Microsoft Paint, or MS Paint, is a popular graphics manipulation tool provided by Microsoft. Recently, the software giant announced that it is updating MS Paint with two new image editing features that will enhance the capabilities of the program. These updates bring MS Paint closer to industry-standard tools like Adobe Photoshop, giving users more flexibility and control over their image editing process.
One of the major updates coming to MS Paint is the addition of layers. This feature allows users to add, remove, and manage layers within their artwork. Similar to other professional image editing software, layers in MS Paint will be visible in the order they are placed. This allows users to organize and adjust digital elements on each layer independently, giving them full control over the appearance of their final image.
Another significant addition to MS Paint is transparency support. Users will now be able to open and edit transparent images, such as PNGs, directly in MS Paint. To indicate transparency, the application displays a duotone checkerboard pattern as the background for the transparent areas of the image. Additionally, the eraser tool can selectively remove the background, making it transparent. When saving the edited image, MS Paint now saves it as a PNG file, preserving the transparency instead of filling the transparent areas with a white background as it did previously.
While these new features are certainly exciting, they are currently only available to users running Windows 11 on the Canary and Dev channels. Microsoft is currently testing the functionality with Windows Insider testers on version 11.2308.18.0 or newer. As for when the features will roll out to all users, there is no specific timeline yet. However, once the testing phase is concluded, Microsoft plans to make the features available to all Windows 11 users.
The addition of layers and transparency support in MS Paint opens up new possibilities for users to edit images in a more professional and efficient manner. By bringing these features to their free graphics manipulation tool, Microsoft is providing users with more flexibility and control over their image editing process. Whether you are a professional designer or a casual user, these updates make MS Paint a more capable and versatile tool for your image editing needs. Keep an eye out for these new features as they roll out to all Windows 11 users in the future.