In reply to hrlngrv:
Cruft: “badly designed, unnecessarily complicated, or unwanted code or software” Sure, none of those characteristics could ever apply to Linux or Linux programs, right?
Practical Paint.NET
Learn to use the most up-to-date version of Paint.NET, the free, Windows-based program for image editing. This book is ideal for PC users who find Microsoft Paint too lacking, and Photoshop or GIMP too overwhelming. Paint.NET is a lightweight yet capable program that’s easy to navigate and is regularly updated.
You’ll quickly become acquainted with this powerful, yet easy-to-learn program’s features; tools, layers, adjustments, and effects. See how to correct exposure, digitally retouch and repair damaged photos, and handle a broad spectrum of photo editing tasks—even how to colorize a black-and-white image. You’ll also learn how to create digital art using the Paint.NET drawing tools and effects. Practice files are provided with step-by-step instructions to jump into photo editing and art creation.
Practical Paint.NET highlights this powerful program’s rich set of features and capabilities providing you the pathway for just about any kind of image editing. Join the large community behind it today!
- Use layers, which are essential in any professional quality image editing program
- Acquire and install plugins to maximize Paint.NET’s capabilities
- Enhance, retouch, and modify digital images
- Create compelling digital artwork using the drawing tools and applying artistic filters
Who This Book Is For
Windows-based PC users who require the ability to edit digital images without the ongoing cost of subscription-based software, or complex open-source software. This group includes art or photography instructors (especially those in schools systems with limited budgets), small business owners, casual photographers, aspiring graphic designers, or anyone requiring a solid, basic editing program.
Paint.NET Comes to Windows Store
“Paint.NET version 4.0.18, which I just announced, is now available on the Windows Store,” Mr. Brewster writes on the Paint.NET blog. “The standard price is currently $8.99, but I’ve put it on sale for $5.99 until the end of October. You can also make use of the 30-day free trial to get started.”
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That there is a price at all has disappointed some: Paint.NET is available for free on the web, though Brewster requests that users show their appreciation for his work and support future development by donating.
“The Store release of Paint.NET is not distributed free-of-charge,” he explains. “This allows many things to converge and solves a lot of problems, while still providing value for new and existing users (err, customers?). The ‘Classic’ release will still be available and kept up-to-date on the same schedule as the Store release.”
So there you go. But as he notes, there are some important advantages to using the Store version of the app, aside from the usual karma-related stuff around paying for what you use and appreciate:
Background updating. Software updates are now “fully automatic and transparent,” Brewster says, ensuring that you will always be on the latest version of the app. The Classic version, by comparison, checks only once every 10 days.
Easier install. Once you own Paint.NET via the Store, it’s super-easy to get it installed on all your PCs. “Store apps also come with the wonderful advantage that they can’t install browser toolbars,” Brewster adds. “They can’t change your web browser’s homepage. They can’t do all sorts of things that would pollute your system. Store apps don’t get to provide their own installers full of sneaky check boxes that may or may not install various crapware. Paint.NET has never and will never do anything like that, but for many other apps it has been a very slippery slope over the years.”
Better reliability. Likewise, the Store version of Paint.NET uses the more reliable and modern Microsoft package manager and application model, and not the old-school MSI technology he uses for web distribution.
Aside from the Store advantages, Paint.NET version 4.0.18 offers 25 percent faster startup performance, per-user plug-in support, and other improvements.
You can find Paint.NET in the Windows Store. I highly recommend buying it: It’s a top-notch graphics app. And, remember, it’s only $5.99 right now, a $3 savings over the normal pricing.
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Atoqir 01 October, 2017 – 4:44 pm
My god. The store really isn’t working out for MS.
First they hope for real UWP apps. Because that didn’t happen they hoped for ported win32 apps. But now said ports cost 8 dollar, while the updated regular version is free.
Come on devs, stop boycotting this. We really need a good software repository tool like linux had for years.
A_lurker 01 October, 2017 – 9:34 pm
In reply to hrlngrv:
One of the real problems with Windows is the lack of a builtin application that will handle updates for all installed software and ideally allow installation from a well maintained repository. Linux distros have had this for a long time and in general it works quite well. And in many distros the repositories often have commercial software many users might want.
The third party solutions (never used chocolatey.org) have been a bit of a pain to use as the installation steps were often a bit convoluted.
hrlngrv Premium Member 02 October, 2017 – 2:49 am
In reply to A_lurker:
Part of Windows’s problem with a builtin updater is that Windows doesn’t maintian the equivalent of a package database. The Windows registry contains some of that info, but not all. That has meant over the years that 3rd party software making use of 4th party subcomponents either have to have their own mechanisms for finding those components (e.g., searching for installed Java runtimes) or just bundle those components within the 3rd party program’s directory (e.g., as the Windows version of GNU Octave includes the full MinGW32 gcc and numerical development libraries). Lots of that 3rd party software doesn’t load anything for the 4th party components into the registry, so unclear how Windows would know what to update.
