Pinta, a free, open source drawing / image editing program, was updated to version 1.6 today, bringing redesigned new image dialog and shape tools, a new community add-in repository, along with over 50 bug fixes and other changes.
For those not familiar with Pinta, this is a cross-platform image editing / drawing program that was initially based on Paint.NET.
The application was created to serve as a simple, easy to use alternative to more advanced applications (like GIMP) and it features drawing tools, unlimited layers and undo history, over 35 image effects and adjustments and a configurable UI (you can use a docked interface or multiple windows).
Pinta 1.5 was released almost a year ago and it featured an Add-in Manager which in theory allowed users to browse and install add-ins, but there were no addons available at that time. With Pinta 1.6, the Add-in Manager ships with a new community add-in repository which, at the time I'm writing this article, includes 6 add-ins: Ascii Art, WebP support, Block Brush, Generate Grid, Night Vision Effect and Uploader (for uploading images on image-hosting websites; currently, it only supports imgur.com), along with a demo add-in.
Besides the new community add-in repository, Pinta 1.6 also ships with the following changes:
- redesigned shape tools:
- the Line tool now supports drawing curves and arrows (screenshot above);
- shapes remain editable after being drawn;
- all shape tools now support drawing dashed lines (screenshot above);
- all selection tools now support the Union, Exclude, Xor, and Intersection modes;
- redesigned New Image dialog, which includes presets, orientation and background options, and a thumbnail preview of the image;
- the toolbox and color palette now have a flexible layout and can expand horizontally, making them significantly more usable on small screens;
- the text tool now supports the standard shortcuts for toggling bold (Ctrl+B), italic (Ctrl+I), and underline (Ctrl+U), and all of the text can be selected with Ctrl+A;
- when launching Pinta from the command line, the standard --version and --help options are now supported;
- improved the readability of the text cursor against dark backgrounds;
- fixed a number of issues with the text tool’s support for Unicode text;
- fixed a number of issues with undoing selections;
- many other bug fixes.
Install Pinta 1.6 in Ubuntu or Linux Mint
To install Pinta 1.6 in Ubuntu 14.04 or 14.10 / Linux Mint 17 or 17.1 (and derivatives), you can use the official stable Pinta PPA. To add the PPA and install Pinta, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pintaTo download the source code, Windows or Mac OSX binaries, see the Pinta downloads page.
Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.
