 2006

If you can't get it to work, you might try installing the >net FrameWork 2.0. I'm not sure if that's the problem, but it seems like a likely cause :).

uberfly reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

McHale - ONE star due to a buggy installer for an app you'd otherwise rate a 5??? Put down the shotgun man.

McHale reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

Warning: There was a problem with 2.5 (for some people) where it won't uninstall to let you install 2.6. It has been fixed in 2.6 going forward but those upgrading from 2.5 may have the same problem I had.

To fix the problem, install this, uninstall Paint .NET 2.5 with this and reinstall 2.6.

http://support.microsoft...px?scid=kb;en-us;290301

Top Notch software. If this had a proper smudge tool and a spray paint tool, GiMP would be history.

Thanks Rick for pointing me to the fix and for another fine version of Paint .NET!

Das mod reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

to huppel

if you have access to Photoshop why then are you using Paint.NET .... ????

just because this FREE app. is missing a couple of tools is not worth awarding it such a low rating ....

go back to editing your porn pictures on photoshop :P

wincement reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

Outstanding application. Has a lot of features but is still light and fast.

sniggle reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

huppel: News flash... this isn't Photoshop. It's free. Get over it.

This app rocks for being a free alternative to paint, with way more features. Combine this with PhotoFiltre and you can do a whole lot of stuff that Photoshop can.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

Great app. We use heavily more and more.

gawd21 reviewed v2.6 Final on Feb 24, 2006

Still the best free photo editing software I have used. Thanks for all of the hard work.

yanike reviewed v2.6 RC1 on Feb 6, 2006

Great Program! I used Jasc Photoshop, Adobe CS2, Ulead and others. I still fall back on this one to get the job done. Awesome program, especially for making skins and program graphics. Resize tool is phenomenal! Recommend it for anyone who paints on a PC!

Patriots reviewed v2.6 RC1 on Jan 30, 2006

Great program. I really can't say one bad thing about it. I use it everday for skinning applications with no problems...Your right about photoshop being a better program. But, in all honesty; I have Corel graphics suite 12 and I still use this program along with Corel

skizatch reviewed v2.6 RC1 on Jan 30, 2006

Magic Wand works fine. Make sure your Tolerance isn't accidentally set to 100%, and read the Help file.

danilloOc reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 18, 2006

This is a great software, have many good features and it's have a great update routine.
I recomend it for sure.

markoX reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 18, 2006

This program is just great, but I think GIMP is even better... (and Photoshop is even better, but Photoshop is too expensive for average user.)

winterman reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 18, 2006

Well, talk about optimising your code.

This latest (2.6 beta 2) launches in 2 seconds on my 1.8Ghz Laptop and opened a 10Mb Image in an instant.

This baby is getting more and more powerful everytime they realease an update.

More file format support would be brilliant along with more plug-ins.

But hey for open source it is really starting to give the commercial apps (Paintshop pro etc) a really good run for their money.

SirDarius reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 18, 2006

Good and serious replacement to MS Paint, but not quite the GIMP or Photoshop yet.

The GUI is very clean, and having transparent dialogs is a very good idea.

One thing I don't like is the installation process... it's extremely slow and uses two different engines (NSIS and MSI... that's really contrived)

twosheds reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 18, 2006

Poor interface and far less powerful than the GIMP.

skizatch reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 17, 2006

That's because it's a beta. Final releases don't expire.

alberta expediter reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 17, 2006

Expires on 15/02/2006......ummmmmmmmmmm

AntiochMedia reviewed v2.6 Beta 2 on Jan 17, 2006

I would still appreciate limited PSD support - even if it is only for reading the PSD file as a composite or only reading certain layers. If Irfanview can view PSDs as a flat image, this should at least be available in PAINT.NET =)

AntiochMedia reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 Updated on Jan 4, 2006

This is a fantastic application, certainly one that I look forward to using in place of Photoshop in the future. As has been mentioned before, PSD support would take Paint.NET from being an awesome application to being an awesome free solution able to take the place of Photoshop for a large base of users who design web graphics and do not need many of Photoshop's specialist features.

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 on Jan 3, 2006

The speed of development on this is just incredible, it's awesome.

Fast, stable, and full of features, this is definitely the best photo manipulation app of it's kind. When it finally implements vector image support, I can drop adobe photoshop as well

googun reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 on Jan 3, 2006

This is an excellent piece of software, particularly considering its short development cycle and the fact that it started out as a classroom project. It is often compared with Paintshop and Photoshop, but this misses the point of Paint.Net. Paint.Net is designed to provide features that ordinary people are likely to need for photo-editing, in a way that is easy to understand and use. Hence the apparent paucity of options and settings. It was never intended to mirror every feature of, or compete with, PhotoShop.

Considering the software in accordance with its design brief, it succeeds very well. Given the lightning speed of its development by a handful of students for free, one has to wonder why Paintshop and Photoshop development is so grindingly slow.

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 on Jan 3, 2006

laxmikantb4u, your reviews are a joke. Your giving it a 2* rating, and admit you havn't even looked at Paint.NET!! Paint.NET and Picasa are not even the same type of program. Picasa is for photo indexing, and touchups, Paint.NET is a full blown graphics package!!!

