Many a time I have come across an app, and said to myself: “That sounds like a great app! If only it didn’t cost so much money.” Of course, that sends me out looking for free alternatives, which lack in quality.
That’s why I was so glad when I came across Paint.NET. It was free, so I was initially a bit skeptical about it. As with all things though, I gave it a try. My first reaction: Looks like Photoshop, with all its sub-windows and endless menus and miles upon miles of configuration controls. To be honest, it seemed complicated.
I was willing to give myself some time to monkey around with all the buttons. Paint.NET turned out to be a really fun image editor to use! Although there were so many buttons and functions, the controls are actually quite intuitive. Everything is neatly organized, and after a while, I was no longer overwhelmed by all the features.
Some of its best features, in my opinion, include:
- The History box which records every single one of your actions, allowing you greater control over undoing/redoing your edits
- The countless number of cool effects in the Effects menu, such as Gaussian Blur, Oil Sketch, and … well, I’ll leave it up to YOU to explore
- Layers
- The ability to add new effects with plugins
There’s so much functionality built in to Paint.NET, that I give it a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a Photoshop alternative. Try it yourself, you’ll love it!
Website: http://www.paint.net/
Price: $0
