Windows 7 - New Paint Features

Windows 7 includes a raft of new features and improvements among which you'll find revamped versions of Wordpad, Windows Calculator and the classic Windows image editor: Paint.

Paint has been completely redesigned for Windows 7. Not only does it boast the popular ribbon-style interface, but it also includes new functions and tools that make it much more useful.

The top toolbox includes lots of utilities to work on your photos, divided into two main tabs: Home and View. In the Home section, there are tools to select a certain area (either in a rectangular or free-form shape), resize or rotate your image and easily zoom in and out with the Magnifier. The View tab includes apps to configure the way your image is displayed on the screen, as well as the option to toggle rulers and gridlines, a feature that can be very useful when working on small details.

As for drawing tools, the new Paint includes a much more varied selection of brushes that resemble real-life tools like oil paints, crayons, markers and watercolor, producing varying results on your screen.

You can also use predefined shapes to easily add graphical eyecandy to your photos and drawings. Simply select any shape you like and drag your mouse over the screen to draw. The shapes are very easy to customize, with different colors for the outline and inner part, and different line widths. See how the shape updates in real
time as you try new brush styles and color combinations.

The color palette in Paint has also been improved. Not only does it now offer more tones, but it also lets you add personalized colors. Simply click "Edit colors", choose the one you like most and click "Add to custom colors". Voilà!

The Ribbon menu in Paint makes photo management even easier. You can save your image to all the main graphic formats, share it by email or even set it as a desktop background, all from within the menu itself.

Generally speaking, Paint has benefited a lot from the new Windows 7. It has evolved from a highly basic, almost useless graphic tool to an easy, handy photo editor that will surely meet the photo editing needs of the average user.