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 on Jan 3, 2006

This product has about as much to do with picasa as Firefox has to do with filezilla. Please don't rate products you neither understand nor use. kthz

utomo reviewed v2.6 Beta 1 on Jan 3, 2006

Good at it is improved from version to version.

what need to improve :
- Support PSD, which is a famous file format.
- Better tools such as easier to use red ey removal tools.
and more functions.

imanino reviewed v2.6 Alpha 2 on Dec 25, 2005

I would compare this to MS Paint, but mommy says not to take advantage of the disabled. I'll just say it's better.
What I want to comment on though, is the autoupdate system. I'd say if the paint thing doesn't work out, sell that model and interface to Microsoft as the substitute for the nightmare that is their own autoupdate system and your fortunes will be made. Good job.

cowgaR reviewed v2.6 Alpha 2 on Dec 20, 2005

bobad, you're doing red-eye with airbrush? Can you provide me some help on it? I been using this program heavily last few days, found a few bugs there (interface not displaying current selection/progress, cut/new/paste is not what I would like or sometimes it 'moves' image on paste) and I had a hard time with RED-EYE reduction. It almost was no help as it wasn't working, at the maximum it could throw some black pixels. So I solved it via saturize/lightness color tools. But i would like to get some amateur info on other way to do it...I TOTALY! need 3 tools:

1. this airbrush(I think), so I could fill area with particular color only slighlty, e.g. no SOLID FILL and complete change of saturation

2. a tool which could alias edges with a pen, today I do it with selection, resize, inverse, blur, but its not convenient. And some option to say Pain.NET how it aliases, I understand that it allways alias everything that I am working with, e.g. each layer. Any help here?

3. and the most needed, hand drawn selection. I can't find any, and its a hard time allways doing it with pickcolor!

And it would be AWESOME to add user buttonbar with some user-defined actions, sometimes I almost exlusively using mouse and I am FREEZED going to MENU->Edit->Inverse Selection when I can't press CTRL+I on keyboard.

All in all a *very* nice program, those who say it's better than Windows Paint haven't seen Paint for a while :-) It's HELL of a better !!! It is another league! Last day I found out that it is quite fast when working with effects and others(almost no kernel time usage), althought I would like more effects to come, glass effect is really really weeeak and PLEASE give me BETTER LAYER ZOOM, with +/- sign in lower steps.

And last but not least, I was doing some background, cca 10 layers, 1280 size, cca 7 hours (I am a coder not artist:-) and 2.5 version (I assume that even if 2.6 is called ALPHA it can be the same) it:

1. Haven't crashed at all, been rock stable, ALLWAYS cleared memmory

2. Eat at minimum 80MB, BUT AT MAXIMUM ONLY 130 MB PEAK which is great!!!

3. I LOVE THIS PROGRAM, it's free, and It is using .NET which I love (and code in).

WAY TO GO Paint.NET guys! Thank you.

bobad reviewed v2.6 Alpha 2 on Dec 20, 2005

I agree the screen shot is bad. The author forgot to show the SS at full size. If he is that careless, what else did he forget in the program?

I couldn't find the airbrush, but found the paint brush and flood fill tool's textures to be a fair substitute. There is no real substitute for an airbrush. Sometimes you have to do redeye with an airbrush because the color of the redeye is not really red. So I'm lobbying for an air brush!

Calling "desaturate" "black-and-white" is dumbing down the program. The author will now have to find dumb people to use it.

There is a golden opportunity for the authors to offer average people a nice photo editor/paint program without all the garbage. Unfortunately, the author is making the program non-standard by breaking with standard naming conventions, and withholding standard tools like the air brush.

Maybe I'm getting excited over nothing, because Paint.NET _IS_ still an alpha.

Banquo reviewed v2.6 Alpha 2 on Dec 20, 2005

Nice little paint alternative, getting better with each release. Siyavash, you're giving this progam a bad review because of the screenshot? That's dumb.

Tx3 reviewed v2.6 Alpha 2 on Dec 20, 2005

Program is light-weighted so it's very good for small & fast editing. Updating to new version is made easy and updates are released often. Very good program! :)

UNprofessional reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 18, 2005

Install & run okay on P3 XP Pro. Had to download .NET framework from MS and then several MS updates to the .NET framework. No spy/ad-ware detected. Difficult for me to figure out but my 3-y/o was able to create a couple nice pieces. Better than the Paint program that comes bundled with MS OS. Have used for freehand drawing but not for photo editing, (Picasa2 is a great free PE). More features than I am used to for a free drawing program but need to play, (or read), to figure out more of these features. Overall, this is a great program!

ahjefri reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 14, 2005

I like this program , but it seem to me that erase is bit annoying , I do not have choice to use trasparent of solid background, when you delete you got the grid,, I have to close it and open it again when dealing with BMP that does not support transparent.

bobad reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 13, 2005

Hey! I can now install and test this exciting software! I wasn't about to re-install the old implementation of DotNET Framework just to test 1 paint program/editor! That said, I only have 3 complaints with this alpha release, and I'm sure the developers know about them. The GUI took a huge step backward. The icons and boxes look fat, smudged, and like they are "bleeding" blue ink. Ak! What's that about? Gone is the crisp, clean GUI that attracted me to this program in the first place. Strangely, I can not find a spray paint icon. I know there must be one, but why is it so hard to find? The redeye feature didn't work so great. I played with the tolerance and saturation, but no go. Admittedly my subject's red eyes were on the orange side, but my other editor handled it OK. I REALLY like the alpha blended tool boxes. I give the program a 3.6/5. Restore the GUI to its original quality, make a prominent Spray Paint icon, tweak up the redeye, and it gets a 5/5!

