Paint.NET is a free advanced graphic editor with a multitude of tools.

It's possible that, at some point, we wish to edit a picture or create a drawing using the computer. There is a multitude of graphic editing programs and tools. Some are very sophisticated and expensive, and some are very basic and free of charge. For example, Windows includes the “Paint” tool, which allows us to create and edit images in a very basic way. The following program can be used professionally, thanks to many tools, even though it's free.

Paint.NET allows us to make a lot of edits and changes in images or photographs. In addition to the typical tools of this kind of program (pencil, select, draft, etc.), it includes many filters that provide a distinctive touch to the image we are editing. Some of the filters included are sketch pencil, oil paint, blur, blur zoom, dents, crystal frozen, polar inversion, pixelated, enhancement, embossed, remove red-eye, smoothing portrait, add or reduce noise, and more.

In addition to filters, we can apply the typical Adjustments: auto-level, black-and-white, brightness and contrast, curves, inverted colors, hue and saturation, levels, posterization, and sepia.

When we select a filter or adjust, a window appears with a series of parameters that we can modify to influence the final result of the filter or adjust. As we modify the parameters, we will see how the changes are applied to the final image, so it's not necessary to apply the filter or adjust to see the result.

The program brings a large and clear interface. In the central part of the window, we'll see the picture we will create or edit. In the left part, there is a window with all the editing tools at our disposal: selection, magic wand, paint bucket, draft, zoom, pencil, brush, color detector, clone stamp, etc. The bottom left is a window containing palette tools, where we can pick primary and secondary colors. In the bottom right, there is a window with image layers, where we can select those layers that are visible. In the top right is a history with all the actions we've been doing, being able to undo or delete any of the actions carried out.

As is usual in this type of program, we can access tools, filters, actions, etc., using mouse or keyboard shortcuts. This last option is the most convenient for those who make use of the program frequently because that greatly accelerates the process of editing and creation. In the software's manual help, there's a list of all the available keyboard shortcuts.

The program includes the option to capture an image from a camera or scanner that's connected to the PC. This way, we'll edit the desired image directly without using an intermediary program.

Paint.NET can be considered a tool intermediate between Photoshop and “Paint,” as it includes more tools and options to “Paint,” but without reaching the level of Photoshop. On the other hand, this program is free, which makes it a great option to be used as a graphic editor if we don't need more advanced editing tools.