This update fixes a few longstanding issues with copy/paste, tool shortcut keys, and tooltips in the Tools window. I’ve also changed the capitalization of “paint.net” to be “Paint.NET.”

Change Log

Changes since 5.1 beta (build 9066):

• Fixed: Copy/Paste has been hardened against short-term intermittent errors and should no longer show spurious error dialogs (e.g. ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) except in legitimate cases.
• Fixed: Certain shortcut keys, especially for switching tools, will no longer stop functioning if a floating window (e.g. Tools) is hidden and then shown by clicking on the button at the top right of the main window.
• Fixed: Tooltips in the Tools window will no longer stop functioning if a floating window (e.g. Tools) is hidden and then shown by clicking on the button at the top right of the main window.
• Removed the “Scrolling past the edge of the image (overscroll)” checkbox from Settings. This was enabled by default, and now it is always enabled.
• Fixed: The installer was occasionally showing an error about an InvalidGraphConfigurationException on some systems
• Added a KnownColorSpace API for plugins so they can create IColorContexts and IDeviceColorContexts for the Display P3 and ProPhoto RGB color spaces

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.

This is a hotfix that fixes a plugin, @BoltBait‘s Text Fun Factory, that was broken in the previous beta build.

Change Log

Changes since 5.1 beta (build 9064):

• Fixed: @BoltBait‘s TextFunFactory plugin was not working on Windows 10 due to the lack of support for IDWriteFontFace6 (despite what Microsoft’s documentation states)

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.

This is a hotfix for the bugs that were discovered in the previous build (5.1 beta build 9063).

Change Log

Changes since 5.1 beta (build 9063):

• Fixed: Clicking in the color wheel was not setting the active color
• Fixed: Retrieving an 8-bit bitmap from the clipboard with IClipboardService.TryGetImageBgra32() was not working

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.

This build fixes some issues reported with the previous build, namely with pasting or loading images of certain types (e.g. 8-bit PNGs) or with certain types of color profiles (XYB/LUT). Input latency for the canvas has also been further reduced a little.

Change Log

Changes since 5.1 beta (build 9056):

• Fixed: Right-clicking in the Colors window’s palette will now correctly set the inactive color (regression from 5.0)
• Improved input latency further by using a dedicated per-Control thread for asynchronously calling IDXGISwapChain[1]::Present[1]() instead of using the shared threadpool. This also fixes some weirdness at startup with canvas redrawing when a lot of plugins are installed, especially if antivirus decides to do a more in-depth security scan.
• Fixed: Could not copy 8-bit-or-less bit-depth images from Explorer into Paint.NET.
• Fixed: Copying a 4-bit PNG from Explorer into Paint.NET would have extremely bad performance.
• Fixed: Images with XYB LUT color profiles were not loading, or were loading incorrectly
• Fixed: GPU effect plugins will not default to Float32 precision when using IDeviceContext.CreateImageFromBitmap(). This was otherwise resulting in inconsistent rendering output or analysis results.
• Fixed: IImagingFactory.CreateColorTransformedBitmap() and IBitmapSource.CreateColorTransformer() are now available for plugins to make use of for color management purposes.
• New: Plugins may now use PixelFormat.[Try]CreateDefaultColorContext(), IImagingFactory.[Try]CreateDefaultColorContext(), and IDeviceContext.[Try]CreateDefaultColorContext() extension methods. These will create the default color context (color profile) for the given PixelFormat.
• New: Plugins may now use the PixelFormat.GetInfo() extension method to retrieve the corresponding IPixelFormatInfo object
• New: Plugins may now implement the managed ITextRenderer interface (corresponds to the native IDWriteTextRenderer1 interface), and use it when calling ITextLayout::Draw(…)
• New: Added ITextLayout methods Get/SetCharacterSpacing and Get/SetPairKerning
• New: Added ITextFormat properties LastLineWrapping, OpticalAlignment, and VerticalGlyphOrientation

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.