Webprofusion reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 13, 2005

Excellent Stuff. Would like to see effects as plugin I could download of a central website as the current set are fairly limited (need bevel, shadow?). Number one feature I would like to see before I can ditch psp would be MDI or document Tabs - just being able to open multiple images in the same app window. When working with several images (or using app as a viewer) this would be great. Like many people my number one use of this kind of app is opening/converting/modifying/resizing images so the ability to open more than one image at a time is a must. Looking good though, and performance seems to be improving.

cowgaR reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 12, 2005

I love this project, but..

I've given 2.5 final a harder try, e.g. actually tried to do something. Because in past I just install/uninstall it, I thought it had very limited capabilities, say much much lower than PSP70.

What I found is, it can actually be more powerful than one would thought (like it CAN work with layers, just via little tool at the bottom, no menu or additional buttons :-). I'd been finnaly grasped by some inner logic, e.g. cuting/pasting or resizing canvas etc etc.

Just give me more effects and more tools, but keep the simplicity please. I think the only 'bad' thing ppl feel(and I felt too) is, that it is so simple yet powerful. The one needs to understand it ALL can be done via this simple interface, which in the end is great. love the undo feature, nicely done, bring me more such goodies in copy/paste to transparent image and correctly resize it, or some more inteligent working with selections and coordinates navigations and some other $$$ goodies. The best way I would develop it is to take interface of PaintShopPro 6 or 7 which I L O V E D, and implement some smart things from them. Because todays Photoshops or Corel PSP X bigas releases and their context-menu on everything or dozens of buttons etc have their magic, but power of simplicity of PSP6 can be reborn!

1 point off because my CPU is having a very hard time using this progie, constant 60-70% CPU usage just free-hand DRAWING on small(1024*768) image with one color, and more to CPU in some other cases. One would expect this when working with effects, not when working with paintbrush. Note that the Paint.NET is blazing fast despite its CPU usage.

utomo reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 12, 2005

What need to improve:
- Support for windows 98. because still many win 98 user. I believe many people will love it. and it is possible. I know it need more work.
- Why the minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution, how about 800x600 ? and better if can reduce the minimum processor requirement to 300Mhz instead of 400 Mhz.
- Please support scanning on windows 2000 too.
- Add crop tool. so people will less confuse.
- Use visual studio 2005. from Now visual studio 2003 will not be available in the market.
- Please add link to download the alpha or beta source code, so others can see and improve too.
and other improvements

if you want to suggest or report the bugs, go to http://paintdotnet.12.forumer.com/

horsecharles reviewed v2.6 Alpha 1 on Dec 12, 2005

This version's plethora of innovations should silence the last holdout doubters fer sher.....
Hearty congrats.

Polychronopolis reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

This program is becoming quite interesting and I am very happy to see it continue.

To all reviewers who are knocking on the various .Net frameworks.

1. You can have several versions of .Net framework simultaneously installed. (1.0, 1.1, and 2.0)
2. Most applications using .Net framework are built using Visual Studio. Each version of VS tends to use a different version of .NetFW. Developers of freeware do not always have the money to purchase upgrades to VS. (VS2000 uses .NetFW 1.0, VS2003 uses .NetFW 1.1, VS2005 uses 2.0) Applications do not smoothly transfer between different vesions of the framework. (Thx Mi¢®o$oft!)
3. .Net is relatively new and Betanews has not adequately prepared their site for **any** requirements that an application can have. Do not blame the developers for problems that arise on a review site.

5 stars to a freeware application developed by Washington State University students!!

roj reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

I like this app - it works as advertised and is fast. It's got a simple to use UI and while it's no Photoshop, it sure competes well with midline apps, even without the free price sticker.

Five stars.

Regarding the .Net nonsense:

If you have your shorts in a bunch, run BOTH versions. You actually CAN do that. I personally don't see a reason to run out and install the latest and greatest verison of .NET just yet, but then again I'm a seasoned user who knows better than to grab the newest candy just because it's there.

BobTheVeg reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

bobad: You could review the product, and not the requirements

And fyi, Description of a product does not include the requirements.

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

Awesome, final version, finally!

Lucky for me, I havent upd8ed to .NET 2.0 just yet, I'm waiting for all my fav apps to catch up to eliminate unncessary bugs.

If they just add .ai support I can dump my "pirated haxxored" copy of Photoshop forever!!!

Kudos to all the authors.

ahjefri reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

I am very impressed by this product ,, I think the auther has put a lot of time to come with this powerfull image editor yet simple to use, very clever ideas , I think this is a true pick for People who is not very sophisticated into photoshop, but they want to create good stuff. Best of all it's free, to me it is must have product , I will add it to total commander, ad muncher, and astonshell ,,

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

Awesome product. puts all other non-payware graphics packages to shame.

