The free image editing program paint.net (the domain is getpaint.net) only started as a beta version in December 2022. Now the new version of the Windows software has finally been released as paint.net 5.0. Major performance improvements, new features including pressure sensitivity for pens and drawing tablets, and a brand new effects plugin system with GPU rendering support are among the many. Almost all built-in adjustments and effects are now rendered using the GPU, greatly improving their performance and quality.
The Windows software has been using hardware-accelerated rendering since version 4.0. Added GPU acceleration to some effects (mainly blurs) in version 4.1. In version 5.0, support for the GPU has been greatly expanded. Much of the UI now uses the GPU, including the Levels and Gradient windows, the ruler, the image list at the top of the main window, and the curves and levels adjustment UI. This improves performance and consumes less battery life on laptops.
Another innovation is a completely brand new, modern effect plug-in system. Effects can now read from all layers, render out of selection, and have access to Direct2D, DirectWrite, and Windows Imaging Component (WIC).
Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 are no longer supported. A 64-bit CPU and 64-bit operating system are also required: 32-bit x86 is no longer supported.
That You can read the complete change log in the forum, it also becomes clear how powerful this little tool really is. Downloads, also the portable version, can be found on Github.
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