dotPDN LLC has released Paint.NET 4.0.1, a minor – but important – update to the recently released Paint.NET 4.0. Version 4.0.1 is primarily a major bug fix release, but does include some performance optimisations too.

Existing users will be prompted to update the software when launching it, or can manually check via the Settings > Updates > Check Now menu. Alternatively, simply download the latest version and install it over the top of the existing build.

One of the major tweaks in version 4.0.1 concerns software and hardware rendering. Overall software rendering performance has been improved, which will please users of NVIDIA ION graphics cards as it now defaults to software rendering due to stability issues.

Paint.NET 4.0.1 is primarily a bug-fix and performance-optimisation release.

The new release also sees the latest seventh-generation Intel GPU default to hardware rendering, while all older models stick to software rendering. Users can manually change this settings via the Paint.NET options dialog.

One final GPU-related tweak sees graphical artefacts such as blackness, flickering and mouse trails, fixed on selected GPUs, including NVIDIA’s Optimus chip.

Elsewhere, the Move Selected Pixels tool gains optimisations as well as fix for a problem whereby transparent black was left behind with alpha removed instead of the secondary colour.

The Brush tools have also received a number of fixes – they should now work correctly when an odd-sized brush has been selected without anti-aliasing, while the preview circle no longer scales according to the system DPI setting, which made it too big.

The momentary hourglass/wait cursor no longer appears after using the drawing tools, while the Shapes tool – and in particular the Ellipse – has been optimised for better performance.

The zoom tool should no longer crash Paint.NET when users press the right mouse button while already holding the left one, and the Paint Bucket tool now correctly treats the selection as a boundary contour.

Other fixes cover the auto-scrolling tool, pixel-grid contrast and touch screens, which no longer scroll when swiping using one finger only.

A number of crashes have also been resolved, including OutofMemoryException when using a selection tool with hardware acceleration disabled. A full list of fixes and other changes can be found here.

Paint.NET 4.0.1 FINAL is available as a freeware download now for dual-core (or better) PCs running Windows 7 or later. The .NET Framework 4.5 is also required, but will be downloaded automatically if not present. Users of lower powered PCs, or PCs running Vista or XP, can still download Paint.NET 3.5.11.