Paint.NET

If you are a Windows user, you have probably used the Paint application at least once, either to edit an image or to save a screenshot. This Windows program hasn't been updated since the early versions of Windows and it lacks a lot of features and options. Using the Adobe Photoshop software, which is much more advanced than Paint, isn't such a good idea either, because this program requires a lot of time to be learnt and it also takes up a lot of system resources. Most users need an application which is a combination of these two programs. One such software is Paint.NET.

This simple Windows program manages to create a balance between Photoshop and Paint, offering the complexity and the simpleness of both of them, in a very intuitive and friendly interface. The installation wizard of Paint.NET is the same as the one of other Windows applications, completing fast and requiring only a few clicks for this. After getting the program into your system and running it, you will notice a simple interface, which resembles the one of Paint, but it contains many more features and options.

The first thing to do is to add a desired image or group of images into the program's interface. At this point, the user can edit the image in several ways. For example, he can paint on it, using one of the many drawing and painting tools, he can add various text to the image or improve it, by using the effects and corrections available in the program. The number of effects that can be added to an image is quite impressive, being almost similar to the ones included in Adobe Photoshop.

For correcting a badly taken photo, Paint.NET includes some automated tools, which can adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation and other similar characteristics of an image in a completely automatic way. These adjustments can also be made manually in case the user has experience in working with photos.

After an image has been edited, it can be saved or printed. Paint.NET supports numerous graphical formats for saving an image and also for importing it. In case one has a classical photo that he would like to scan and turn into a digital image, he can use the special feature for this included in the application.