Ignore the comments about .NET framwrok support. It clearly states framework 1.1SP1 is required, anyone complaining about it not installing with .NET V2.0 is an idiot who has problems understanding basic concepts like "Requires .NET Framework 1.1".

V2.6 will support Framework V2.0

Bachalor reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 28, 2005

Nice idea, thanks to the author(s) for this freeware.

razorhasyou reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 27, 2005

Sure it's good for being free and all, but it's not even close to Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop in features. Also, the developer can't make the setupfile install the program if you only have Net Framework 2.0. And this really blows. At least they could offer a compressed version for people who doesn't want to install it, since it works perfectly not installed (Had to install it on my old computer and copy the whole folder to my computer running windows xp x64 with framework2).

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.5 Final on Nov 27, 2005

Quality. We use in our enterprise. Saves us thousands in licensing.

AskyBgr8@aol.com reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 19, 2005

I am using this program to size my Ebook covers.
I can even change the background color to one even tone. My covers are original and creative as I can make them. I place JPEG's on top!

It is the best method I've found. It could use more special effects I could apply to JPEG's. Then I would not have to depend on any other software product. I suggest looking around at all that can be done.

Thanx - Chaplain Winston

photonboy reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 18, 2005

Has potential.

the_root reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 17, 2005

It is a great program, but a word of caution. For some reason, when I uninstalled the last version, it left a lot of clutter on my machine. I had to do a lot of registry cleaning to get it all out.
Perhaps something just went wrong with my uninstall, but it did happen.

wincement reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 17, 2005

Excellent program. It provides a very realistic alternative to Photoshop IMO, and you can't beat the price.

@ ModderXManiac:

It requires .Net 1.1 at the moment. I only had .Net 2.0 installed on one computer, and it popped up asking me to install 1.1. They plan to release a version next summer that won't be dependent on 1.1 at all.

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 17, 2005

Drastic and muuch required updates each and everytime, I'm glad to see this out of alpha stage, and very much looking forward to the final version..

has anyone tested this on .NET 2.0?

GeorgeSantayana reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 14, 2005

Different versions of the .NET framework are designed to be installed and run concurrently. Not working on .NET 2.0 should be a nonissue unless you do something foolish like uninstall .NET 1.1.

ModderXManiac: Let me help you feel at home with open source. The source is available, the programmers have conveniently separated out all the Windows platform specific calls so that it can be ported to Mono. Fix it yourself.

kise reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 14, 2005

For people who dosn't want use/understand .NET Framework, Go and buy yourself a java or *nix computer or something, the rest of us i guess using loves an optimiezed framework faster then Java and faster then several nonnative languages.

Second of all, this is open source, so don't complain about lacking support for old framework 1.1.

Kramy reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 13, 2005

bobad, it is very clearly stated - I saw, and I didn't even download this!

What would you rather have - giant red letters in the installer?

"OMG you have .net 2.0 - install .net 1.1 or this will get buggered!"

skizatch reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 13, 2005

bobad, You've already made your opinion known. Give it a rest already.

"Still won't run on the current version of .NET framework!" Yes, and you've been told many times WHY, and also that a .NET 2.0 based version is in the works. What more do you want? Software engineering, testing, and validation take time. Read up on all the breaking changes between .NET 1.1 and 2.0 over here: http://msdn.microsoft.co...es/runtime/default.aspx

"The authors should state this limitation." While I disagree that it's a "limitation," it's stated very clearly on the app's website, and there is a very clear FAQ entry about it as well.

So what's the real problem here?

Adrian79 reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 13, 2005

I had to remove .net 2.0...went back 2 1.1 because my ATI control center was not enjoying it much ;-)

httpd.confused reviewed v2.5 Release Candidate 1 on Nov 13, 2005

How funny is this quote from bobad's review?

"It's insane to install an old version of .NET just to run 1 program. All my other .NET programs run great on either version."

If all your other applications run fine with .NET 1.1, then why did you install .NET 2.0? Just run .NET 1.1 and you will have no reason to complain. You will be able to run Paint.NET, and all your other applications will "run great". Seems simple to me.

Besides, they provide a very good reason for their .NET requirements.

Paint.NET works fine with .NET 1.1. Microsoft released .NET 2.0 final only a couple weeks ago.

You installed .NET 2.0 for no real reason.

You uninstalled .NET 1.1 for no real reason. (Given that it can be run alongside 2.0.)

Yet, because of something Microsoft did, and your own inability to run your system, you rate Paint.NET down?

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

Excellent, Gimp is pretty dire in comparison.

PS. There is a .NET framework implementation for linux, it's called mono. .NET language although created by MS, is open and ratified standard.

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

.NET framework is the weakness of this app. Its the reason that this app lacks the ability to seamlessly work on multiple platforms.

Which is where the Gimp is ahead.

C'mon, all thru version 1 of OpenOffice, they used Java code, and it proved to be a bad idea, so version two dropped Java completely and now uses C++ and Python.

This is an excellent app, nontheless, I just wish they wouldnt require the use of a programming language created by a monopoly *cough* MICROSOFT!

