Paint.NET

Infobox_Software
name = Paint.NET



caption = Paint.NET version 3.35
developer = dotPDN, LLC
latest_release_version = 3.36
latest_release_date = release date|2008|8|26
latest_preview_version =
latest_preview_date =
programming language = Mainly C#, with some C++
operating_system = Microsoft Windows (XP, 2003, Vista)
language = Multilingual [ [http://www.getpaint.net/roadmap.html Paint.NET • Roadmap (See v3.0) ] ]
genre = Raster graphics editor
license = MIT License
website = [http://www.getpaint.net/ www.GetPaint.NET]

Paint.NET is a raster graphics editing program for Windows, developed on the .NET Framework. Originally created as a Washington State University student project, Paint.NET has evolved from a simple replacement for the Microsoft Paint program, which is included with Windows, into a powerful editor with support for layers, blending, transparency, and plugins. It is often used as a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It is available under the MIT License [ [http://www.getpaint.net/download.html#license Paint.NET - Download ] ] .

Overview

Paint.NET is primarily programmed in the C# programming language, with small amounts of C++ used for installation and shell-integration related functionality. Its native image format, .PDN, is a compressed representation of the application's internal object format, which preserves layering and other information. [cite web | title=Paint.NET's file format, ".pdn" | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2005/01/18/355571.aspx] Excluding the installer, text, and graphics, Paint.NET is released under the MIT License and was initially released as open source, but became closed as of version 3.2.

History

Paint.NET originated as a computer science senior design project during spring 2004 at Washington State University. Version 1.0 consisted of 36,000 lines of code and was written in fifteen weeks. [cite web | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2004/09/03/225514.aspx | title= Paint.NET v1.1 "Beta 2" Download] In contrast, version 3.35 has approximately 162,000 lines of code. The Paint.NET project continued over the summer and into the fall 2004 semester for both the version 1.1 and 2.0 releases.

Development continues with two developers who now work at Microsoft and worked on previous versions of Paint.NET while they were students at WSU. As of May 2006 the program had been downloaded at least 2 million times [cite web | title=Paint.NET crosses 2 million downloads, and other news | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/rickbrew/archive/2006/05/08/592633.aspx | accessdate=June 16 | accessyear=2006 ] , at a rate of about 180,000 per month [cite web | title=Interview: A Look Inside Paint.NET | url=http://www.betanews.com/article/Interview_A_Look_Inside_PaintNET/1141071978 | accessdate=June 16 | accessyear=2006 ] .

Notable Releases

ystem requirements

Plugins

Paint.NET supports DLL-file plugins, which add image adjustments, effects, and support for additional file types. They can be programmed using any .NET programming language, though they are most commonly written in C#. These are usually created by volunteer coders on the program's discussion board. Though most are simply published via the discussion board, some have been included with a later release of the program. For instance, a DirectDraw Surface file type plugin, (originally by Dean Ashton) and an Ink Sketch and Soften Portrait effect (originally by David Issel) were added to Paint.NET in version 3.10.

Many plugins have been produced; such as Shape3D, which renders a 2D drawing into a 3D shape. Some plugins expand on the functionality that comes with Paint.NET, such as Curves+ and Sharpen+, which extend the included tools Curves and Sharpen, respectively.

Examples of file type plugins include an Animated Cursor and Icon plugin and an Adobe Photoshop file format plugin. Many of these are based on existing open source software, such as a RAW plugin that uses dcraw and a PNG optimization plugin that uses OptiPNG.

Online forum

Paint.NET features an online discussion board (forum), accessible through the program's main page or help menu. The discussion board is where users of the program can get help with bugs, troubleshooting, making an image, image tutorials, user-created plug-ins, and program localization. The forum has over 11,784 registered members and over 186,005 posts; many active members attend to users in need of help, produce plug-ins, tutorials and discuss other Paint.NET references.

Support for non-Windows operating systems

Paint.NET was originally created for Windows, and has no native support for any other system. In fact, as of version 3.0, support was discontinued for any Windows operating system older than Windows XP. Windows Vista support was added in the same version. With its open-source nature, however, the possibility for alternate versions is available.

For instance, Miguel de Icaza has partially ported Paint.NET to Mono, an open-source implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure on which the .NET framework is based. This allows Paint.NET to be run on Linux and other Mono-supported platforms. Icaza officially started a porting project in May 2007, [http://code.google.com/p/paint-mono/ paint-mono] .

See also

* Comparison of raster graphics editors
* GIMP

References

External links

* [http://www.getpaint.net/ Paint.NET - Home]
* [http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=15 Paint.NET Tutorials]
* [http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=16 Paint.NET Plugins]
* [http://blog.getpaint.net/ Rick Brewster's blog]
* [http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=229 .Net Rocks! - Rick Brewster on Paint.NET (April 2007)]
* [http://www.betanews.com/article/Interview_A_Look_Inside_PaintNET/1141071978 Interview: A Look Inside Paint.NET (February 2006)]
* [http://www.devsource.com/article2/0,1759,1785684,00.asp The Sharp Design Philosophy Behind Paint.NET (April 2005)]
* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20050811PaintDotNETRB/manifest.xml Video: Chris Sells interviews Rick Brewster, Tom Jackson, and Craig Taylor (August 2005)]