Editing Paint.NET

{{short description|Freeware graphics editor}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Paint.NET
| logo = Paint.net logo.png
| logo_size = 220px
| screenshot = Paint.NET 5.1 screenshot.png
| caption = Paint.NET version 5.1
| author = Rick Brewster
| developer = dotPDN, LLC
| released = {{Start date and age|2004|05|06}}
| latest release version = 5.1.3
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2025|02|08}}
| programming language = [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], [[C++]], [[C++/CLI]]
| operating system = [[Windows 10]] or later<ref name="officialDownload" />
| platform = [[.NET Framework]]<ref name="officialDownload" /> and [[.NET]]
| size = 79.5 MB
| language = English, Belarusian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Corsican, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian<ref name="officialDownload" />
| language count = 34
| genre = [[Raster graphics editor]]
| license = [[Freeware]]<ref name="license-2009-11-06" />
| website = {{URL|https://getpaint.net}}
}}
'''Paint.NET''' (sometimes stylized as '''paint.net''') is a [[freeware]] general-purpose [[raster graphics editor]] program for [[Microsoft Windows]], developed with the [[.NET platform]]. Paint.NET was originally created by Rick Brewster as a [[Washington State University]] student project,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paint.NET – Free Software for Digital Photo Editing|url= http://www.getpaint.net|access-date=September 30, 2009}} Bottom of the page, below ''about''.</ref> and has evolved from a simple replacement for the [[Microsoft Paint]] program into a program for editing mainly graphics, with support for [[Plugin (computing)|plugins]].

==History==
Paint.NET originated as a [[computer science]] senior design project during spring 2004 at [[Washington State University]]. Version 1.0 consisted of 36,000 lines of code and was written in fifteen weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2004/09/03/225514.aspx|title= Paint.NET v1.1 "Beta 2" Download|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071221034115/http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2004/09/03/225514.aspx|archive-date = 2007-12-21}}</ref> In contrast, version 3.35 has approximately 162,000 lines of code. The Paint.NET project continued over the summer and into the autumn 2004 semester for both the version 1.1 and 2.0 releases.

Development continued with one programmer who worked on previous versions of Paint.NET while he was a student at WSU. As of May 2006 the program had been downloaded at least 2 million times,<ref name="msdn2million" /> at a rate of about 180,000 per month.<ref name="betanews" />

Initially, Paint.NET was released under a modified version of the [[MIT License]], with the exclusion of the installer, text, and graphics.<ref>[http://www.getpaint.net/license.html Paint.NET – Licensing and FAQ]</ref> However, citing issues with the open source code being [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] by others that had rebranded the software as their own and bundled user content without their permission, the availability of the source code was restricted, in December 2007 Brewster announced his intent to restrict access to components of the program (including its installer, resources, and user interface).<ref name="backspaceware">{{Cite web |date=December 4, 2007 |title=Freeware Authors: Beware of "Backspaceware" |url=http://blog.getpaint.net/2007/12/04/freeware-authors-beware-of-%E2%80%9Cbackspaceware%E2%80%9D/ |access-date=July 27, 2017 |publisher=paint.net blog}}</ref> In November 2009, the software was made [[proprietary software|proprietary]], restricting the sale or creation of derivative works of the software.<ref name="backspaceware" /><ref>{{Cite web|title = A new license for Paint.NET v3.5|date = 7 November 2009|url = http://blog.getpaint.net/2009/11/06/a-new-license-for-paintnet-v35/|access-date = February 11, 2015}}</ref>

Starting with version 4.0.18, Paint.NET is published in two editions: A classic edition remains [[freeware]], similar to all other versions since 3.5. Another edition, however, is published to [[Microsoft Store (digital)|Microsoft Store]] under a [[trialware]] license and is available to purchase for US$7. According to the developer, this was done to enable the users to contribute to the development with more convenience, even though the old avenue of donation was not closed.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Rubino|first1=Daniel|title=Paint.NET is now available in the Windows Store for all Windows 10 PCs|url=https://www.windowscentral.com/paintnet-now-available-windows-store|website=Windows Central|publisher=Mobile Nations|date=September 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Brinkmann|first1=Martin|title=Paint.net lands in Windows Store (but is not free)|url=https://www.ghacks.net/2017/10/01/paint-net-lands-in-windows-store-but-is-not-free/|website=[[ghacks]]|date=October 1, 2017}}</ref>

