Paint.net, free and great for novices (Paint.net)

Member Name: drakesdrum

Product:	Paint.net
Date:	12/07/09 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, clear, small file size, runs quickly.

Disadvantages: Lack of a couple of features, incompatibility with some operating systems

I am a complete novice when it comes to pictures editing and all that jazz. I happen to own the latest Adobe Photoshop as I got it thrown in with my laptop I bought. I installed it, opened a picture, ended up making a total mess. I took a look over my shoulder just in case no one was watching this failire of an effort. But surely it wasn't just me that was the problem I thought? Surely there is something more simpler than this? So I went in search for it. I found it here, for free too! I couldn't believe it was free and to honest, I still can't.

Paint.net is a picture manipulator, with extensive features where you can edit, resize, add effects, crop, edit pixel colours, etc. As I said, I'm a complete novice and even I managed to work this out. I embarked firstly on some fairly simple tasks. Well, average for anybody other than me, for me they are rocket science! All I sought to do was resize to a specific size, then turn it black and white. I found this very easy to do. It was clear what I had to do. I did stumble at one point, struggling how to crop it as there is no clear function to do this. Help for this was found easily on the FAQs of the forum on the website.

That's the great thing with Paint.net, the service provided (at no cost to you) is excellent. There is a large, reliable online community willing to help you out. This is found in the forum as I mentioned before, on their website. The forum is busy and very active, with a wealth of information and help for people who need it. I also found it to be generally welcoming, I didn't feel I was being laughed at or anything for being such a novice. Also on the forum you can find plug-ins for the programme. These vary in function but it seems primarly available are extra effects you can add to the pictures. I had a go at downloading one of the plug-ins and it was very easy to install and it added some useful new effects. The plug-in file came with easy instructions. If I got stuck, I knew there would be people to help me.

There is also a 'check for updates' button which is useful. This takes a few seconds to scan and if there are any new updates it gives you the option to download it easily there and then with hardly not trouble at all.

They do ask for donations if possible but it isn't thrust in your face all the time like other software like this. There are no adverts visible when running the software, just a small button on one of the dropdown menus. There is also an advert for donating when downloading and in the installation process. Personally, I think they deserve tokens of thanks for this stunning effort so I had no problems donating a small amount in appreciation.

Making it black and white was very simple and once I'd done this process a couple of times I could do it within a couple of minutes. I then started to experiment adding different effects such as giving a car a motion blur. This was also very easy to do. Other effects include giving images a frosted look, pixelation and red-eye removal. One effect I love is turning a photo into looking like an oil painting. It's very authentic looking, it genuinely looks like a painting.

Installing the programme was very simple to do. The download button is clearly stated on the website and I was beginning the download within a few clicks. The download took no time at all, which I was surprised about. I have 8mb internet and the download was done in a few seconds. Once downloaded, I had to unzip it. I used winRar, but any software like this is suitable. Inside there is only one file, which you double click to install once you have unzipped it. The installation process was very simple and it was done very swiftly. I was amazed to see the file for the whole software is only 9mb. This goes someway to explaining the fast download! Compare this to Adobe Photoshop, which is some 276mb and I was even more amazed.

Visually, the software is simple, which I really like because everything is laid out neatly and clearly. It is clear what each button does thanks to the caption that pops up when you hover your cursor over it. These captions come up instantly. The icons themselves however are easy to work out what they do alone as they are similar to the majority of other software of similar ilk to this one.

You can also add text to pictures. This is easily done and there is a large range of fonts to play around with. Impressive I thought for this free software. The range of colours spans right across the rainbow for the text to be coloured in. This colours can also be used to edit the pixels with.

Using the software is very slick. Things take no time to load and process, which I enjoyed because I can't stand sitting around only for the programme to freeze, as happens with many other programmes! I found I could run numerous other applications as well as paint.net without affecting performance at all. In fact I had numerous internet pages open, a CD playing, a game running and msn messenger and it didn't alter the performance of paint.net at all and that's on what I'd say a pretty average laptop of mine too.

I use Windows Vista on my laptop and the software works perfectly as stated on this. The software is also compatible with Windows XP and Windows 7. However, users with Windows 98 or Windows 2000 will not be able to get this working. Which is a shame. Paint.net also isn'tt compatible with MAC, Linux or Mono, which is also a blemish on an otherwise great piece of software.

I should also add that the software can be used in nine different languages, English, French, German, Portugese, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Japanese and another one, due to my appalling lack of knowledge, I cannot decipher. Apologies for that.

Overall a superb programme which is free for personal, business, governmental, school...well everyone. No licensing issues here, which is fantastic.

Summary: A great piece of software.

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