Sod it...... I was pleased to find this program .... BUT.... there are some things which ARE in my 1997's photo-editing programs which make ASPECTS of **them** easier to use than this program ...
After all, having the editing boxes smack bang in the MIDDLE of the screen - the point where MOST people place the most salient part of the picture that they HAVE composed is - to my mind, & to put it mildly - lacks consideration of the users usual pre-occupation of having the most important part of the picture right in the centre of the picture!!
That the boxes can be "moved out of the way" is useful, but much more so IF they then stayed out of the way and were there until at least the program was shut down and re-opened again later.
This was certainly the case with my 1997 programs which I have used successfully until I was introduced to Paint.net, but editing was slower with the '97 era programs.
BUT : Apparently, the programmers, even way back then, understood that the user wanted to see the important parts of the picture to be edited & set out to assist them 14 years or more ago, and allowed the "Stickness" factor so that the box - once moved - did not get in the way again that session.
That is why I'm surprised that this otherwise excellent editing program had not taken previous user experience into greater consideration when designing it from "scratch"
Yeah, I know it is "Free" but PLEASE - if constructive criticism is unwelcome - how can any program be improved????