The thing is Linux packages are far more granular than Windows packages, and that makes it easier to produce package managers for Linux.
skane2600 02 October, 2017 – 11:49 am
In reply to hrlngrv:
Linux’s installation approach is hardly a panacea for users or for developers.
hrlngrv Premium Member 02 October, 2017 – 2:54 pm
In reply to skane2600:
Doesn’t have to be a panacea, only has to be better. The Windows approach was desigened 25 years ago to do what commercial software vendors wanted, including adding lots and lots of cruft. Redundancy was no one’s concern other than users running out of disk space.
skane2600 02 October, 2017 – 4:54 pm
In reply to hrlngrv:
Cruft: “badly designed, unnecessarily complicated, or unwanted code or software”
Sure, none of those characteristics could ever apply to Linux or Linux programs, right?
hrlngrv Premium Member 03 October, 2017 – 2:57 am
In reply to skane2600:
I don’t recall any Linux distribution forcing Candy Crush on me.
Linux Mint’s update utility works better than Windows Update in my experience. Have you used any Linux distribution for more than a few days?
WP7Mango 03 October, 2017 – 4:30 am
In reply to hrlngrv:
Windows Update doesn’t really have anything to do with Store App updates, which is the point of publishing apps to the store. The store update experience is beautifully simple.
BigM72 01 October, 2017 – 5:09 pm
His blog post on his website says that’s because Microsoft doesn’t offer him an equivalent of the donate button on his website – i.e. charge for it or don’t.
But surely he could make use of in-app purchases for this?
Or use the trial facility – offer an unlimited free trial and people can pay to convert it into a fully owned app (and no feature difference between trial and owned).
Username 01 October, 2017 – 5:28 pm
Jeff Jones 01 October, 2017 – 8:52 pm
In reply to BigM72:
How does the donation happen on the old app? During install or download? Because otherwise there’s no reason why he can’t create an in app dialog and a message on his store page that asks for a donation back on his regular website.
If Microsoft charges for developers to submit an app then this guy has a right for charging, at least long enough to make back “marketing” investment.
William Kempf 02 October, 2017 – 10:20 am
In reply to DataMeister:
MS doesn’t charge developers to submit an app. At one point they charged for you to have a developer account, which was the standard $99 everyone else charged, but they eliminated that charge some time ago.
I don’t understand all the complaints here, however. The developer has chosen. You have 3 choices: continue to use the free/donation non-store version, use the store version, don’t use the application at all. Complaining about the developer’s choice here truly makes no sense. He’s fine with the 30% share in the “profit”, he’s allowed you to continue to obtain the application the way you always have, etc. People’s ability to b*tch about the stupidest things always amazes me.
skane2600 02 October, 2017 – 11:43 am
In reply to William_Kempf:
MS still charges a one-time registration fee.
Obviously we are going to discuss the broader issue of UWP vs Win32 here. Rick opened the door by discussing not just his own app, but by making general comments promoting UWP.
WP7Mango 03 October, 2017 – 4:26 am
BigM72 02 October, 2017 – 4:08 pm
In reply to William_Kempf:
We don’t have an issue with paying. Our interest is in seeing a healthy market for store apps so we’re discussing why a developer charges on one and not on the web (incentivising to go for the free/share-ware web version).
Username 01 October, 2017 – 5:22 pm
This can really go wrong for Microsoft. If subsequent statistics show extremely small download from Store compared to direct, it will be evidence of failure. If I was Microsoft I’d get ‘donate’ or whatever is needed for equivalence ASAP.
Gimp and Inkscape is free and open source so Paint.net is unlikely to succeed as a paid app.
hrlngrv Premium Member 01 October, 2017 – 8:53 pm
In reply to Username:
Paint.NET is just a bit easier to use than the Gimp or Inkscape, and Paint.NET may also have a lot more Windows PC users as users of their software than the other two which are ports from Linux.
PeteB 01 October, 2017 – 5:26 pm
So I can download the exe FREE from the website, and use it on any version of Windows, copy it to another drive or PC, and not need an online account, and the program auto updates itself. And I can donate directly to the developer for his effort.
Or I can pay Microsoft $8.99 and they’ll only give a percentage to the developer, only works on windows 10, only with a Microsoft account, and the files are obfuscated in UWP DRM jail so I can’t back up or copy the exe to another computer or drive.
Decisions!
