Pinta has released its much-anticipated version 3.0, enhancing casual creativity through a variety of new features and improvements. This cross-platform raster graphics tool, inspired by the popular image editor Paint.NET, has undergone a significant upgrade with the transition to GTK4 and libadwaita, bringing a modernized user interface that improves usability and performance.
In this release, Pinta debuts a button-based header bar, opting for a design that merges well with contemporary Linux desktops, including Ubuntu. Users now have the flexibility to choose dark or light color modes independently of their operating system settings, addressing a common preference issue.
The application also allows users to collapse the Layers and History panels into buttons, offering a more streamlined canvas area for focused work. Additionally, Pinta 3.0 provides important warnings when saving images to formats that do not support layers, ensuring that users are aware of any potential changes to their files.
A new customizable canvas grid has replaced the fixed pixel grid, accommodating various user needs. The update includes numerous new effects, such as Dithering, Voronoi Diagram, and enhancements to existing features from Paint.NET. Most effects are configurable and can be previewed in real-time directly on the canvas.
Other enhancements in Pinta 3.0 encompass:
- Reintroduction of Pinta’s add-ins
- Keyboard shortcuts for changing brush size or line width
- Ability to hide tool windows
- A new color picker dialog that includes a compact mode
- Support for “pinch to zoom” gestures on trackpads
- Export capabilities to portable pixmap files
- New options for adjusting image selection and resizing
- Compatibility updates for Windows and macOS.
For casual users and those in need of basic editing tools, Pinta remains a solid choice among open-source applications. Users can download Pinta 3.0 from its official website or via the Pinta Snap app and Flathub.
Pinta is an accessible and friendly option suitable for creating simple graphics and images, making it an essential tool for Linux artists.