Paint.NET for Windows

Quick summary

Paint.NET is a free Windows image editor and creator developed by dotPDN, LLC. It was built to be a lightweight, user-friendly successor to the original MS Paint, adding many more editing tools and capabilities while keeping a familiar interface. There is also an optional paid edition available through the Microsoft Store that offers easier installation and automatic updates.

Pricing and distribution

• The original “Classic” Paint.NET download remains free.
• A Microsoft Store edition is sold for a fee; it provides automatic updates and simplified installation.
• The developers have asked for support via donations on the official site (they prefer this because store sales are subject to Microsoft’s fees), though both paid and free editions support the same core features, including plugin compatibility.

Layout and main panels

The program’s UI groups main controls into four visible areas in the top-right corner: tools, history, layers, and colors.

• Tools area: represented by a hammer icon and toggled on/off by clicking it.
• History area: accessed via a clock icon and lists recent actions you can revert to.
• Layers area: visualized as stacked sheets; manage visibility and order here.
• Colors area: shown as a color wheel; choose primary/secondary colors and access detailed values.

In the top-left region you’ll find the menu and icon bars for saving, printing, and other file operations. Below those bars the context controls for the selected tool appear (for example: brush size, hardness, opacity).

Working with tools

Tools are grouped into selection, painting, and transformation categories. Click the hammer icon to open the tool palette and click again to hide it.

Common tools include:

• Paint Bucket
• Pencil
• Rectangle Select
• Lasso
• Magic Wand
• Clone Stamp
• Gradient
• Eraser
• Zoom
• Move Selection
• Move Pixels
• Color Picker
• Ellipse Select
• Recolor
• Shape tools

Selection tools (rectangle, ellipse, lasso, magic wand, move selection) let you isolate areas, move them, or reveal content from layers beneath for compositing effects. If you want to clear a selection, use the Deselect command (the box with a red X) from the top-left icon row.

Colors and layer management

Color controls:

• Click the color wheel in the upper-right to pick pigments.
• The left dropdown in the Colors window switches between Primary and Secondary colors.
• Use the More options to edit hex values, opacity, and other precise settings.
• Drag directly on the color wheel to choose a shade.

Layer controls:

• Add, remove, duplicate, reorder, and tweak layers to separate different image elements.
• Open Layer Properties by double-clicking a layer, selecting the last icon in the layer popup, or pressing F4.
• Layers make it easy to edit parts of an image independently and experiment non-destructively.

History and undo behavior

The History panel records each action for the current session. You can scroll through the list, select a previous state, and return to it with Undo. Note: if you undo some steps and then perform a new action, the later (previously undone) states are discarded and cannot be redone.

Extensibility and advanced features

• Both the free and paid versions accept plugins to extend functionality.
• Plugin support can be disabled via a registry key if desired.
• The app supports multiple layers and virtually unlimited undo for in-session edits.

How it compares to professional editors

Paint.NET is intended as a powerful, approachable tool for hobbyists and casual creators rather than a full professional suite. Compared to Adobe Photoshop:

• Photoshop is a professional-grade, feature-rich paid application.
• Paint.NET is simpler and lightweight, geared toward beginners and quick workflows. Other free or lightweight alternatives include GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, FireAlpaca, and CorelDRAW (note: many of these are cross-platform, while Paint.NET is Windows-only).

Final thoughts

Paint.NET modernizes the simple MS Paint experience by keeping the familiar interface while adding layers, a broad toolset, plugin support, and robust undo/history. It won’t replace professional photo editors for advanced workflows, but for most Windows users who want more than MS Paint without the complexity of Photoshop, it’s an excellent choice.