==Overview==
Paint.NET is primarily programmed in the [[C Sharp (programming language)|C# programming language]]. Its native image format, .PDN, is a [[data compression|compressed]] representation of the application's internal [[object (computer science)|object]] format, which preserves layering and other information.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paint.NET's file format, ".pdn"|url= http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2005/01/18/355571.aspx|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102165718/http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2005/01/18/355571.aspx|archive-date = January 2, 2008}}</ref>

==Plugins==
Paint.NET supports [[Plugin (computing)|plugins]], which add image adjustments, effects, and support for additional file types. They can be programmed using any [[.NET Framework]] programming language, though they are most commonly written in [[C sharp (programming language)|C#]].<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.boltbait.com/pdn/codelab/|title=CodeLab: Paint.NET Plugin Development Environment|date = August 16, 2014 <!-- CodeLab 2.3 Released -->}}</ref> These are created by volunteer coders on the program's discussion board, the Paint.NET Forum. Though most are simply published via the discussion board, some have been included with a later release of the program. For instance, a [[DirectDraw Surface]] file type plugin, (originally by Dean Ashton) and an Ink Sketch and Soften Portrait effect (originally by David Issel) were added to Paint.NET in version 3.10.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Hundreds of plugins have been produced;<ref name="pluginindex">{{Cite web|url=http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/15260-plugin-index/|title=Plugin Index|date=28 June 2009 }}</ref> such as Shape3D, which renders a 2D drawing into a 3D shape. Some plugins expand on the functionality that comes with Paint.NET, such as Curves+ and Sharpen+, which extend the included tools Curves and Sharpen, respectively.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Examples of file type plugins include an ''Animated Cursor and Icon'' plugin and an ''Adobe Photoshop file format plugin''.<ref name="pluginindex" /> Several of these plugins are based on existing open source software, such as a [[raw image format]] plugin that uses [[dcraw]] and a PNG optimization plugin that uses [[OptiPNG]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==Forks==

===paint-mono===
Paint.NET was created for Windows, and has no native support for any other system. With its previous open-source nature, the possibility for alternate versions was available. In May 2007, [[Miguel de Icaza]] officially started a [[porting]] project called ''paint-mono''.<ref name="paint-mono" /> This project had partially ported Paint.NET 3.0 to [[Mono (software)|Mono]], an open-source implementation of the [[Common Language Infrastructure]] on which the .NET Framework is based. This allowed Paint.NET to be run on Mono-supported platforms, such as [[Linux]]. <!-- As of December 2010, -->This port is no longer maintained and has not been updated since March 2009.<ref name="paint-mono">Project [http://code.google.com/p/paint-mono/ Paint Mono] at [[Google Code]]<!-- Archive https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://code.google.com/p/paint-mono/ --></ref>

Newer Mono runtime 6 versions are able to run original Paint.NET releases up to 3.5.11 almost perfectly.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19822|title= Paint.NET|publisher=WineHQ AppDB |access-date=July 22, 2021}}</ref>

===Pinta===
{{main|Pinta (software)}}
In 2010, developer Jonathan Pobst started a project called [[Pinta (software)|Pinta]], describing it <!-- by the developer and the osnews article -->as a clone of Paint.NET for Mono and [[Gtk Sharp|Gtk#]]. Pinta reused the adjustments and effects code from Paint.NET but otherwise is original code.<ref name="ref-osnews" />

