Paint.NET Innovations

Here's a couple of the cool interface features that Paint.NET developers have implemented that I really like.


Open toolboxes turn transparent - only if they're on top of the image. With a hover, they're opaque. Nice. [The Layers toolbox itself could use an overhaul, though. That goes for you, too, Inkscape...]


Paint.NET is a great program for taking screenshots. It is a peculiar mix of "ease of use" and more advanced photomanip tools. It has a simple "Crop to Selection" function that is very useful. But one cool thing is when you're pasting something bigger than the canvas at hand, like a screenshot, this super straightforward and easy to read dialog pops up. How sweet.



My true favorite feature, though, is how easy Paint.NET makes it to work with multiple canvases. It actually has a sort of TAB BAR with thumbnails! This is a huge triumph over the way Photoshop does it, which is essentially "uh, just don't worry about that." (Actually, more accruately, "That's what Bridge is for," probably). So even though Paint.NET may not have the most features of any graphical editor, when you only have to do something simple, it makes it VERY easy to do so because the interface is so comfortable! Additionally, that drop-down arrow displays a longer list of all available canvases.

Paint.NET ain't perfect, but it has some innovation that should be recognized.