Paint.NET developer planning to bring app to Windows Store using Microsoft's Desktop Bridge

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

paint.net light theme
paint.net light theme (Image credit: paint.net)

It feels like a steady drip of newly converted desktop apps have been hitting the Windows Store since the launch of Microsoft's Project Centennial Desktop Bridge, and now another Windows staple may be on the way soon. The developer behind Paint.NET, a free image editing app for Windows that has been around for quite some time, has revealed that he has plans for a Windows Store version of the app.

In response to a user inquiring about the possibility of the app coming to the Windows Store on the Paint.NET forums, app developer Rick Brewster responded, stating:

It's at the top of my list. I'm going to release a 4.0.17 update and then focus just on pushing to Windows Store.

Paint.NET is a simple but handy little image editor that goes a step past Paint in capability, but without overwhelming. The original release arrived all the way back in 2004, so the project has been ongoing for some time. While there's no timeframe for its arrival on the Windows Store just yet, it's still good to know it's coming.

For now, if you want to give Paint.NET a go, you can grab the desktop app from its official website.

Thanks, Anon, for the tip!

Download Paint.NET for Windows{.cta .large}

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

40 Comments
  • Yess, Paint.NET is the best, I love it! I'm hoping that there will be filter and effects support in that app though, because there are some plug-ins that I use all the time.
  • Well it makes a lot of sense to bring an existing app to the store. Good that a lot of solid apps are making the move.
  • Sometimes I use this application for simple editing.
    For most of the time, I prefer GIMP.
    Waiting for GIMP!
  • Both tools are really powerful. I mostly use GIMP, but I think it simply comes down to what you are used to using for heavy tasks.
  • Yay! I love this app!
  • Its a great lightweight app ! Nice news..
  • Fantastic app...glad to hear it's making the jump!
  • Good to hear!
  • And because of that, I will try it out. Thanks!
  • Uhm but what about plugins? Will it support them?
  • The real question...
  • Those could also be made available in the store. I would think they'd appear in the plugins section of the app, which appears at Settings > Apps > Paint.NET > Advanced options
  • Great app
  • OMG yes! Paint.net is awesome! This is great news!
  • Perhaps windows 10 s is gonna be a success. Keep it up
  • I @Anon, I'm Francesco from UWP Open Source Community, if you need a help we already converted a lot of softwares, now we started an international chat on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAENGpl0XXRIJmDW57Q our GitHub: https://github.com/UWP-Open-Source-Community and Saturday we published also on Store an app abandoned by its creator: https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co...    
  • That's some great work guys. Keep it up.
  • <p><br />
    &nbsp;</p>
    i see u have converted firefox.rufus.. but how to publish them in store ??
  • Paint.net is one of the few applications that I install by default whenever I do a clean installation to any computer. It would be great to have it in the windows store. Hopefully, UWP features will start to trickle in too :)
  • Now for Lightroom :)
  • paint.net should add more feature 1.3d canvas like paint3d 2.3d objects from paint3d library [remix] 3.tabs and UI to be coherent to the likes of photoshop 4.animation timeline 5.and plugin API support to enable and extend 3rd party plugins then it will become an unltimate paint tool in windows platform
  • Paint.NET is my personal favorite. One of the first programs i install to a fresh system
  • Can we access this app from phones????
  • No. It's still an x86 app underneath the UWP shell.
  • It's not a uwp app, it's an x86 app packaged as a store app. different things.
  • Fantastic news, if simply because Paint.NET will be able to update itself rather than bugging me on every launch! :P
  • How often do you launch it? Do you install any of the updates?
  • I always choose the Install when I exit option.
  • That is weird. In all the years I've been using Paint.NET, I've never seen its updater behave like that. Has a uninstalling-reinstalling helped?
  • Right!
  • I can't wait for all these applications to be available in the Windows Store.
  • Great. Love Paint.NET but it has one of the most annoying websites for downloading ever, full of fake "download now" advert links etc. Being on the store will help a lot.
  • True. Gotta watch where you click.
  • ITunes when
  • I have one question regarding Store ports. Isn't it a big price to pay when it comes down to porting apps to the Store that you cannot run multiple instances of the same app? I mean I feel it a serious limitation that for example I cannot run multiple instances of a YouTube app when I got three screens.
  • I was actually on the Paint.Net forums about two weeks ago looking to see if there was any plans to move the app to the Windows Store, wasn't anything at the time, so am really glad to hear this news as it's my goto image editor. Maybe MS are finally getting it, people don't want to re-write their apps in UWP, converting win32 apps to run in the Store is a way better solution. Now they just have to reverse their decision to kill the Android Bridge and allow Android apps into the Windows Store and they might have a decent platform and not die of irrelevancy. Sure they want people to use Visual Studio, but really apps are more important, if they want developers (developers, developers) then they shouldn't care how the apps are made as long as they are in the Windows Store.
  • Awesome! Been using a portable version of it via LiberKey on my Surface Pro, will definitely be switching to the UWP app if it becomes available. Here's hoping GIMP joins soon.
  • Except a few local apps i have not seen majority of the developers promoting their apps even if it existed in the store....with converted apps gradually but surely populating the store its high time developers promote em in their website or direct to the store when someone tries to download any app from the website which exists in store.....this should help gain popularity and attract many more gradually building an ecosystem solid enough for the 'surface phone' (or whatever its called) to be a sure hit.....
  • Awesome, I'm looking forward to its release..
  • Paint.net is fantastic. I stay away from Gimp at all costs unless its absolutely necessary (its better at opening PSD layered files). Good news!