==See also==
*[[Image editing]]
*[[Comparison of raster graphics editors]]
*[[Comparison of raster graphics editors#List|List of raster graphics editors]]
*[[List of free and open-source software packages#Image editor|List of free software]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="officialDownload">{{Cite web |url = http://www.getpaint.net/download.html |title = Paint.NET - Download |access-date = January 13, 2018 |publisher = dotPDN, LLC |last = Brewster |first = Rick}}</ref>
<ref name="license-2009-11-06">{{Cite web |url = http://blog.getpaint.net/2009/11/06/a-new-license-for-paintnet-v35/ |title = A new license for Paint.NET v3.5 |work = paint.net Blog |publisher = dotPDN LLC |date = November 6, 2009 |access-date = May 1, 2011|first = Rick |last = Brewster}}</ref>
<ref name="msdn2million">{{Cite web |title=Paint.NET crosses 2 million downloads, and other news |url= http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2006/05/08/592633.aspx |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102023110/http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2006/05/08/592633.aspx |archive-date = January 2, 2008 |access-date=June 16, 2006}}</ref>
<ref name="betanews">{{Cite web |first = Nate |last = Mook |date = February 27, 2006 |work = [[Betanews]] |publisher = Betanews, Inc |title = Interview: A Look Inside Paint.NET |url = http://www.betanews.com/article/Interview_A_Look_Inside_PaintNET/1141071978 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111030182655/http://betanews.com/2006/02/27/interview-a-look-inside-paint-net |archive-date = October 30, 2011 |access-date=June 16, 2006}}</ref>
<ref name="ref-osnews">{{Cite web |url = http://www.osnews.com/story/22843/Introducing_Pinta_a_Gtk_Clone_of_Paint_NET |title = Introducing Pinta, a Gtk+ Clone of Paint.NET |last = Holwerda |first = Thom |date = February 8, 2010 |work = [[OSNews]] |access-date = September 25, 2014}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite web
|url = http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=229
|title = Rick Brewster on Paint.NET
|work = [[.NET Rocks!]]
|publisher = Franklins.net/PWOP Productions Inc
|date = April 17, 2007
|format = [[MP3]]
|access-date = March 15, 2011
}}
*{{Cite web
|url = https://paintandhardwarestore.blogspot.com/2019/12/color-combination.html
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200706105709/https://paintandhardwarestore.blogspot.com/2019/12/color-combination.html
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = July 6, 2020
|title = Paint color and color combination
|work = [[eWeek|eWeek DevSource]]
|publisher = Saboor Aziz
|date = December 25, 2019
|access-date = December 25, 2019
}}
*{{Cite web
|url = http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=045b673d-af5d-4c2c-983f-376b11f5d363
|title = MSDN TV: Paint.NET – The .NET Framework in Action
|work = Microsoft Download Center
|publisher = Microsoft Corporation
|first = Chris
|last = Sells
|access-date = March 15, 2011
|date = August 12, 2005
|quote = Chris Sells interviews Rick Brewster, Tom Jackson, and Craig Taylor about their project, Paint.NET v2.1.
}}
*{{Cite web
|url = http://BoltBait.com/pdn/InstallingEffects.php
|title = How to Install Paint.NET Plugins
|work = BoltBait Dot Com
|year = 2007
|access-date = March 15, 2011}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Paint.net}}
{{Wikibooks}}
*{{Official website|http://www.getpaint.net/index.html}}
*[http://forums.getpaint.net/ paint.net forum]
*[https://archive.org/download/paintdotnet_v4_3_12 Download Paint.NET v4.3.12] - The last version of paint.net compatible with [[Windows 7]], original release installation packages (may even run via [[Wine]] under [[Linux]])
*[https://archive.org/details/Paint.NET3.5.11 Download Paint.NET v3.5.11]- The last version of paint.net compatible with [[Windows XP]] - v3.5.11 ("v3.5.12")
*[https://filehippo.com/download_paint-net/3.511.4977.23448.0/ The last version of paint.net compatible with Windows XP], from http://filehippo.com
* [https://github.com/PintaProject/Pinta/releases Download Pinta], the most advanced [[FOSS]] fork of Paint.NET, for [[Linux]]
* https://www.linux-apps.com/p/2086477 - [[AppImage]] software package for [[Pinta (software)|Pinta]] for [[Linux]]

*{{Google code|openpdn|openpdn}} – open-source fork of Paint.NET 3.36.7 web-hosted on [[Google Code]]
*{{Google code|paint-mono|paint-mono}} – unofficial effort to port Paint.NET 3.0 to Linux using [[Mono (software)|Mono]] ([https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19822 As noted above], newer [[Mono (software)|Mono]] runtime 6 versions are able to run original Paint.NET releases up to 3.5.11 almost perfectly), see [[Pinta (software)|Pinta]] for a more recent and more up-to-date fork of Paint.NET for [[Linux]]

{{Raster graphics editors}}

[[Category:Proprietary raster graphics editors]]
[[Category:Windows-only freeware]]
[[Category:Technical communication tools]]
[[Category:Photo software]]
[[Category:Graphics software]]
[[Category:2004 software]]
[[Category:C Sharp software]]
[[Category:.NET Framework software]]
[[Category:Formerly open-source or free software]]
[[Category:Proprietary multilingual software]]