Jane Anderson

Thanks for the tips guys, these suggestions have given some ideas to try. Like entering the text directly into PaintNet, saving a master copy of the result as png then convert to jpg later. Excellent suggestion, didn't know Png could do this. Will definitely download PngGauntlet. Did try Metadata but black interface is not so good for me to see. I opened a jpg photo in PaintNet, added a name and saved as Png file size 493k. Opened into PhotoRar and it suggested 18k which was still very good. I turned the compression down to 7% and it gave 72k. Then I got the idea to open the photo/with/name I had saved in Paint.Net as png and told it to save as jpg. Then saving with default clicked, the result was very good and only a 20k difference from PhotoRar. I especially like the fact that PaintNet shows the results while choosing a compression, and also shows the file size while using the slider. Well done. I think I am going to being using PaintNet a LOT. The only suggestion I have to make it better, when typing in a name on a photo, capital letters like "A" and "S" are quite a bit stairsteppy. It is noticeable only on extreme zooming in higher than 200% so isn't really an issue. However I did check the same letters in Word and they were very smooth. So I tried copy and paste to PaintNet and it wasn't as clear as word. Tried anti-alias and the smooth/sharp, it's ok. Other than this, I am really glad I discovered this terrific program. And with users stwpping up to help makes it even better. Thanks again Everyone!

Thanks! I am getting the hang of this wonderful software. First time I tried it, nope too different. Second time, it was like opening presents at Christmas

Paint.net is really good at getting photos and graphics ready for the web where smaller file size is preferred. And it does a very good job at compression yet still having clear results. I tried copying from Microsoft Word into Paint.net, then paste into new image, then saved. Good results, then I tried PhotoRar to see if it could do even better with the result, and it could. I am aiming for 50 to 80k in file size, smaller is useful too. Winsoft closed up shop, the PhotoRar version I have is 11 years old. I haven't found another program that can equal it. So, would it be possible to incorporate the compression (and neat sliders) into Paint.net? That would truly be a one stop tool for the web. Thanks

Wonderful, it works! I can do layers, and one time in my experimenting I did get the text to change color, simply by clicking on the color wheel. Then when loading a different photo I couldn't make the text change (didn't add a later). So that's the secret then, good to know. Thanks! Jane

I just found paint.net, very impressed. But it is so different. So until I can find my way, I am like a fish out of water My main reason for using software like this, I like to scan pictures and text the name right on the digital photo. So far I discovered to choose the text tool then I can type right on the photo. But if I want to move the name to a different area of the photo, I would need to change text color depending on if my white name is on a white sky, or my black name is over a dark forest. So far I have not found a way to select the name and change the color of the text. I like the way the little square can drag text, neat! My other situation, sometimes a photo needs more description than a name. I learned how to enlarge the canvas on the bottom only, for a 2 line description. But if the added canvas appears as black, how would I change it to white? Or vice versa. Thanks, Jane