According to Microsoft, the latest version of Paint has realistic brushes that "bring your pictures to life." MS Paint, introduced with Windows 95, has slowly evolved into a versatile image editing program possessing its own unique set of advantages. Whether you are a novice computer user or a professional digital artist in need of a digital scratchpad, Microsoft Paint is only a few clicks away.

1

Price

You do not have to buy anything to use Microsoft Paint. The program has always been free and users have never had to pay for upgrades, enhancements or bug fixes. Since Paint is part of the Windows operating system, Paint updates are included whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows. Online tutorials and tips are available, as well as extensive documentation.

  • You do not have to buy anything to use Microsoft Paint.
  • The program has always been free and users have never had to pay for upgrades, enhancements or bug fixes.
2

Features

Paint does not have all the options and features found in many image editing programs. Photoshop and Paintshop, for example, have a variety of filters, brushes and robust editing tools in their toolboxes. Paint does not support transparency, filters or layers. It only allows users to resize, rotate and merge images. The program has a small set of brushes, pens and other drawing tools. However, sometimes these features are sufficient to perform basic image manipulation. Paint also has a convenient text tool that overlays text objects on top of images. The program supports many popular image formats, such as JPEGs and GIFs.

  • Paint does not have all the options and features found in many image editing programs.
  • However, sometimes these features are sufficient to perform basic image manipulation.
3

Simplicity

Sometimes complex software is not always better software. If you need to resize an image quickly or create an impromptu freehand drawing, Paint will allow you do that within minutes of opening the program. Paint's learning curve is small because its feature set is small. The software's simplicity enables budding artists to begin painting, editing and cropping images and photos after learning a few, basic concepts. Microsoft added new enhancements to the Windows 7 version of Paint. These enhancements, including a new ribbon similar to the one in Office products, simplify navigation and optimise the user experience. This results in a cleaner, more ergonomic interface.

  • Sometimes complex software is not always better software.
  • These enhancements, including a new ribbon similar to the one in Office products, simplify navigation and optimise the user experience.