Paint.NET is a free pixel-based image editor that has a strong community around it. It isn't as powerful as GIMP, but its more coherent interface means that many users favor it.
The learning curve isn't as steep GIMP or the other popular image editor, Adobe Photoshop, but for a complete newcomer to any form of image editor, it can still take some time to get to grips with the application.
Here we take a quick look around the user interface to give an overview of the different tools and features available and where they are found.
Paint.NET has four floating palettes which can be opened and closed through the Window menu, these being Tools, Layers, History and Colors. The palettes can be set to appear semi-transparent when not being used by going to Window > Translucent. At the top of the window is the Menu Bar that includes access to those features not in the floating palettes and the most commonly used have dedicated buttons in the bar immediately below the menu. Below that is the Tool Options Bar.
Tools Palette
Paint.NET's Tools Palette gives easy access to some of the most commonly used tools when working with this image editor. Apart from the Zoom and Pan tools, the toolbox splits into two distinct groups.
- Selection Tools – these offer several different ways to select groups of pixels and includes a Magic Wand tool that allows you select areas by their color values.
- Painting Tools – this selection of tools offers a variety of ways to color pixels, including a Text tool and a Clone Stamp to copy pixels from one area to another.
When a tool is selected from the Tools palette, you'll see that the Tool Options Bar changes to offer the options that are relevant to the selected tool.
• Introduction to the Paint.NET Tools Palette
Colors Palette
This palette is minimized by default and in that view allows you to specify and save your own color palettes. In the maximized view, colors can be selected via RGB and HSV color spaces and by hexadecimal value. The Alpha – Transparency of colors can also be adjusted.
• Introduction to the Paint.NET Colors Palette
History Palette
The History palette is basically the usual Undo/Redo operation available in most applications, but on steroids. You can scroll back through every action taken in a currently open document and return to any point.
• Introduction to the Paint.NET History Palette
Layers Palette
Layers have become a vital part of modern pixel-based image editors allowing different elements on different layers to be combined in more creative ways. One way to visualize layers is to think of each layer being a sheet of acetate and when these are stacked, the layers below can be seen through the transparent parts of the upper layers.
• Introduction to the Paint.NET Layers Palette
Menu Bar
While the palettes offer easy access to features, the Menu Bar is the heart of Paint.NET with everything accessed from the different menus.
- File – offers controls for opening, saving and printing files.
- Edit – options for undoing changes and copying and pasting, as well as the commands for operating on selections.
- View – allows you to adjust the page zoom as well as add visual aids for precise work.
- Image – a range of commands that can be applied to the complete image.
- Layers – this offers some commands specific to individual layers
- Adjustments – these features are especially useful when working with photos and offer a range of ways to enhance images.
- Effects – these are more creative tools and are sometimes called filters in other image editors. They can can dramatically change the appearance of an image. Paint.NET can accept plug-ins that can add futher effects.
- Utilities – can check for updates to Paint.NET, change the user interface language and also offers one click access to the Windows Font folder.
- Window – offers controls that affect the appearance of the user interface, including control over the floating palettes.
- Help - this menu offers a number of very useful one click links to resources, including the online Help, Paint.NET website and forum, tutorials and available plug-ins to extend the power of the application.
Paint.NET has a very clear and intuitive interface and it is one of the application's great strengths. Spending some time familiarizing yourself with the interface and trying out the various tools and features is a great way to get a feel for what the image editor can do. When you've started to get to grips with Paint.NET in this way, clicking on the Tutorials option in the Help menu is a great way to start putting the tools to practical use, and in no time you'll be producing your own projects.