Do you need something to spice up your images? The built in tools in Windows like Microsoft Paint not enough for you? Can’t afford Adobe Photoshop? The two most popular free applications to edit images on Windows would be GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and Paint.NET, but how do the two compare to each other?
First Class Flyer is a weekly series published every Friday comparing two or more free software products of the same category.
Background
Most Windows users can admit that Microsoft Paint is very weak and feature lacking. That’s why Paint.NET was created, to replace Microsoft Paint. GIMP on the other hand is a photo retouching tool designed for Linux (and built into many distributions like Ubuntu) with binaries available for Mac and Windows.
Startup Time and Performance
Program startup should be quick and easy. Nobody likes waiting very long. Paint.NET starts off very quickly and smoothly with no problems at all. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for GIMP, which took me up to 5 minutes (at least 2 minutes on Windows) to startup and always freezing while loading the data.
GIMP frequently freezes during startup.
During program operation, Paint.NET runs very smoothly while GIMP may randomly freeze and/or crash.
GIMP: 3
Paint.NET: 5
Basic Interface
GIMP’s interface is divided into at least 3 windows by default. The main window houses the actual image. Additional windows house all toolbars. This is still considered by Windows as one big window. Such an arrangement causes the interface to look quite cluttered.
GIMP's interface is quite cluttered if you are limited on screen estate. Image used is a self-taken photo of Portland Lighthouse (Maine, USA) with the Invert Color effect applied.
Paint.NET also uses multiple windows however its main windows contains toolbars and the toolboxes automatically become partially transparent when not in focus which reduces clutter. In addition, there are “tabs” letting you manage multiple images.
Paint.NET provides a more traditional Windows interface with pleasing Aero effects and transparent fading toolboxes. Image used is a self taken photo of New York Harbor and Atlantic Ocean (New York, USA).
Paint.NET takes this round for providing a clean and uncluttered interface.
GIMP: 3 (6 total)
Paint.NET: 5 (10 total)
Feature Set
Both of these image editors provide extremely rich and powerful feature sets. Both programs try to mimic some of Adobe Photoshop’s powerful features. Here is just a very small percentage of the wide range of effects available in these powerful image editors.
Like Photoshop, distortion effects can be applied to the image creating very interesting results.
Paint.NET Twist Effect
GIMP Ripple Effect
Now let’s take my twisted photo of New York Harbor and apply the Emboss effect on it.
Paint.NET Emboss on the twisted photo of New York Harbor
GIMP: Its a supernova!
Both include artistic effects, such as cartoon and oil painting.
Paint.NET Ink Sketch
Buried under the many menus, GIMP has far more features than Paint.NET. You can spend hours experimenting with everything.
GIMP: 5 (11 total)
Paint.NET: 4 (14 total)
Ease of Use
Nobody likes to read huge user manuals. Most of the basic functions should be easy and straightforward. Paint.NET is like this. Easy and simple with nothing complicated or confusing.
Some of GIMP features are straightforward however it may take while to get used to everything as GIMP seems less user friendly than Paint.NET is. The multi-window cluttered interface makes it even worse.
GIMP: 3.5 (14.5 total)
Paint.NET: 5 (19.5 total)
And now its time for…
Bonus Points!
Windows 7 Taskbar Support
Paint.NET integrates with Windows 7 taskbar for the progresss bars of extended tasks such as applying effects.
Paint.NET tasks integrate their progress bar into Windows 7 taskbar icons
Paint.NET: +1 bonus point (20.5 total)
Plugin System
GIMP is open source and allows for a plugin system. Plugins can extend and add additional features to GIMP and can be downloaded at the Plugin Registry. Paint.NET also supports plugins from their plugin forum.
GIMP: +3 bonus points (17.5 total)
Paint.NET: +3 bonus points (23.5 total)
Multi-Platform
GIMP is multi-platform for Windows, Mac, and Linux (officially for Linux), unlike Paint.NET which is Windows exclusive.
GIMP: +2 bonus points (19.5 points)
Its time to tally up the scores!
GIMP: 19.5
Paint.NET: 23.5
And the winner is…
Once again, the scores are very close, but Paint.NET is the winner of this First Class Flyer.
It’s all about personal preference and want you want in an image editor. GIMP has much more features and can do more however its significantly slower and harder to use. Paint.NET is easy and quick but has less features than GIMP.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
Supports Windows, Mac, and Linux
Paint.NET
Supports Windows XP SP2 or higher
Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (automatically installs if it is not already installed)
Which one do you prefer? GIMP or Paint.NET? Or do you prefer another image editor? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Be sure to join us next Friday for the next First Class Flyer!
HA. Just as I thought. I love Paint.net.
“Most Windows users can admit that Microsoft Paint is very weak and feature lacking.”
But it also lacks thousands of features that Photoshop has.
Microsoft Paint is awesome.
Gimp takes up a lot more space on your hard drive, I hear. Also, its mascot is kind of lame and overdone. Seriously? Random dogs? Wow.
You gave bonus points go GIMP for its plugin system. But doesn’t Paint.NET have plugins, too? For example, you can open .psd files in Paint.NET without Photoshop by getting a certain free plugin.
My personal preference is Paint.NET. Gimp may have a lot of features, yes, but it’s still minimal compared to Photoshop. If you want to have a feature-rich image editing program, it’s better to use Photoshop than Gimp. If you want something a step above MsPaint but still very fast and easy to use, Paint.NET is awesome.
Hi Master Gobada.
Photoshop also costs a few hundred dollars more, unless you want to include the price of Windows, which is less than Photoshop also.
Ooops! I just realized Paint.NET has its own plugin directory also. Updated post giving Paint.NET an extra 3 points as well.
Thanks for the info!
My personal preference is also Paint.NET because its free and has all the features I need. GIMP takes much too long to start up and Photoshop is far too expensive.
Whoo! Extra points for Paint.NET!
Ooh, those are some nice plugins. I might try them if I have enough time.
I’ve been using PAINT.NET for about a year and have really liked it. I would like more support for PSDs but I guess who wouldn’t. I can at least open them up and view the layers. Overall for the work I do (not a graphic artist) I think it’s great.
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Paint.net’s user friendly setup is really nice, particularly the bleed through on the extra windows so you can see the image behind them. But the one thing I’ve seen that Gimp has on it are the user-created brushes. I have found tons of GIMP brushes, but not as many for Paint.net. the other problem with that is that they slow Gimp down even more when loading. I heard they were working on it, but i havent heard if they actually did or not.
when i get a new computer, i’ll prolly feel better about a bunch of brushes.
Yep. I like Paint.NET’s setup and interface. I like using GIMP brushes but like browser extensions, the more you add to it, the slower it becomes.