The essence of Open-source is primarily multi-platform support.

bangbang023 reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

It's sad that this app's rating is hurt by reviewers not having an understanding of the .Net Framework. It's an excellent app and I'm glad to see more people pushing .net based applications out the door. Kudos.

skizatch reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

bobad, It requires .NET 1.1 for compatibility and stability reasons (is that a "good enough reason" ?). .NET 2.0 does not supercede .NET 1.1 in the way that, for example, DirectX 9 supercedes DirectX 8. There will be a .NET 2.0-based release in January. In the meantime, just install both versions of .NET.

bobad reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

Still does not work with the current version of the .NET framework. Is that as lame and inexcusable as it seems, or is the Paint.NET team hanging on to the obsolete version of .NET for a good reason? .NET framework is OK with me, there are many fine new apps coded using it. (C# comes to mind) However, it's insane to install an old version of .NET just to run 1 program. All my other .NET programs run great on either version.

kebabi reviewed v2.5 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2005

"I just wish there was a version that didn't require that .Net crap."
Did you read the name of the program?
It's called Paint.NET, what does .net mean to you?
Anyways, I like it and I don't have anything bad to say about .net.

ye110mann reviewed v2.5 Beta 4 on Oct 28, 2005

Strike 1: Requires the .Net Framework.
Strike 2: Requires .Net Framework 1.1.
Otherwise it's great. I just wish there was a version that didn't require that .Net crap.

bobad reviewed v2.5 Beta 4 on Oct 17, 2005

Excellent program. Beautiful GUI, and a great balance of small program size and features. Why the mediocre rating? Because Paint.Net does not work with the latest .net framework! Figure that one out boys and girls! I will continue to use my favorite, PhotoFiltre, for now until the grevious oversight is fixed. It's a little better progam than Paint.Net anyway, plus it runs from a single EXE file!

brotherS reviewed v2.5 Beta 3 on Oct 14, 2005

Stable and intuitive software, I like it!

unikum reviewed v2.5 Beta 3 on Oct 12, 2005

Why all this expires date every time?

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Beta 3 on Oct 10, 2005

"Improved GIF save quality"
"Text Tool's rendering now uses GDI instead of GDI+, which results in much more consistent (better) quality "
"Text Tool is now optimized for dual core and dual processor systems"
"Optimized memory usage in some areas"
"Performance improved in some areas"

I've been tracking progress on this for about 7 months, and it has come a long way!
It's Faster than Adobe Photoshop, free, and just as functional. This is the OpenOffice of photo manipulating applications.
WUNDERBAR!!!

^_^

McHale reviewed v2.5 Beta 2 on Oct 8, 2005

Been using Paint .Net for a few months now. Considering I'm not a profesional graphic artist, I can't find a better product for the basic graphic stuff I do. Magic wand, layers, aquire from scanner... I'm happy.

Tried GIMP for about a month. H A T E D it... Came back to Paint .Net with no regrets.

bunghole reviewed v2.5 Beta 2 on Oct 7, 2005

Agree with all the others...needs MDI...Open Source done as it should be done...GIMP sucks...

kprovance reviewed v2.5 Beta 2 on Oct 5, 2005

Wow. Awesome job.

benZin reviewed v2.5 Beta 2 on Oct 5, 2005

Tremendous and thorough. Mi@m!

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Beta 2 on Oct 5, 2005

Removing anti aliasing was a good move, so now you can actually see the raw quality.

This is the OpenOffice of all photo manipulation utilities. Exceptionally better than Adobe Photoshop, considering the pricetag. ^^

cool_guy reviewed v2.5 Beta 1 on Oct 4, 2005

Five stars but MDI is a must.

Lisa Hayes reviewed v2.5 Beta 1 on Oct 3, 2005

no MDI [multiple document interface] support...

benZin reviewed v2.5 Beta 1 on Oct 3, 2005

Yeaaaah! With photofiltre, the best!

ModderXManiac reviewed v2.5 Beta 1 on Oct 3, 2005

This is the OpenOffice of all image-manipulation applications.

This is the official the open-source killer to Adobe Photoshop.

5 stars.

benZin reviewed v2.5 Alpha 3 on Sep 20, 2005

Yeap, excellent!! Great program!!

gawd21 reviewed v2.5 Alpha 3 on Sep 20, 2005

This and Gimp ... I like Adobe , but I hate the cost. Love Paint.net and Gimp.

benZin reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 16, 2005

Je me rattrape !!! Useless?? Noo, what the hell.. I used this prog and i though, AW!! Very very very gooooood. Sorry but Merci. And leave your Job.

heyupandy reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

its been a while since i've used paint.net and i've got to say...major improvements!!! great features and easy to use and get used to :) keep it up dudes

dpmcenderfer reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

Hey Sybs... did you notice on the install that you had the option not to automatically check for updates. (a.k.a. 'virus')

Noob.

bobad reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

Nice program! I think it has all the features that 90% of users will ever need. 1 point off for the ugly truck in the screen shot, 1 point awarded for a change log! Keep up the good work guys!

cool_guy reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

Great program, easy to use but needs MDI.

Sybs reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

Since it's open source we should try to modify the virus in it to just email DarkMana.

Great program though.

soots reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

nice but needs to have fucus command with it

Kramy reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

Awesome image editting software! Took me about two minutes to figure everything out. Gets better every version, and I can't wait for v2.2(or that magic v3.0)!

