Just a few more changes and fixes before the stable release next month, including some tweaks to clipboard handling with respect to color management.
Change Log
Changes since 5.1 beta (build 9038):
- Updated clipboard handling with respect to color management: instead of being converted to sRGB, PNGs copied to the clipboard now contain the image’s color profile. When pasting a PNG from the clipboard, the color profile is used if it’s available. For plugins using IClipboardService, there are now methods for including the color profile when copying, and obtaining the color profile when pasting.
- Fixed Edit->Paste into New Layer and Layers->Import from File so they fill with transparent black instead of the secondary color when expanding the canvas size
- Fixed some flickering in the toolbar when undoing certain commands
- Slightly improved overall performance by switching to .NET 9’s System.Threading.Lock
- Fixed a few small performance bugs with the new Direct2D Flip Mode code
- Updated to .NET 9.0-rc2, which fixes a small visual glitch in window titlebars
Download and Install
This build is available via the built-in updater as long as you have opted-in to pre-release updates. From within Settings -> Updates, enable “Also check for pre-release (beta) versions of paint.net” and then click on the Check Now button. You can also use the links below to download an offline installer or portable ZIP.

You can also download the installer here (for any supported CPU and OS), which is also where you can find downloads for offline installers, portable ZIPs, and deployable MSIs.
I had some errors pop up during the install of 5.1 build 9056, see below. The install seems to have worked OK though.
I think I figured out what was causing this and the next update should be fixed. Thanks for reporting this!
(Your comment got approved only today (2024-10-29) because I didn’t notice it was actually in the spam folder 😬 Any more comments you post should now go through fine without needing approval.)
Since there has been a couple of hot fixes since, I can confirm the update has worked ok for these.
Thanks.
It’s coming!
Why it takes so long?
It needs to work, to work correctly, to be stable, to be fast … and also, we need the final/stable release of .NET 9.0 which should be November 12th-ish.