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 haven’t been updating the blog lately, partly due to … honestly I kind of just forgot about the blog (do people still read blogs? Let me know if it’s still important to you so I don’t forget again!). I kept meaning to update it for the new 5.1 pre-release builds I’ve been releasing, but life got quite busy, work was really interesting, etc. When I was away from my PC I’d often think, “oh yeah I need to update the blog,” but then I never remembered by the time I got back to my PC. Too many other things going on.

Anyway! Version 5.1 is introducing some important functionality and some amazing performance improvements, described in depth in following forum posts:

• 5.1 alpha build 8900
• 5.1 alpha build 8929
• 5.1 beta build 8980
• 5.1 beta build 9000

tl;dr: COLOR MANAGEMENT (support for color profiles), including support for HDR and WCG (Wide Color Gamut) displays. Performance improvements. Input latency reductions. Enormous reductions in memory usage (both CPU and GPU). New and revamped blur effects.

Please head to the forum post for the newest build (5.1 beta build 9000) for download links and information.

And like I said, if you still read this blog, please post a comment to remind me that it’s still important to you. This will help me to remember to update it in the future.

This is a small update that improves the sharpness of the canvas, and fixes a few other small issues.

Get the Update

There are two releases of Paint.NET:

• Microsoft Store release (recommended)
  • You can purchase it here. This helps fund development and is an alternative or supplement to sending in a donation.
  • If you already have it installed, the update should happen automatically once Microsoft certifies the update, usually within the next day or so. To get the update immediately (once it’s certified), you can follow the instructions listed here.
• Classic Desktop release
  • Download the installer from the website . This is the recommended download if you don’t have Paint.NET installed. It can also be used to update the app.
  • If you already have it installed, you should be offered the update automatically within the next few days, but you can also get it immediately by going to ⚙ Settings -> Updates -> Check Now.
  • Offline Installers and Portable ZIPs are available over on GitHub.

Change Log

Changes since v5.0.5:

• Improved the sharpness of the canvas, which had gotten too blurry in 5.0.4 in some cases
• Added a “reset to default” button for Image->Resize’s Resampling option
• Fixed a rendering artifact on the canvas where sometimes the transparency checkerboard would be visible at the bottom pixel of an image when it shouldn’t be
• Fixed a glitch with the canvas zoom slider where it would draw the tracking thumb at the wrong position when the zoom level was at 10,000%
• Fixed a rare hang that could happen when opening an image

The first preview build of Paint.NET 5.0 is now available!

There’s a huge write-up with a ton of information, screenshots, and download links over on the forum. It was too much to convert into a blog post, so just head over there

This update includes a new Layers -> Toggle Layer Visibility (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + comma) command, some performance improvements, bug fixes, and a new IndirectUI control for plugins (FolderChooser).

NOTE for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and 32-bit/x86 users: Paint.NET v4.3.x will be the last release(s) that work on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or on any 32-bit/x86 version of Windows. It has become significantly more difficult and time consuming to support these lately, not very many people are using them, and I can no longer justify the cost and frustration of keeping support for these afloat. Starting with Paint.NET v4.4, only Windows 10 and 11+ will be supported, and only on 64-bit (x64 and ARM64). Updates for 4.3.x will be released on an as-needed basis and only until v4.4 is completed.

Get the update

To get this update, make sure you have "Also check for pre-release (beta) versions" enabled in Settings, and then click on the Check Now button. (Unfortunately alpha/beta releases are not currently available for the Microsoft Store version of the app).

You can also download the online/web installer at the forum.

Offline installers, portable ZIPs, and MSIs for deployment can be found over at the GitHub releases page.

