Paint.NET Video

Paint.NET Video Transcript

[ Music ] ^M00:00:01

>> Hi, I'm Jessica Dolcourt from CNETdownload.com and today we're taking a first look at Paint.Net. Paint.Net is basically a supped up version of Microsoft Paint, the default Windows image editor. It has enough advanced features to create some cool effects, but not so many that you would want to replace your professional software. In fact, it's mostly used for viewing, revising and touching up photos. You'll need version 2 of the dot net framework, but if you don't have it, don't worry. Because Paint.Net's installer will automatically prompt you to download it. Vista users can rejoice because the free editor is Vista ready, but it won't work with Windows 98 or Windows Me. The heart of Paint.Net is its tools window. The tools I use most are the Marquis tool for cropping and the magic wand tool for making small selections. Usually of irregular shapes. The program's soul is probably the effects menu. For example, there's a whole submenu of flare type. There's a red eye reduction tool and a cloud effect that's good for making not just clouds but also fire. Pretty cool huh? That tip is courtesy of an online paint.net tutorial. Unlike some other free editors, this one has support for layers, which is a big advantage if you're looking for more sophisticated editing. Layering is a more advanced setting concept and a really useful one. Especially if your final image has a lot going on. Layers help you break the image into manageable bit sized pieces and then you can recombine them when you're finished. The blend mode is a more advanced feature of the layers window and controls how that element in a single layer will appear on the final image. In terms of paint.net's functionality, there is some lag time between actions. And certain tools do tend to work better than others. The red eye correction tool for instance often leaves this crimson halo around the pupils, which you'll either have to live with or manually correct. But personally, those are things I can put up with for the sake of a free program. On the plus side, there are extra plug ins that add more file support and image affects. This is Jessica Dolcourt from CNETdownload.com and we've been looking at Paint.Net. Get editing. ^M00:01:57 [ Music ]