BoltBait's Plugin Pack for PdN v4.3.10 - 4.3.12 (Updated May 28, 2022)

[BoltBait]

Here is what I consider my "Essential", award winning , plugin pack for Paint.NET v4.3.10 and beyond.

 

It includes 46 plugins in 38 files, 2 palette files, and 50+ shapes. This allows you to pick and choose to install only the effects you want. Then, later you can run the installer and uncheck an item to uninstall it.

 

When you see  in this post, you can click it for more information (including source code in some cases).

To install, download this file to your Desktop, unzip it, and run the install program.

 

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Note: This is an older version of my plugin pack for paint.net v4.3.12.
For the most recent version, go here: https://forums.getpaint.net/BoltBaitPluginPack

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        Download     Donate 

I'm going through a really tough financial time right now,
so anything you can spare would be much appreciated.

 

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Which of my plugin packs is right for you?

You need to look at the Paint.NET version number in the title bar.

 

Classic:   Download:
3.5.11       https://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/8318-b
4.0.x        https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/32048-b

4.2.12+    https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113220-b

4.3.10+    You're in the right place!  Click the download button above (surrounded by blue arrows)

5.0+         https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/121343-boltbait-plugin-pack-for-paintnet-50/

 

 

 

Windows Store version of paint.net: You're in the right place!  Click the download button above

When you see the main screen (shown below), select the "I'm running the store version of Paint.NET" checkbox.

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Installer / Plugin Manager:

 

Once you click the download button above and open the zip file, run the included BoltBaitPackInstall52.exe file.  You'll see this:

When the installer first runs, it updates the check boxes to what's currently installed (checked for installed, unchecked for not installed). However, if nothing is installed, it automatically checks ALL the boxes figuring the user would like to install everything.

Carefully review each line and make sure the items you wish to install are checked.  When you click the Install button, checked items will be installed and unchecked items will be uninstalled from your system.

 

If you've had my plugins installed on your system before, you will see the following warning:

 

Just click "Apply to all files" and then click the "Overwrite" button.  This will make sure your system has all the latest updates!

 

Network Managers

 

For high volume network managers: Plugin Manager has a silent install function... for more information:  C:\> BoltBaitPackInstall52.exe /?

 

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New for this pack:

 

My laptop crashed and I lost all of the code for my plugins.  So, in this pack I have gone through all of my plugins and rewritten them from scratch.  While doing so, I added a new features to many of the plugins, improved the output of some, and I optimized the code to run faster in almost all cases.

 

For example, here is a comparison of the previous version of Render > Flames (left) and the new version (right):

 

      

"Normal flames" renders as before.  "Transparent Flames" renders the same flames but on a transparent canvas so you can add them to your favorite photo more easily.

 

I have also split Object Shadow Pro into two different plugins: Object Shadow (which handles all 2D shadows, including Drop Shadow and Modern Shadow) and Object Shadow 3D which handles only the 3D shadows:

 

Many people found the combined shadow plugin too complicated to use.  Hopefully this will be easier.  I have also rewritten the algorithm for Drop Shadows to make them look better and be easier to use.

 

Also, I updated my Render > Chart plugin which had stopped working because of a change in Paint.NET.  I had posted a corrected copy in the chart thread, but now it is included in this plugin pack.

 

Finally, I added some shapes to the shape pack.

 

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Help:

 

If you need help with an individual effect, look for the question mark "?" in the top right corner of the effect UI (near the X) and click it.

 

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Once you install this plugin pack, here's what you get:

 

Adjustments menu

 

 Black and White+  Use selected method for converting a color photograph into B&W.

 Color Balance  Easily adjust the tint of an image. Useful for color correcting photographs taken indoors without flash. The difference between this and the built-in Hue/Saturation adjustment is that this one will affect black and white areas.

 Combined Adjustments  All of your favorite adjustments on one screen.

 Hue/Saturation+  Conditional Hue / Saturation effect.

Temperature/Tint  Temperature / Tint effect.

 Transparency  Adjust the transparency of a selection just like you can adjust it for an entire layer.

 

 

Effects menu

 

 Flip Horizontal - flips the selection on the vertical axis. Similar to the layer flip of the same name.

 Flip Vertical - flips the selection on the horizontal axis. Similar to the layer flip of the same name.

