A lightweight, powerful, and modern image editor for Linux inspired by Paint.NET.
- About the Project
- Key Features
- Tools
- Technical Details
- Installation Guide
- Troubleshooting
- Contributing
- Author & Contact
- Credits
PaintNotNet is an image editor built with Python 3 and PyQt6 as a tribute to Paint.NET. It was created to fill the gap left by the absence of an official Linux release, providing a fast, smooth, and familiar experience for Linux users. While cross-platform Python allows it to run on Windows, its design and development are primarily aimed at the Linux community.
- Modern UI: Light and dark themes (including a theme-aware transparency checkerboard).
- Multi-language Support (i18n): Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese, with live switching from Options → User Preferences (no restart required).
- Layers: Thumbnails, visibility, opacity, reordering, duplication, and merging.
- Full History (Undo / Redo): Immutable document snapshots powered by Copy-on-Write.
- Native
.pnnFormat: Layered project format with transparency support; automatic MIME association for double-click opening. - Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts: Rebind hotkeys for all tools from Options → Keyboard Shortcuts….
- Printing and PDF Export: Direct canvas printing support and PDF document generation.
- Online Image Search and Insert: Search and insert images directly from Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, Wikimedia, etc.
- Export Formats: PNG, JPG, BMP, WEBP, GIF, TIFF, ICO, TGA, PDF, and native
.pnn. - Image and Color Adjustments: Exposure, color temperature, levels (input/output black & white points), sepia, posterize, brightness, contrast, hue/saturation, invert, and desaturate.
- Advanced Color Panel: Color wheel, RGB/HSV/CMYK sliders, and saved palette history.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Rectangle select | Select rectangular areas |
| Ellipse select | Select elliptical areas |
| Freeform lasso | Freehand contour selection |
| Magic wand | Color tolerance area selection |
| Move pixels | Move selected pixel content |
| Move selection | Move selection border frame only |
| Transform | Scale, rotate, and adjust with control handles |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Pencil | Precise pixel drawing; realistic mode with hardness and dust controls |
| Brush | Custom stroke width, smoothing, and tip shape |
| Eraser | Erase with configurable size and tip shape |
| Spray | Spray paint with density and dripping effects |
| Smudge | Drag and blend pixels across the canvas |
| Clone stamp | Sample a reference area and duplicate pixels elsewhere |
| Paint bucket | Fill areas by color tolerance |
| Gradient | Fill with linear or radial gradients |
| Line / Curves | Draw lines and curves with Bézier control handles |
| Shapes | Geometric shapes (Rectangles, Ellipses, Stars, Polygons, Sun, Sparkle, Diamond, etc.) |
| Text | Add text with font selection, stroke, glow, and shadow effects |
| Eyedropper | Sample color directly from the canvas |
| Zoom | Zoom in/out or select a specific area to focus |
PaintNotNet is structured into modular components:
| Module | Role |
|---|---|
core/canvas.py |
Main canvas widget (CanvasWidget): document state, history, file/image operations |
core/canvas_input_handler.py |
Mouse input mapping & dispatching (single event processing path) |
core/canvas_renderer.py |
Layer composition, transparency checkerboard, and pixel grid rendering |
core/opengl_canvas.py |
Optional OpenGL-accelerated canvas widget (QOpenGLWidget) |
core/layers.py |
Layer manager, composition caching, and Copy-on-Write handler |
core/history.py |
Undo / Redo history stack |
core/selection.py |
Selection engine and floating image content |
core/stroke_smoother.py |
Stroke smoothing (Bézier interpolation / filtering) |
core/theme.py |
Light/Dark theme manager and transparency pattern palette |
core/pnn_format.py |
Loader and saver for the native .pnn file format |
core/pexels.py + gui/dialogo_pexels.py |
Online image search engine and selection dialog |
tools/ |
Individual tool classes adhering to a common event interface (mouse_press, move, release) |
gui/ |
UI panels, dialogs, status bar, and layout builders |
- Unified Input Pipeline: All canvas mouse events are delegated to
CanvasInputHandler, which handles coordinate mapping (zoom/offset), enforces Copy-on-Write only during editing tools, and registers history states when appropriate. - Immutable History: Document snapshots create deep copies (
.copy()) of every layer'sQImage, preventing subsequent drawing operations from corrupting the undo stack. - Theme Consistency: Transparency checkerboard backgrounds on the main canvas, layer thumbnails, and online search preview cards consume a single palette definition (
ThemeManager.colores_checkerboard()). - Layer Management: Opacity blending, temporary stroke layers, and floating selection overlays; thumbnails dynamically refresh on theme switches.