To the guy below, I haven't noticed any odd connection activity on my computer...

DarkMana reviewed v2.2 Alpha 2 on Sep 8, 2005

omg u should not use this i herd from my friend who works in computers that it has a virus inside of it and when you run it the virus inside of it will email all of your friends and tell them they are g**. don say i dint warnn you

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.2 Alpha 1 on Aug 30, 2005

We use this in our law firm. It's saved us tens of thousands in license fees! Thanks MS!

RWW reviewed v2.2 Alpha 1 on Aug 30, 2005

After all this time I am still learning Photoshop and PSP. Decided to bring this up just to see if I could use it and was amazed how quickly I could accomplish something I had struggled with before. The only drawback is that I had to reload .Net 1.
Small price to pay, though. Excellent program!

guitardave78 reviewed v2.2 Alpha 1 on Aug 30, 2005

If you look at this product for what it is, it is fantastic. It is meant to be a halfway house between the pathetic ms paint software and the high end stuff like paint shop and photoshop.
It has a lot of features and is quite fast.
It is also free.

I would recomend it for people who want more power and flexibility than ms paint, don't want to pay or don't need hte features of paintshop or photoshop and don't get on with GIMP (again great but just can not get on with the interface!!)

Keep it up!!

ptolemy reviewed v2.1b on Aug 15, 2005

Yup, it's Paint. Dot Netted. And it's almost Paint Shop Pro. Woopdeedoo. How about only telling us about v2.5 or v3? Hmmmm?

Mark Gillespie reviewed v2.1b on Aug 15, 2005

Errm, hasn't V2.1b been out since MAY?? Hardly new...

"Too resource hungry due to .NET"

Does this guy know anything about .NET? Apparently not... Go and read up on .NET resource usage, and performance compared to Win32 apps.

You will see, that altough .NET apps take a while longer to start (as the .NET VM has to initialise), .NET apps have massive performance gains over Win32 apps, and the resource usage is far less... (and shared between other .NET apps).

guti reviewed v2.1b on Aug 13, 2005

Mark Gillespie, I have developed using C# and C++, and they are not comparable.

C++ is a lot of faster. C#, is at the execution speed of Visual Basic 6.

Geckoboy86 reviewed v2.1b on Aug 13, 2005

I really like this program. I do not have photoshop because I dont like it. It seems to confuse me. This Paint.NET is like MS paint and photoshop combined into a feature rich and easy to use program.

benZin reviewed v2.1b on Aug 13, 2005

Useless.

Tal_Kohn reviewed v2.1b on Aug 13, 2005

Very Light And Easy To Use Compared To Other "Big Guns" In The Industry...

Highly Recommended And You Can't Beat The Value....

mcm reviewed v2.1b on Aug 12, 2005

Hopefully this will replace Microsoft Paint on Windows Vista.

AntiochMedia reviewed v2.1b on Aug 12, 2005

At the moment, I see no reason to switch from Photoshop CS2 to Paint.NET as I require many of PS's features for my work with digital photography editing, however, I follow Paint.NET closely and enjoy testing new versions.

It's a damned impressive program, especially for being free. You really cannot beat Paint.NET for value, ease-of-use, and especially for giving to friends and family who want to start using their computers for image editing & manipulation. It's user friendly and has a great interface.

I cannot wait to see this project grow and grow!

bobad reviewed v2.1b on Aug 12, 2005

Last time I used it, Paint.net was a nice program. However, this version will not install on the latest version of Dot Net! I guess that's excusable,,, if the guys hurry up and fix it. :)

The screen shot is the same size as the little preview shot above. Come on guys! Wake up! :)

Lammikko reviewed v2.1b on Aug 4, 2005

Really promising. Resembles old Paint Shop Pro versions in a good way. Without .NET installation and with more nternationalization support this would be just excellent.

joeastacy reviewed v2.1b on Jul 8, 2005

1. The price is right. (Unlike Photoshop)
2. It is intuitive. (Unlike GIMP)
3. The GUI is great. (Like Paintshop, refer to 1)
4. I can train users in 30 min. or less
5. It is exactly what I needed.

imanino reviewed v2.1b on Jun 13, 2005

Great for a beta. I kept getting a bug when playing around with the resizing program but in any case this is leaps and bounds past the pitiful paint program that Microsoft has been plaming off for years without much of an upgrade. Maybe outsourcing does have its advantages.

skizatch reviewed v2.1b on May 13, 2005

Hey zridling, the reason it doesn't have the features of high-end photo editing programs is because it is not a high-end photo editing program :) The lack of an "Options" dialog is deliberate, but the desire to have it remember the last font is a valid one so we're going to consider it for the next release.

zridling reviewed v2.1b on May 13, 2005

It's definitely an improvement on MS Paint, but doesn't provide near the features of a high-end photo-editing program. Anyone else notice there's no "Options" to adjust anything with? What if I don't want to use Arial font every time I open the program? Oy.

[Addendum: thanks skizatch, you're right!]

