
Why all the fuzz about MS Paint – Just use Paint Dot NET - NicoJuicy
http://www.getpaint.net/
======
hjek
MS Paint is my favourite Microsoft program ever. Even on GNU/Linux I can't do
without it (just using Wine). The SHIFT + [drag] feature of MS Paint (kind of
like on-the-fly brushes with transparency) is _the_ killer feature I haven't
seen in any other program.

[http://pradiiphira.hubpages.com/hub/Microsoft-Paint-
Features...](http://pradiiphira.hubpages.com/hub/Microsoft-Paint-Features-I-
Like-Most)

~~~
fzzzy
That feature was in MacPaint, released in 1984. It used command-option instead
of shift, though.

Page 19 of this manual:

[http://classiccomputers.info/down/Apple/MacPaint_Manual_-_19...](http://classiccomputers.info/down/Apple/MacPaint_Manual_-_1983.pdf)

~~~
hjek
Exactly that feature on p19! And what a nice manual. Those B/W pixel patterns
are so pretty.

I wish there was a way to run those old programs. I once managed to get KidPix
in B/W to run on an emulator but somehow it stopped working. I always felt
that MSPaint was to pixels what Vi is to text. (Photoshop/Paint.NET/Gimp are
more like Word)

Why has noone made clones of those old paint programs? (Maybe I ought to stop
whining, and just do it myself. That manual is a great reference, though.)

~~~
fzzzy
Mini vMac is an excellent emulator for the Mac Plus. I have quite a collection
of old mac software that I backed up from my original floppies, and I'm glad I
did. Who knows how much longer those would have survived before they all had
errors.

Check out mac garden if you are interested in old mac stuff, it's great.

If you ever make a clone of an old paint program (maybe in a web browser?
should be possible nowadays) let me know :-)

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patio11
I recently switched from Windows to Mac for my main work computer. Paint.NET
is the program I miss the most on a day-to-day basis. Does anyone have a
recommendation for a similar program for common uses like e.g. screengrab a
web page then put a 50% transparency yellow highlight on a portion I want to
call out? I'm happy to pay, but know next to nothing about the Mac ecosystem.

~~~
swanson
I like Pixelmator for Mac
([https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixelmator/id407963104?mt=12](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixelmator/id407963104?mt=12)).
It is in between Paint.NET and Photoshop.

I also use Captur
([http://cambhlumbulunk.blogspot.com/p/captur.html](http://cambhlumbulunk.blogspot.com/p/captur.html))
for taking screenshots since I can never remember the obscure OS X shortcuts.

~~~
epochwolf
Before anyone runs off and grabs Pixelmator, see if Preview.app can do what
you need. If you just need to highlight something in an image or add a note,
it can do that.

If you need more, grab Pixelmator. It's an excellent program for basic image
manipulation and drawing. If you need professional level tools, grab Paint
Tool SAI, Photoshop, or GIMP as you need. Pixelmator will not be a good
replacement for this programs.

------
daigoba66
Great program. Absolutely terrible website. Where's the download link? I can't
find it amidst the giant "download this crapware!" graphics all over the
place.

~~~
brokenparser
It's quite obvious, the site is all static content so even if you can't tell
the ads from the contents by their visual appearance, just press F5. It also
quite literally says "download" right at the top:

[http://drp.io/geKo](http://drp.io/geKo)

On the second page, scroll down if you don't see the buttons. Notice that the
advertisement has an AdChoices button (and it also changes on reload). Also,
the instructions are right there underneath the ad:

[http://drp.io/geKp](http://drp.io/geKp)

On the final download page, there are obvious signs to tell where you should
click. The download button is surrounded by a huge click target in a box that
features an AdChoices button and if you look closely you'll see it quite
literally says "Advertisement" (FFS). Most importantly, the page tells you to
click the link labelled "Free Download Now" to the _right_ , where the ad sits
_below_.

[http://drp.io/geKq](http://drp.io/geKq)