Changes since 4.3.7:

• New: Layers -> Toggle Layer Visibility menu command (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + comma)
• Greatly improved performance for the Line/Curve and Shapes tools
• Improved performance for the Move Selected Pixels tool when using Bicubic resampling
• Fixed tooltips not going away when menu items are activated by the keyboard (Effects, Adjustments, and File -> Open Recent)
• Added a FolderChooser control type for IndirectUI-based plugins (thanks @toe_head2001!)
• Fixed compatibility for Ed Harvey’s FastFX PencilSketch effect plugin
• Fixed a performance bug in the canvas renderer that was causing tiles to be copied to the GPU more often than necessary. This mostly affected performance when drawing or modifying selections, and when scrolling or zooming.
• Fixed a small memory leak with the allocations made for Win32 synchronization primitives (critical sections and condition variables)
• Updated the bundled AvifFileType plugin to verison 1.1.18.0, which fixes some issues with EXIF metadata handling. (thanks @null54!)
• Updated the bundled WebPFileType plugin to version 1.3.11.0, which fixes some issues with EXIF metadata handling. (thanks @null54!)
• Updated the bundled DDSFileTypePlus plugin to version 1.10.11.0, which adds support for DXGI_FORMAT_R32_FLOAT. This is used by Bethesda’s Creation Kit for Fallout 4. (thanks @null54!)

Enjoy!

This is a hotfix for a crash in the box filter rendering kernel, which is used to generate mip-maps for the canvas when zoomed out.

NOTE for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and 32-bit/x86 users: Paint.NET v4.3.x will be the last release(s) that work on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or on any 32-bit/x86 version of Windows. It has become significantly more difficult and time consuming to support these lately, not very many people are using them, and I can no longer justify the cost and frustration of keeping support for these afloat. Starting with Paint.NET v4.4, only Windows 10 and 11+ will be supported, and only on 64-bit (x64 and ARM64). I have started working on v4.4 and will only release v4.3.x updates on an as-needed basis and only until v4.4 is completed.

Get the update

• Microsoft Store release
  • You can purchase it here. This helps fund development and is an alternative or supplement to sending in a donation.
  • If you already have it installed, the update should happen automatically once Microsoft certifies the update, usually within the next day or two. To get the update immediately (once it’s certified), you can follow the instructions listed here.
• Classic Desktop release
  • Download the installer directly (web installer for all CPUs and OSes). This is the recommended download if you don’t have Paint.NET installed. It can also be used to update the app.
  • If you already have it installed, you should be offered the update automatically within the next week or so, but you can also get it immediately by going to ⚙ Settings -> Updates -> Check Now.
  • Offline Installers and Portable ZIPs are available over on GitHub.

Changes since v4.3.5:

• Fixed a stack overflow in the box filter rendering kernel that could cause hangs or crashes when the zoom level was around 1/8th (12.5%) or 1/32nd (3.125%) for particular image sizes e.g. ((N x 2048) + 16)). Reported here: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/119180-new-update-is-broken-for-me-435/

Since this is a hotfix, here’s what was in v4.3.5 compared to v4.3.4:

• Improved rendering performance for most tools, which are now up to 100% faster (see discussion here: https://twitter.com/rickbrewPDN/status/1477344632404996101) 
• Fixed an issue with the Save Configuration dialog where the OK and Cancel buttons were overlapping on Windows 7 (thanks @toe_head2001 for the fix!)
• Fixed an issue when saving an image with 257 unique colors at 8-bit color depth when the 257th unique color was the last (bottom-right) pixel. https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/119047-error-saving-a-file-seems-related-to-bit-depth-being-at-auto-detect/
• Fixed an issue where the Layers window buttons were not correctly enabling/disabling after an undo/redo operation. https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/119120-with-only-one-layer-create-layer-and-use-ctrlz-to-undo-delete-layer-button-is-still-enabled/
• Fixed an issue that was preventing the VTF Plugin from saving multi-layer images correctly, as reported at https://www.reddit.com/r/paintdotnet/comments/rnx11j/help_with_vtf_editing_blend_saving/
• Fixed an issue when saving images at 1-bit or 2-bit color depth, where sometimes not all colors would be included. https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/119082-saving-png-rounds-a-pixel-with-a-value-of-010101-down-to-000000/
• Fixed an issue with some IndirectUI plugins that were using customized colors for their sliders
• Fixed a compatibility issue with TR’s Morpher plugin https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/107499-trs-morpher-v1110-march-14th-2016/?do=findComment&comment=589420
• Fixed a compatibility issue with some of @Ego Eram Reputo‘s older plugins that were unable to launch help links due to a change in .NET 6

Enjoy!