UTAKER reviewed v2.1a on May 5, 2005

Neat
Free
Fast
Easy
It seems like the way they are developing, it might become a rival to The GIMP (free), Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro very soon

mutara reviewed v2.1 on May 3, 2005

May not reach the quantity of functions of, say, The GIMP, but what counts for me is the user interface. Here it is mostly self-explaining and straightforward, whereas The GIMP's user interface - if u can even call it that way - gives me the creeps.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2.1 on May 2, 2005

Were it not free and open source I'd give it a four. The value is just astounding however and approaches gimp levels. Amazing for how quick they've worked on it.

skizatch reviewed v2.1 on May 1, 2005

shicaca, I don't know what kind of system you're using but on mine it's very fast and responsive. No lag anywhere, and it starts up almost instantly with pretty much any image.

shicaca reviewed v2.1 on May 1, 2005

I installed it and deleted it right after that.

First off it takes forever to open a simple bmp file. I'm not talking a huge one either ... just under a meg. My computer can open the same file in a program MS Office had installed in less than 5 seconds (and that's without the program already running). Paint.NET took like 10 or so (after the program had fully already opened and I used the "File-Open" command!) All the time spent was in the rendering of the picture.

I'm not sure how long this program has been developed, but I have at least three programs that are better -- by far -- and the only program that I really think it is better than is MS Paint (and not by much because Paint can open the bmp file faster too).

I'm not saying speed is everything, but it puts a bad taste in my mouth.

ANOTHER PROBLEM: When using the paintbrush function, there is a noticeable lag between the stroke and when the program actually places the mark on the image.

I may install again in a few years, but as of right now the program (sorry) kind of blows.

hkm reviewed v2.1 on Apr 30, 2005

Cool prog. Hint -- downloads can be slow, so use a download manager like FlashGet.

theheff reviewed v2.1 on Apr 30, 2005

The amount of work these guys put into this program really shows. Without a doubt superior to mspaint, and it can perform a lot of photoshop tasks.

utomo reviewed v2.1 RC1 on Apr 27, 2005

They need to add the feature list at the website
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/features.htm

Add more photo tools:
resizing, add custome frame, watermark, etc.
including the batch processing.

GeneralLeoFF reviewed v2.1 Beta 3 on Apr 13, 2005

This is a good program but it is geting to complex to be usefull as a basic MS paint replacment.

MS paint is about simple editing and cut/paste jobs like print screening a program to take a quick and simple screenshot. The only change I want to see done to MS Paint is adding animated gif creation, transparent gif creation, better PNG (including transparency), and full MNG creation. The main GUI should remain 100% unchanged.

bobad reviewed v2.1 Beta 2 on Apr 6, 2005

Very nice paint program, with fairly capable photo editing. This is a nice release, and runs very smoothly. The only seriously competing free programs are PhotoFiltre and gIMP. I consider PhotoFiltre to be the best in this class. Although I think gIMP a good program, it's a confusion of windows popping up all over the place, and that ruins it for me (YMMV). Since Paint.NET is an ongoing school project, I think development will continue be rapid and keep getting better. I hope the project manager hates bloat, because Paint.NET is getting a little fat. We do not need another bloated PSP or PhotoShop. Try Paint.NET, and I think you will like it.

Ziad270 reviewed v2.1 Beta 1 on Mar 30, 2005

Free...OpenSource...
I love it...the problem was the ressources needed to use it..it seems far better.

Ziad O'hanlon

TomRC reviewed v2.1 Beta 1 on Mar 30, 2005

Fabulous piece of software. This version brings a significant improvement in startup time.
It does exactly what it promises. Its a better
alternative to the classic MS Paint. And i just
want to say Paint.NET is in a too early
development stage for comparing it with PSP or GIMP or whatever.

I cant imagine why the rating is that bad. Maybe
the betanews user are rating it more strictly because it was under the guidance from Microsoft? ;)

Dave_Man reviewed v2.1 Beta 1 on Mar 30, 2005

Why not just use gIMP???

glaniator reviewed v2.1 Alpha 3 on Mar 16, 2005

Lower memory usage
Getting rid of the "flicker" when a selection is under a floating window!

allsiante reviewed v2.1 Alpha 3 on Mar 15, 2005

I tried some versions up to now, and I still find it painfully slow. It will probably gain more features later so I won't complain about the lack of them. In my opinion, as someone who knows gimp fairly well, this one is a very long way behind gimp in many aspects, no matter what anti-gimp guys say.

The day when they make it run with mono I'll give it a 5.

GeorgeSantayana reviewed v2.1 Alpha 3 on Mar 15, 2005

This program has replaced all of my second-tier image editing programs. My appraisal of the developers is certainly not second-tier, though! I'm astonished at the pace of development, and I can easily envision a day in the not-so-distant future when this program stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Photoshop.

The UI of this program is what impresses me more than anything else. All of the features seem just so intuitive; I've never found myself fighting it--unlike, incidently, The GIMP.

tigger4046 reviewed v2.1 Alpha 2 on Mar 15, 2005

Love the layout and speed, but not to happy i have to click on BROWSE to navigate where to save the file other than a default setting. At least with MSpaint when you click SAVE as it says okay, choose the directory. Other than that, I can hardly wait for it's next release.

donpacman reviewed v2.1 Alpha 2 on Mar 2, 2005

System Resources...WOW

DiGiTaLFX reviewed v2.1 Alpha 1 on Jan 25, 2005

Can't say i'm too impressed to be honest. Admittedly its much better than MS Paint, and the interface is very swish (people should take a lesson from these guys in their attention to detail - best was dialogs going translucent when over work, but then normal with out mouse over them!) but its just not my cup of tea. I feel I can achieve much more with the GIMP, which has a less interesting interface, but much more intuitive and usable once (despite just having the windows float about rather than being part of a main program window).

