paint.NET is an image and photo editor for Windows, with tools for retouching photographs, drawing graphics and combining pictures in layers. It works with individual pixels while letting you keep parts of a composition separate, such as a photograph, lettering and drawn elements. Several images can remain open at once, with thumbnail tabs showing which picture each document contains.
Layer composition
The layer stack determines how the finished picture is assembled. Pixels on an upper layer cover those below, while transparent areas let the lower layers show through. Drawing affects the active layer, so placing lettering or artwork on its own layer lets you work on that part without painting over the photograph underneath.
paint.NET gives each layer controls for opacity, visibility and blending. Lowering opacity makes the whole layer more transparent; changing the blend mode changes how its pixels combine with lower layers. You can drag layers into a different order or hide one to see the composition without it. Hidden layers remain in a saved PDN file, so hiding an element does not require deleting it.
Magic Wand selections
The Magic Wand selects pixels by color similarity. Its contiguous mode expands outward from a clicked point until neighboring colors fall outside the tolerance setting. Global mode instead includes matching pixels across the layer, even when those areas do not touch. Global mode suits a background that appears in several disconnected spaces around a subject.
Tolerance controls how closely the pixels must match. You can change it while a selection is active, or move the initial click point to recalculate the selected region. Sampling can use either the active layer or the visible composite of the layers. Additive and subtractive selection modes let you build up an area or remove unwanted portions when a single color match does not isolate the subject.
Retouching with the Clone Stamp
The Clone Stamp copies existing image detail into another location. You set a source point, then paint at the destination; the source moves with the brush at a fixed offset as you continue. The source and destination can occupy the same layer or different layers within one image. For example, a nearby patch of texture can supply pixels to cover a small unwanted detail.
Brush size sets the area copied, while hardness adjusts the edge of the stamp when antialiasing is enabled. A softer edge helps the copied patch meet its surroundings gradually. Reducing the stamp’s opacity produces a partially transparent copy rather than completely covering the destination pixels.
paint.NET adjustments and effects
paint.NET provides brightness and contrast controls alongside hue, saturation, levels and curves adjustments. Black-and-white and sepia conversions are also available. Effects handle changes such as blurring, sharpening, red-eye removal, distortion and embossing. The Rotate/Zoom effect can tilt an image and introduce perspective into a composition.
Color profiles
Color management interprets embedded profiles when displaying images. Built-in profiles include sRGB, Adobe RGB and Display P3, and you can import ICC or ICM profiles. This supports working with images whose colors belong to different color spaces, including pictures prepared for a wide-gamut display.
Drawing tools
Alongside photo editing, paint.NET includes shapes, text, gradients and a curve tool for spline or Bezier lines. Compatible pens and drawing tablets provide pressure-sensitive strokes.
Editing history
Editing actions appear in the History window. Selecting an earlier entry returns the document to that point, and redo lets you restore an undone action. The amount of history retained during a session depends on available memory and disk space.
PDN files, formats and plugins
The native PDN format saves a lossless image with its layer structure intact. Keeping a PDN copy preserves the separate elements for later work. paint.NET also supports common image formats including PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF and GIF, with JPEG XL and DDS among its other supported types. HEIC support requires the Microsoft HEVC Video Extensions.
Plugins can extend paint.NET with additional file formats, effects and adjustments.
