ms paint Paint—also known as Microsoft Paint—is being updated with two new image editing features that will allow users to edit images more effectively using Microsoft’s free graphics manipulation tools. Users will be able to edit images using layers, similar to Adobe’s widely used Photoshop software. MS Paint will also allow users to work with transparent images and save them after they are edited. Hopefully these features will be available to all users windows 11 at a later date.
In a recent Windows Insider blog post, Microsoft announced The company’s nearly 40-year-old computer program will be updated with support for layers. According to the company, users will be able to add, delete, and manage layers on the canvas. These layers can be hidden at will, allowing users to work on them without affecting the content of other layers.
Working with transparent images on MS Paint
Photo Credit: Microsoft
Like other image manipulation tools like Photoshop and the open-source GNU Image Manipulation program (reinforced tape), the layers appear in the order they are placed. The digital elements on each layer can be arranged or adjusted so that they appear behind other elements in the image. Microsoft’s The blog post provides an example of an image with pixel-style artwork depicting a cat with five layers, including a yellow background.
Another important feature that has made its way into MS Paint is transparency support. Users will now be able to open and edit transparent images (such as PNG) on the application, which will show a duotone checkerboard pattern as the background of the transparent parts of the image.
With the new transparency support MS Paint’s eraser tool can selectively remove the background, making it transparent. When the image is ready to save, Paint will save it as a PNG file with transparency – the application saved the image after first filling the transparent areas with a white background.
No word on when layers and transparency support will come to all users on Windows 11 – Microsoft is currently testing the new functionality Windows Insider Tester on Canary and Dev channels on version 11.2308.18.0 or newer. The company is expected to roll out the features to all users once testing is complete.