Pinta

What hackers pick instead

• GIMPA free, open-source image editor with powerful features and no subscription that feels natural once learned, though many find its interface confusing and say it doesn't fully replace Photoshop.179recommend
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• Acorn by Flying MeatA small, capable macOS image editor that people use for quick edits and pixel-perfect work, bought as paid releases rather than free.12recommend
• ArcBrushNode-based 2D image editor that people say does a lot. Main caveats: a binary download from its website and no information about the company behind it.5recommend

Every quote

The 17 most detailed of 18 comments. Each links to the original.

1. It says something that an old paint.net derivative is still the best general purpose image editor out there.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

2. it's by far the most usable general-purpose photo editor on Linux that I've found

   Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

3. If you like Paint.NET, you may like Pinta on Linux.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Windows native app development is a mess”

4. It's very intuitive for someone used to Paint.NET.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

5. For minimal edits, Pinta does the job IMO

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Blender 5.2 LTS”

6. I use Pinta for simple tasks.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “How to declutter, quiet down, and take the AI out of Windows 11 25H2”

7. I have tried to use Pinta at several independent points in time over the past 10+ years, and every time I have tried it, it has been so buggy as to be practically unusable.

   Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

8. Pinta's UI is a from-scratch Gtk# clone. Given the compelling reason to use Paint.NET was arguably the UI, that's a pretty big drawback.

   Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

9. pinta is a very shallow clone that only just stopped crashing a few months ago

   Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

10. Pinta is an inferior Paint.NET

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

11. there's small differences that make me feel slower using Pinta

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “GrobPaint: Somewhere Between MS Paint and Paint.net. Multiplatform by Default”

12. it would be much easier to build off of something like Pinta

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adobe Photoshop 1.0 Source Code (2013)”

13. the only think I couldn't figure out was how to rotate text

    Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “GIMP Development Update”

14. Use Pinta or KolourPaint instead.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “GIMP Development Update”

15. Pinta gets pretty close though

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

16. Pinta just had a lot of broken UX and it didn't behave the way I expected.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Paint.net 5.2 alpha now runs on Linux”

17. it's not quite as good as I remember psp being

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Windows Notepad App Remote Code Execution Vulnerability”