- Primary Dependencies: PyQt6, NumPy, OpenCV, Pillow, Requests (online search). Optional executable packaging via PyInstaller.
- Linux (Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux, openSUSE, and derivatives)
Before running installers or building from source, make sure Python 3 and Git are installed on your system.
Open your terminal and run the command corresponding to your distribution:
-
Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS:
sudo apt update sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip python3-venv git build-essential libxcb-cursor0 libegl1 libgl1 libdbus-1-3
-
Fedora / RedHat / RHEL / CentOS / AlmaLinux:
sudo dnf install -y python3 python3-pip git gcc gcc-c++ libxcb mesa-libEGL mesa-libGL dbus-libs
-
Arch Linux / Manjaro / EndeavourOS:
sudo pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm python python-pip git base-devel libxcb libegl libgl dbus
-
openSUSE / SUSE Linux Enterprise:
sudo zypper install -y python3 python3-pip git gcc libxcb-cursor0 libEGL1 libGL1 libdbus-1-3
Once Python and Git are installed, download the repository:
git clone https://github.com/adrianandin0/PaintNotNet.git
cd PaintNotNetThe install.sh script sets up a virtual environment, installs dependencies, compiles the binary via PyInstaller, and creates desktop shortcuts:
sudo ./install.shSelect your preferred language (01 - Spanish / 02 - English / 03 - French / 04 - Portuguese). Once finished, launch PaintNotNet from your application menu or by running:
paintnotnetNote
Note for Windows users:
If you are on Windows, we strongly encourage you to use the official Paint.NET application. PaintNotNet was created as a tribute dedicated to the Linux community. While Python allows it to run on Windows, we encourage supporting the original software on its native platform.
Open Command Prompt (CMD) or PowerShell and run:
winget install --id Python.Python.3.12 -e & winget install --id Git.Git -eIMPORTANT: Close your current terminal window and open a new one after installation so environment variables are refreshed.
(Alternative without Winget): Download Python manually from python.org/downloads (make sure to check "Add python.exe to PATH" during setup) and Git from git-scm.com.
In your new terminal window, run:
git clone https://github.com/adrianandin0/PaintNotNet.git
cd PaintNotNetpython -m venv venv
call venv\Scripts\activate.bat
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements_windows.txt pyinstallerinstall.batThis builds the native executable, installs it to %LOCALAPPDATA%\PaintNotNet, and creates shortcuts on your Desktop and Start Menu.
If you prefer not to compile or install system packages, run PaintNotNet directly with Python (after completing Step 1 for your OS):
git clone https://github.com/adrianandin0/PaintNotNet.git
cd PaintNotNet
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements_linux.txt
python main.pygit clone https://github.com/adrianandin0/PaintNotNet.git
cd PaintNotNet
python -m venv venv
call venv\Scripts\activate.bat
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements_windows.txt
python main.py- Cause: Python is not installed or not added to your system's PATH variable.
- Linux Solution: Complete Step 1 by running
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv(or your distro's equivalent). - Windows Solution: Run
winget install --id Python.Python.3.12 -eand restart your terminal.
- Cause: Git is missing or was installed without restarting the command prompt.
- Solution: Install Git (
winget install --id Git.Git -eon Windows orsudo apt install giton Linux) and restart your terminal.
- Linux Solution: Install pip via
sudo apt install python3-pip(Debian/Ubuntu) orsudo dnf install python3-pip(Fedora). - Windows Solution: Run
python -m ensurepip --upgrade.
- Cause: Modern Linux distros prevent global
pippackage installation outside virtual environments. - Solution: Always use a virtual environment (
python3 -m venv venvandsource venv/bin/activate) or runsudo ./install.sh, which manages environment isolation automatically.
- Cause: PyInstaller is not installed inside the active virtual environment.
- Solution: Activate your virtual environment and run
pip install pyinstaller.
- Cause: Older Windows 10 versions without App Installer.
- Solution: Manually download Python from python.org (checking "Add python.exe to PATH") and Git from git-scm.com.
Contributions, translations, and bug reports are welcome!
- Report a Bug: Open an issue on GitHub Issues.
- Submit Code: Fork the repository, create a feature branch, and open a Pull Request.
- Developer: Adrian
- X (Twitter): @adrian_and_ino
- GitHub: adrianandin0/PaintNotNet
Developed in Python with assistance from Google Gemini and Google Antigravity.
Special thanks to Flaticon icon creators:
| Author | Link |
|---|---|
| Flaticon | flaticon.com |
| Smashicons | authors/smashicons |
| Magnific | authors/magnific |
| Pixel perfect | authors/pixel-perfect |
If you like the project, give it a star on GitHub!