subject: Paint.Net V3.5 - Free Image Editing Software. by:Chris Holgate [print this page] There was a time when I used to use the software that came bundled with Windows called 'Microsoft Paint' I'm sure most of you have heard of this and many of you probably use it. If you need something that has more features then a good piece of free software is Paint.net. It is a happy medium between 'Microsoft Paint' and more complex, expensive to buy pieces of software like 'Adobe Photoshop.'
The majority of users will find the features of Paint.NET more than enough for day to day photo manipulation however, also thrown in to the mix, are a number of extremely powerful tools.
Firstly, the application has layers; unless you've ever used layers it's difficult to explain in words exactly what they are and how they can help you. The simplest way to explain them would be to think of them as a number of transparency slides, which when all stacked and viewed together form the basis of a whole image. By changing one of the individual slides you will not change any of the other slides but the overall image will look different. This means that changes that you make to one layer which are later altered won't result in damage to the image caused by previous alterations.
Another good feature is the way that the application allows you to view multiple images all at once; instead of having a number of windows open that can be minimised and reopened as and when necessary, Paint.NET has a tabbed interface that works really well. In order to navigate between open files you simply click a thumbnail of the image from a scrollable selection on the top right hand side of the screen.
I did fear that development on this fantastic free application had become stagnant - the last release (3.36) was well over a year ago and even that only offered minor improvements on earlier versions. Having obtained the beta for version 3.5 it would appear the developers are getting back on track as the finished product is due for release next month.
Notable improvements include improved memory usage, a Vista / Windows 7 style glass look, new effects along with the usual helping of bug fixes and rendering improvements.
Speaking of special effects, Paint.Net has a large number built in as standard; distortions, noise control, red eye removal, sharpening, ink sketch, oil painting, blurs, softening and so on. The image can also be manipulated by way of adjustments such as hue, saturation, level, brightness, contrast and sepia controls. The standard drawing and selection tools are provided and of course the intensity, tolerance or size of these tools can all be easily adjusted as necessary.
The size of the application has increased quite considerably since the last release which weighed in at 1.6mb but the application is still only a tiny 4.8mb in size which in relative terms is about the size of one MP3 music file.
About the author
Chris Holgate writes a weekly article of all things tech related. He is a director and copyrighter of the online computer consumables business Refresh Cartridges http://www.refreshcartridges.co.uk An archive of the articles can be found at .
