We are taking about Paint. Ever since the shift towards Modern UI, almost all apps have been blessed with new looks or features, but Paint only had to make do with incremental visual updates. Finally, Microsoft has updated the Paint app and gave it a modern look. Let’s see the new app.
What has Changed?
The updated Paint is now an UMP app and has got a modern & flat design, in line with the looks of Windows 10. Under the hood many new features have also been added and few others have been trimmed. For starters, the familiar Ribbon-tool box, occupying the top space is now reduced to seven buttons with each expanding into menu on the left. The major addition is that of 3D Shapes, 7 of them as shown below. You can easily move, stretch & rotate them, at any point even after you have switched to any other tool. There is also an option of importing other 3D shapes, but the implementation is currently broken. Also you still can’t import any image into your drawing without opening it in a separate window & the curved line tool has been axed. The Text tool also has been overhauled with modern font support(though you still can’t import your own fonts), better rendering of text in drawings but sadly no free movement like 3D objects. Finally, a Community feature is also added for easy sharing and downloading of our masterpieces, but that is also not enabled for now. Other small changes are shown below.
How Do I Try It?
Currently the new Paint app is only available to Insider Build Previewers. But don’t worry, if you are not one of them, you can still try the app, courtesy of Gustave M. He shared the .appx file of the app, extracted from the latest Insider Build, which you can download here. After downloading, double click the app, click on More Info > Run anyway on the Windows Smartscreen warning to install. After the install is finished, click on Launch to open. And as we know Windows and troubleshooting go hand in hand, you may experience some issues. In my case, the app disappeared from my system every time after reboot and I could not reinstall it as Windows was telling me I already have it installed. If you face such issue, open Powershell as Administrator and type the following code: Get-AppxPackage | select name | sort name This will give you a list of UWP apps installed on your PC. Next type the following code to remove the new Paint app. Get-AppxPackage -name MSPaint | Remove-AppxPackage
Conclusion
As the new Paint app is a work-in-progress, you may experience some bugs. But it is definitely a welcome breath of fresh air and a delight for tablet & pen users. If you get a chance to try it out then don’t forget to come back here and comment on your experience of using it. Happy painting!