Anyway nothing bad about this. just nothing particularly useful for me.

ramian reviewed v2.1 Alpha 1 on Jan 25, 2005

Really love Paint.NET.
It'd be perfect if it had a color picker like Paint has. Perhaps, the user should be given the choice of having the color circle or a fixed set of colors to choose from. It becomes a tad complicated to pick a particular color from the circle after having chosen it earlier. Perhaps, the last 5 or 10 selected colors could be kept in memory in a selection box. If a Paint-like selection list was added, then it could also include a custom color selection list. Also would be good if it had a proper bezier curve tool and a faster startup time.

LordJezo reviewed v2.1 Alpha 1 on Jan 25, 2005

Does this thing have a tool similar to Photoshop's magic wand?

Besides for that this is a great freeware tool. Might be replacing The Gimp on my PC because it is just so easy to use!

Pipewrench reviewed v2.0 on Dec 20, 2004

This is awesome.

What's funny is that this is similar to Paint Shop Pro. I'd rather use this than "Gimp 2.0".

It's really a darn good free product. I can't say much else. It's just good.

TomRC reviewed v2.0 on Dec 20, 2004

Wow, this is a nice one. Does exactly what it says.
A free and enhanced alternative to the standard paint application. I think i gonna stick with this for small jobs i usually did with the standart paint.
Espacially the layer and history support are very nice.

The only flaw is that there are still some small bugs. For example it gots problems with maximizing itself on my system.

Valathax reviewed v2 Alpha 4 on Dec 11, 2004

Great Product, using version 1.1 in Terminal Services for 70 people and it works great.

Neoanarchist reviewed v2 Alpha 4 on Dec 1, 2004

in answer to all the "uses up too much memory":

-Limit History Length
-For those worried about using up all their memory

maybe you ought to try that.

shiften reviewed v2 Alpha 4 on Nov 30, 2004

I would like to point out that they pretty much just copied Paint Shop Pro's interface, the buttons especially.

Jaz-M-Taz reviewed v2 Alpha 4 on Nov 30, 2004

Great program with a lot of great features, but has a very large memory footprint.

Vantorax reviewed v2 Alpha 3 on Nov 16, 2004

Very impressive! Great job and keep it up!!

ddrcoder reviewed v2 Alpha 3 on Nov 16, 2004

Glad to see so many people are trying the program, and that they are enjoying it.

EdenAdore: Paint.NET does support external filters. Check out our website. The Effects API is fully accessible and easy to program. This hasn't been a feature for a long time, however, so we don't have too many effects, but they're on the way.

Maverick16: Thanks, glad you like it. Yes, C# & .NET are great for coding, and they result in rather high memory usage.

ckjnigel: That's your problem. :)

sheppe: It has a text tool now, and while this is a little bit of a way away from MDI, you can use multiple copies of Paint.NET at once, and this is fully supported.

-Tom Jackson, Paint.NET co-developer

donpacman reviewed v2 Alpha 3 on Nov 16, 2004

Nice memory pig.

AntiochMedia reviewed v2 Alpha 3 on Nov 15, 2004

I am very impressed with this program. Every last element has been carefully designed to be user friendly.

The idea for the tools, layers window, and history window turning transparent when not selected are fantastic and lacking in Photoshop.

While the application does lack the ability to open multiple files simultaneously, is not as optimized as Adobe Photoshop, and could definately benefit from the ability to use External Filters - it is only on a 3rd milestone and is already an extremely usable alternative to Photoshop for businesses and individuals unable to purchase a license (or pirate) Adove Photoshop (or Corel PhotoDoodledoo).

Maverick_16 reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Oct 2, 2004

SERIOUS: A+++++ to Rick et al. Paint.Net is a clear example on how students may surpasse teachers :) . A message to the team (pdn2?): learn from them but don't become one of them !!!

NOT SO SERIOUS: no wonder ms software is sooo bloated as ms uses such gorgious models for the developers so they keep coding and coding and coding and coding...

ckjnigel reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Oct 2, 2004

Great! But how do I get the chick in this photo to tutor me in the finest points?

sheppe reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Sep 30, 2004

A nice light graphics application that could be good for those who don't have the time to learn the ins-and-outs of a commercial application. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an MDI interface, which means that you are contrained to working on one image per application instance. Also, its text tool could stand to be a little more flexible. Aside from those items, though, this seems to be a very good freeware graphics editor.

DigitalSin reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Sep 30, 2004

Very nice. Light and easy to use

donpacman reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Sep 29, 2004

"second that"
Great program!

virtorio reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Sep 29, 2004

Impressive set of features for a free image editor. Now if only I had some graphical talant.

noredspoon reviewed v1.1 RC1 on Sep 29, 2004

Not bad at all! I'm very impressed with the lightweight feature set. It keeps the old familiar strongholds and adds some very useful features. It's definitely worth a shot! See what you think