The dead live longer: Microsoft Paint to get layer support
20.9.2023
Translation: machine translated
There have always been rumours about the end of Paint, but now everything is different: an update is to add new functions that will actually make the "old man with the palette" more useful.
The Paint drawing programme was part of the first version of Windows and is therefore almost 40 years old. Essentially, the functions have not changed since then. However, as can now be read in the Windows blog, a future update is set to tidy up Paint and give users the layer function, as you know it from Photoshop, for example.
Layers and transparency: Photoshop sends its regards
Layers are essential for image editing and drawing programmes. Without layer support, you draw on a single digital sheet of paper. Layers add transparent "foils" to this sheet, which you place on top of each other. You can paint or write on the transparencies - and then move, rotate or remove them. In short: you are much more flexible.
The update also teaches Paint how to handle transparent PNG files. These are image files with transparent areas or colours that are not completely opaque. They are often used as icon graphics or in video inserts, among other things. Although Paint was previously able to load and save PNGs, the transparency was lost in the process.
The developers have not specified when the update will be released. Currently, only some test users are able to try out Paint with layers and PNGs.
Paint's largely unnoticed life in Windows
Microsoft has never made any serious efforts to polish up Windows' own drawing tool into a competitive graphics programme. Here and there was a small pro forma update, often accompanied by cute bugs, and so Paint cultivated its reputation over the decades as the slightly backward black sheep of the Windows family. In 2017, Microsoft even questioned support for Paint in future Windows updates.
But two years later, Microsoft took pity again: Paint received a tiny update. And it is still included in Windows 11.
Paint seems to be unbreakable. The news about the new update has also astonished the editorial team. Samuel realised that some streamers use Paint to paint wonderfully scribbly game strategies for their viewers in the livestream. And Kim confidently stated that he still uses Paint from time to time to this day.
Of course, Paint will not become a competitor to image editing heavyweights such as Photoshop with this update. But anyone who likes to draw stick figures and experiment with different fonts will have a free programme at hand that has matured with age.
Do you use Paint from time to time? Or will it be more interesting for you if you can work with layers soon? Let us know in the comments!
Cover photo: Debora Pape with MS Paint
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.