UFWHOA

wow I haven't been in the forums in a LONG time here's the tutorial on HDR in Paint.net: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/12198-hdr-image-blending-tone-mapping/

Paint.net is not trying to do what other programs are already doing. Also keep in mind that this program is primarily developed by one guy (with the help of others contributing) while other programs are well-funded and developed by multiple teams of programmers and developers. Just keep that in mind.

Also, just letting you know that I use Paint.net primarily for photo editing and have been a user for a good long while now. So if you have an questions, feel free to ask me even through a private message, though it'd probably be better to post a thread. I'll just start you off by advising you to look through the forums for a while and experiment with the tutorials that are here, practice your creativity and hone your skills. I think the best thing about this program is that it teaches you how to work in steps in order to achieve an effect.

I used to use sepia but now I actually utilize a new method to create sepia toned photos, as it provides me with more creative control as to how it affects a photograph. Don't need a plugin here :-)

I miss right-clicking with the selection tool to subtract. What's the reason for having "replace" mode assigned to both left and right click?

what if you have something useful to add to the topic and instead of creating a new one, you just add to the old one? Sometimes I feel tempted to add some new ideas to old topics, especially when the old topics are used as references too.

yeah the true blur is amazing and I use it constantly for all sorts of tasks. Does a great job really blending the color pixels together. Ed Harvey rocks.

hey really appreciate the great feedback, didn't expect that so much haha yeah don't worry, I'll be putting more up real soon and making it look all presentable and convenient (I hate how long it must take for some of you to already load up this page). I even did a photoshoot just last week and I'm still editing the photos....

OK I'm back to being a little more active on the forums. Here's a few things I've done using just Paint.net. You'll see that I use this program primarily to edit and retouch photographs. (Note: I'll update this gallery later with thumbnail previews instead of the actual images) The order of the post is going to be generally from my oldest to latest as you scroll down. Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: ^she asked me to do that for her haha I've been very active with Paint.net for the past year I've had it, so there's a lot of stuff I have, but I'm just putting up a few for now. I'll be back to update this very soon.

make sure you are using the selection tool if you want to isolate the blur effect to a certain area of the picture (like edges within a picture), otherwise the effect will apply to the whole layer you are working on.

you know you can adjust the transparency of the clone stamp by adjusting it on the color wheel right? That's what I do, on a blank layer. I first anchor the tool on the bottom layer and then I make a new transparent layer and then apply the clone stamp to that layer. The reason for putting it on a new layer is that it provides more flexibility. Also i set the transparency between 36-78 depending on the size of the brush. I go more transparent as I get closer to the edge to provide the best and smoothest feathering on my own.

Personally, I would love to have a good reference book for PDN on hand. It'd be handy to have and also I would like to learn more about how the program works in various chapters. I only know a bit about programming like in C++ but it'd be nice to get a full understanding of all the adjustments, blend modes and effects. Something that goes beyond a general description of what it does. For instance, recently I just got how levels and curves works and I've been using the program for almost a year now. It'd be nice to have a book that is a little more extensive and organized than the forums. I'd pay a good chunk of change for it. So Ash...get that pen moving buddy! :-P Also, it would be a fun project if we all worked together to contribute to a single published book, something for good reference use.

just an update, I tried out the Erode/Dilate plugin effect and it works great. I'd have to tweak the photo to make it look more realistic as far as blending properly especially if I using just one photograph with the subject in it because the subjust spreads in the photo too, which ruins the depth-of-field effect. But this works excellent if taking a photograph of the subject and another of the background and applying the effect to the background and blending the subject smoothly into the background. But yeah, Erode/Dilate plugin looks pretty close to a "natural" bokeh.

yeah the Color To Alpha is the best way to approach this for now. I got it close enough to the way I want it. It did a great job of removing the right amount of black in the image, now I just need to intensify parts of it that should be "glowing" white so it looks more like the Screen layer effect. Thanks. Big help.

I'm trying to create a transparent image of my "Ruben" signature that leaves just the text and no background. I currently apply it to photos using the screen layer blend mode, which eliminates all the pure black in it, while keeping the white/gray parts bold and bright. I've tried removing the black using the alpha mask plugin but it leaves me with a very transparent text and even removes the lighter areas of the image. I just want to find some way to copy the effect that the Screen blend mode has on it when I apply it to another layer, so I can then save just the text and have a transparent background. Anybody know of any clever methods as to approach this?