Paint.net v3.5.5
Featuring an easy-to-use interface and an array of effects, Paint.net is a solid free photo editing applications for those that don't need the power of Photoshop or Web sharing. PROS: Simple to use. Wide variety of effects, including 3D rotation and zoom. Layering. Free. CONS: Lack of photo organization and sharing features may turn off some users. No Mac version. COMPANY: dotPDN LLC SPEC DATA: Type: Personal Free: Yes, Yes OS Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7 By Jeffrey L. Wilson
If you're looking for a photo manipulation tool that offers more complexity than Microsoft Paint but doesn't have the intimidation factor of a beast like Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended ($699 to $999 list, $199–$899 list for upgrades, 5 stars), then dotPDN's Paint.net may fit the bill. This Windows-only desktop photo editing application (which draws its name from its Microsoft.Net programming foundation) features a simple, intuitive interface, a number of plug-ins, and an excellent price (free) that makes it well worth checking out.
Setup After a quick setup (the software installed in under a minute, but it may take longer if your machine doesn't have the Microsoft .Net framework already installed and Paint.net has to download it for you), I launched the program and was greeted with a blank, white canvas. Depending on your operating system, you may experience eye-candy. If your PC is running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, Paint.net will be beautified with Aero Glass transparencies—something that Windows XP computers won't display—giving it an appearance of being part of the OS itself. Four floating toolboxes appear—one in each corner—leaving plenty of space in the center for clearly viewing content. It's a better arrangement that Gimp's, which is divided into three sections, creating a more cramped editing field.
Paint.net doesn't overwhelm you with editing options (which is good), but it also doesn't present many help or tips options. For a higher level of hand-holding, you're better off trying one of the for applications, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 ($99.99, 4 stars). Instead, the lower left window border displays a tiny tip that states that clicking the left mouse button lets you draw with your primary color (black is the default), and clicking the right mouse button lets you draw with your secondary color (white is the default). And that's about it. Fortunately, there's plenty of help to be found within the app and in the Paint.net forums.
Interface You'll find the usual options spread across Paint.net's menu bar: File, Edit, View, Image, Adjustments, Effects, Utilities, Windows, Help. Unusual for free photo editing applications is the inclusion of "Layers," a pretty advanced feature that Picasa (Free, 4 stars) and Windows Live Photo Gallery do not possess. Right of these drop-down menus is an empty space where Paint.net's browser-like "tabbed" interface lives—really, it just displays nine thumbnails at a time. Clicking a thumbnail opens it in the main image editing area. Should you have more than nine thumbnails, you can click a blue arrow (pointing left) to cycle through the rest, or another one (pointing downward) that opens a drop-down menu of those same images. All in all, it's a handy way to jump between the various photos you may want to edit at once.
Mousing over a thumbnail revealed an "X" in the upper-right portion of a photo that lets you remove it from this menu by clicking. Closing the application wipes these thumbnails from memory. South of the main menu options is a row of buttons that let you Save, Print, Undo, select a measurement (pixels, inches, centimeters), and other familiar functions.
Import and (Lack Of) Organization Importing images in to Paint.net is simple. Clicking File > Open let me import JPG and PNG files using a standard dialog box, while clicking File > Acquire let me import photos from a digital camera (you can also do so from a scanner). Optionally, you can also just drag a group of pics onto its window, which is nice. Unlike some other photo editing applications that double as a photo organizer (such as Serif PhotoPlus), Paint.net doesn't have options to rate, tag, or geo tag images. The program is positioned as a pure editing and drawing tool, so that was no big loss.
Edits and Effects Paint.net includes brushes for drawing shapes, and an easy-to-use curve tool for penning splines or Bezier curves. The program also includes Magic Wand (for selecting regions of similar color), and Clone Stamp (for copying or erasing portions of an image), useful tools for making quick, broad edits. Magic Wand did an impressive job of highlighting the matching blues and yellows in a superhero costume, which made it easy to apply shadow and lighting effects.
Clone Stamp let me copy a snippet of grass and overlay it over a rock to remove it from view. Granted, my non-professional photo editing skills resulted in a somewhat sloppy job, but it could be a valuable tool in the right hands.
Rounding out the available tools are a rudimentary text editor, recolor tool, and zooming. When I opened a random photo, I was given the option to zoom in between 1 percent and an incredible 3,200 percent—excellent if you want to get up close and personal to pixels. The "Window" choice lets you fill the window, but I didn't like that's no slider to zoom in and out (you have to use the drop down menu, or click the zoom icon), like Picasa offers.
Paint.Net offers numerous special effects for enhancing images, include clouding, embossing, blurring, sharpening, red-eye removal distortion, and a wide range of other visual additions—you can really gussy images up. They were easy to use–typically you click an icon, select the effect's intensity, and then sit back and watch Paint.net do the work—that was the scenario when I sharpened a photo. Red Eye Removal, on the other hand, required a steady hand as I had to manually tag each pupil with a crosshair (paid apps like photoshop elements automate some of the process). I'm familiar with the process, so it took just a few seconds to get make the proper changes, but the uninitiated may require multiple attempts. The method of making these tweaks were pretty standard fare—when I made photo edits using Gimp, the experience was similar.
Paint.Net doesn't have a dedicated blemish removal tool, but the Clone Stamp is a suitable substitute. One of the most appealing is the Rotate/Zoom effect (Layers > Rotate/Zoom) that let me rotate photos on a 3D axis—giving them a new perspective— simply by slowly spinning an on-screen globe. I was even able to apply layering after a bit of trial and error. A rich plug-in system let me download zip files that added extra effects such as Halftone and Soft Saturation.
What's particularly cool is that if you make a mistake, Paint.net provides a huge safety net. You can Undo changes all the way back to the first edit—it's only limited by the available disk space.
Basic Output, No Sharing The editor let me send a photo to a printer (options include standard layouts like 5x7 and contact sheets, but no custom layouts), but I could not export it to a Web destination like Flickr, as Picasa and Photoshop Premiere Elements let you. That was a bit of a bummer, but not totally unexpected for a freeware application. I could, however, save photos in a variety of formats: BMP, DDS, JPG, PNG, TGA, TIFF, and PDN. That should be satisfactory for most users, but if you want to handle RAW files, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Is Paint Worth Your Time? Paint.net lives in an interesting space between very basic image manipulation applications like Microsoft Paint, and robust big guys like Photoshop. It's not meant to stand in as a free substitute for Photoshop—Gimp aims to fill those shoes. With its layers and magic wand, it could be considered a "Photoshop Lite"—very lite. So if you need an easy-to-use photo editor that won't bog you down in a myriad of options, Paint.net is a solid selection, if you can overlook some of the shortcomings.