Paint.NET is a powerful image editing package originally created by the team involved in the development of Windows' Paint tool. Despite these humble beginnings, Paint.NET has gained something of a following, and Pinta is another image manipulation program based on Paint.NET.

The application has been designed with a range of levels of ability in mind. Experienced user will be able to jump right in and start using some of the more advanced tools, but the learning curve for beginners is gentle and intuitive.

As with Paint.NET, users are encouraged to experiment with their creativity, and this is made possible thanks to the inclusion of an unlimited level of undoing, as well as the ability to work with an unlimited number of layers. This, combined with dozen of built in special effects and filters, means that it is possible to create impressive works of art from scratch, or work with existing images such as photos.

All of the basic drawing and editing tools you would expect to find in a mature image editing package are to be found here, and when it comes to interface customisation, Pinta is incredibly flexible. Each of the various toolbar, windows and panels can be placed almost anywhere within the program window, or transformed into a floating window. Anyone who regularly works with different platforms will appreciate the fact that Pinta is available not only for Windows, but also Linux and Mac.