3 newbie Q's re net connection, animation, tutorials

[Brynn]

Hi Friends

I just installed Paint.NET, for my own humble needs. But I've been looking at some of the samples posted in one of the threads (I forget the name, but it's got something like 15 pages). Anyway, it's very inspiring, what others are doing, and I'm more anxious than ever to learn the program and make cool stuff! Well, TRY anyway! LOL!

I have a couple of newbie questions which I haven't found in either the Help files or searches of the forums.

1 -- Why is an internet connection needed? Can I use the program without being online?

2 -- I have read that Paint.NET does not now, and is not ever planned to have the ability to make animations. But I'm wondering if certain programs which do make animations are any more or less compatible with Paint.NET? Or maybe it would be better to ask if Paint.NET is more or less complementary to certain animation programs? It's just that my next step in the world of graphics will probably be learning animation. And loving Paint.NET as I already do, it would be nice to have, or at least know of any such animation programs. ...Or is it simply personal preference which should guide the choice of animation programs? (I am so not a professional, and am partial to Open Source/Freeware products. But I could go for something in the $20 to $30 range, if necessary )

EDIT: 3 -- I've found the tutorials for beginners on The Sketchpad: Wet Paint website. They're fabulous! I'm wondering if they can be made downloadable (for "us" beginners)? I'm not sure it would be ethical to just copy it all, even if it would just be for my own use. Anyway, I guess this is more of a suggestion than a question....but for a question, I could ask if there is any way (for me or others) to be able to access the tutorials without going online all the time?

Thanks for your help

And a great, big THANKS for such a great program!!

[Rick Brewster]

Paint.NET does not require an Internet connection. I don't know where you read that.

[BuzzKill]

1 -- Why is an internet connection needed? Can I use the program without being online?

Paint.NET has an "Update" feature that will, if enabled, check to see if a newer version of PDN is available. I believe it does this once a month. This is the only time Paint.NET will utilize an internet connection. If you want, you can turn this feature off/on under File > Updates > Automatically check periodically.

2 -- I have read that Paint.NET does not now, and is not ever planned to have the ability to make animations.

As of right now, Paint.NET does not do animations. However, I think there are a couple of forum members trying to make an animation plugin. Untill one is made, there are a couple freeware apps out there. 'UnFreez' is a good one to start out on. It's quick, simple, and doesn't require an installation on your system in order to use it. Check it out here... http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/

3 -- I've found the tutorials for beginners on The Sketchpad: Wet Paint website. They're fabulous! I'm wondering if they can be made downloadable (for "us" beginners)? I'm not sure it would be ethical to just copy it all, even if it would just be for my own use. Anyway, I guess this is more of a suggestion than a question....but for a question, I could ask if there is any way (for me or others) to be able to access the tutorials without going online all the time?

That's Crazy Man Dan's website. He's a very helpfull and courteous forum member. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you printed or saved his tutorials... just as long they were for personal use only. If you want to make a website available for offline viewing, there's a make available offline option you can use when bookmarking a site. Also, you can save the page you're looking at by... File > Save or Save As in your browser.

[Rick Brewster]

v2.61 checks every 5 days, actually. v2.5 was set to 14 days. Our betas check every day.

[BuzzKill]

Thanks for the correction.

[Brynn]

Hi

Thanks guys!

I had not read anything about needing an internet connection. It's just that when I opened PDN for the first time, my firewall prompted me to configure access. So that, plus I don't clearly understand what .NET Framework is (I thought it's purpose is to enable programs to use the internet more efficiently -- obviously now, that isn't correct). Anyway, that's why I thought access was necessary.

Oh, but I am glad to find out about the automatic updates! PDN is updated as often as every 5 days? Being one who uses that archaic dialup type of connection, I hate unexpected slowdowns created by auto. updates. This probably explains a big slowdown I experienced soon after opening for the first time. Good to know! So if I disable the automatic part, will it be obvious where I need to go to get updates manually?

Thanks for the tip on UnFreez. I will definitely check it out. And I will also anticipate the new plugin (although not in an anxious sort of way ).

There's one thing which I haven't figured out yet, which is rather annoying. Maybe someone could shorten my search for the right setting. Whenever I open a new image, it shows in the viewer with a shadow below and to the right. I just want to get rid of the shadow.

Thanks again for your help, and also, again, for the great program!

[Rick Brewster]

We don't update every 5 days. The application just looks for updates up to once every 5 days. It will tell you when there is an update available and give you a way to install it quite easily (just click "Install" and it does it all).

Turning off the update checking won't really affect performance at all.

[Bob]

I just want to get rid of the shadow.

You can't.

[Brynn]

Oh dear

Well, thanks anyway, Bob.

I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

All best.