I feel dumber having explained this.

~~~
tzs
I wouldn't say it is obvious. The ads you got when you took your screenshots
weren't the most confusing that show up. Here is what I got on the site:
[http://imgur.com/a/WvFd6](http://imgur.com/a/WvFd6)

First impression for me of the page is that the content is on the left, and
the ads are on the right. That's because the part I have circled in red looks
like Google-style text ads. My mental ad blocker filters them out.

The download button I have circled in yellow then sets off alarms. It's in
what I have decided is an ad column, and the color reminds me a bit of the
deceptive download ads CNET's download.com likes to use on their site to trick
people into downloading the wrong thing.

I return to the left column, which I have identified as the content column.
The download button there, which I have circled in green, is in a place where
a download button would not be unexpected. This is the one I will probably
click, unless the small, greyed out, notice that it is an add for "Free Zip"
somehow catches my attention.

If instead of trying to download from the front page, I click the download
link at the top, we get to the second page. What I'd do there depends on how
tall my browser window is. If it is tall enough to show the real download
section at the bottom, my attention would be drawn to that, because it looks
enough like download sections at other places (because of the layout, and
because it lists versions, sizes, and mirrors).

However, if that ends up not visible, then I'd probably click the ad I have
circled in green. This ad fits right into the flow of the content and is a
place where a download link for paint.net would make sense.

I think pages can be classified into "consumption" pages and "activity" pages.
A consumption page is a page where the reader is there to consume the content
of the page. For example, a product page at an online store would be a
consumption page. The reader is there to read the information about the
product. The front page of the paint.net site is a consumption page.

An activity page is a page where you are there to perform some activity. At an
online store, the checkout page would be an activity page. At the paint.net
site, the download page would be an activity page.

Third party ads on consumption pages can be fine. People on consumption pages
are often just looking, and ads give a chance to get some money from such
visits. When people get to activity pages, they have usually gone beyond the
just looking stage. You've got them on the hook, and now you want to reel them
in. There should be no outside temptations or distractions put up at that
point.

~~~
brokenparser
But those ads have 2 AdChoice icons on them, are huge click targets, have a
border AND say "This advertisement will...".

If you can't figure this out, you won't be able to use paint.net anyway.

------
patio11
Paint.NET is, by the way, the only donationware which I'm aware of which makes
the founder(s) a full-time income. Well-earned, too -- I've found it
indispensable over the years.

~~~
samcrawford
Adblock ([https://getadblock.com/pay/](https://getadblock.com/pay/)) is
another such case I believe.

Wholeheartedly agreed about Paint.NET's usefulness!

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tshadwell
What "fuzz" is this referring to? I have for a long time preferred GIMP to
paint.net for its portability and versatility, but neither of these compete
with MSPaint in any way-- they fill a completely different role.

~~~
ds9
GIMP is great for editing photos, but a poor choice for creating bitmap (non
vector) graphics. It's a big hassle even just to draw a straight line in GIMP.
MS Paint is the reverse - easy for graphics, ill-suited for photos.

As I noted elsewhere on this page, Kolourpaint4 is the Linux equivalent of MS
Paint. There are others which aim for the same niche, one called (MTPaint? or
similar?) for example, but I found them harder to use.

~~~
lcedp
> GIMP is great for editing photos, but a poor choice for creating bitmap (non
> vector) graphics. It's a big hassle even just to draw a straight line in
> GIMP. MS Paint is the reverse - easy for graphics, ill-suited for photos.

What? Photos are bitmap graphics and Gimp has nothing to do with vector
graphics. You're really confusing a lot.

To draw a straight line in Gimp you just hold shift.

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misingnoglic
I think MS Paint was just the standard shitty software that everyone was
comfortable and used when they were kids or whenever. Also the fact that it
wasn't updated until Windows Vista says something.

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arrc
Well coz its readily available unlike Paint(.)Net and its simple and quick
like notepad. Actually the lack of features is what most people love the most
about ms paint.

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Sir_Cmpwn
It's a shame Paint.NET is no longer open source. I tried out Pinta on
GNU/Linux, but it's very buggy and not quite as nice. I just use Gimp these
days.

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eliben
I used to love Paint.NET back in my (dark) Windows days. Could anyone suggest
a good web-based alternative that would be OS agnostic today?

~~~
pbhjpbhj
There are lots of online image editors, Adobe have a photoshop inspired one
([http://www.photoshop.com/tools?wf=editor](http://www.photoshop.com/tools?wf=editor)),
there's Aviary, Sumopaint, Pixlr, ... I looked at a few a while back
[http://alicious.com/online-image-editing-update/](http://alicious.com/online-
image-editing-update/) and settled on Pixlr.

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audessuscest
is it a trolling thread ?

------
corresation
While their website is an anti-pattern, I do have to applaud one pattern that
paint.net was early (if not first) to adopt: Asking you about updates when you
_exit_ the program rather than when you first open it.

Contrast this with Notepad++. Every single time I open that app -- which I
only do when I have pressing, immediate work to do -- it imperiously demands
that it and its plugins be updated for various trivial, if not irrelevant
things. I'm sure there is an option I can find someone in the hierarchies of
options, but as a default interface behavior that is atrocious.

The only time you should interrupt work -- and app start is a primary
indicator that work is afoot -- is if it's a critical security update.
Otherwise do something less obnoxious.

~~~
NicoJuicy
Oh my god, you are so right!

I absolutely hate this about Notepad++! (didn't think about it actually,
untill you mentioned it now)