 

 

Effects > Artistic menu

 

 Dream  This makes your picture look like it was seen in a dream.

 Oil Painting+  Makes your photographs look painted.

 Pastel  This makes your picture look like it was drawn with pastel chalk or water color paint. Big update for this release.

 

 

Effects > Blurs menu

 

 Gaussian Blur Plus - With it, you can blur only the Red, Blue, Green, or Alpha channel of the image. It also allows you to blend the original picture with the blurred image. (Try blurring all channels of the image with a radius of 10 and a Darken blend mode. Cool stuff.)

 

 

Effects > Composition menu

 

 Complementary Colors - Select the primary color of your design work and this plugin will tell you which accent colors to use.  It uses the RYB color model for more natural matches.

 

 

Effects > Fill

 

 From Clipboard  Fills the current selection with the graphic on the clipboard.

 From File  Fills the current selection with a graphic file.

 

 

Effects > Object menu

 

An "object" is a group of pixels on a layer that is completely surrounded by transparent pixels (or the edge(s) of the canvas). These are useful when doing "cutouts" or with text on a new layer.

 

 Bevel Object  This effect allows you to make objects 3D. Works great with text!

 Feather  This effect softens the edges of objects. 

 Inner Shadow  Renders a shadow on objects so they look like they have been cut out.

 Object Shadow  Renders a 2D shadow behind objects.  This is your standard "drop shadow".  It can also render modern shadows.

 Object Shadow 3D - Renders a 3D shadow behind objects.

 Outline - This effect puts an outline of the selected color around your object.

 Paste Alpha - This effect takes the graphic on the clipboard and converts the colors to shades of gray and then uses that for the alpha values of the current layer. Useful for using masks.

 Switch Alpha to Gray - This effect converts the image to shades of gray based on the alpha value of each pixel. Useful for making masks.

 Switch Gray to Alpha - This effect deletes white from and image and converts all other pixels to black. Useful for isolating line art.

 

 

Effects > Photo menu

 

 Combined Adjustments  Many adjustments for photographs all on one screen

 Level Horizon  Rotate an image by drawing a line across the horizon.

Meme Maker   Create your own Memes.

 Remove Dust  Removes little white dust particles by clone stamping them out. I find this very helpful when scanning photographs.

 Sharpen Landscape  Makes your landscape photographs look like they belong in a magazine!

 Seam Carving - Reduce height  Reduce the height of an image without scaling (squishing) the image.

 Seam Carving - Reduce width  Reduce the width of an image without scaling (squishing) the image.

 Vignette+  Extends the capabilities of the built-in Vignette effect with colors and the ability to render a vignette to a blank canvas.

 

 

Effects > Render menu

 

 Calendar  Render a monthly calendar.  Month name and Days of the week are localized. Includes many options.

 Charts and Graphs Like a mini spreadsheet, enter your data and plot a graph!

 Dimensions  This doesn't measure anything. It just renders the dimension arrows and label text.

 Flames  This effect allows you to render flames. It is based on Tom Jackson's excellent fire tutorial. Big update this release.

 Gradients  Render colorful HSV (rainbow) gradients.

 Grid / Checkerboard  Create checker board or grid patterns.

 Polygon / Stars  This effect allows you to render triangles, pentagons, hexagons, etc. It also allows you to render stars. It is useful in making standard shapes and the pointed edges of stickers.

 

 

Effects > Selection menu

 

Effects in this menu perform their effect by following the selection outline (marching ants). While they will work with a square selection (or no selection by using the edges of the canvas as their path), they are more interesting when the selection is curved , selected by hand , or by magic wand .

 

 Bevel Selection  This effect allows you to make selections 3D. Works great with text!

 Blur Selection Edge - This effect feathers the edges of a selection using the surrounding colors instead of transparency. Useful when the selection is not surrounded by transparent pixels.

 Feather Selection  This effect softens the edges of your selection. It works just like the feather in other graphic$ program$.

 Inner Shadow Selection  Renders a shadow on the inside of a selection so it looks like it has been cut out.

 Outline Selection  This effect allows you to outline a selection.

 

 

Effects > Stylize menu

 

 Floyd-Steinberg Dithering  This effect will reduce the colors of your image using the Floyd-Steinberg dithering technique.  Another plugin with a big update this release.  Added some really cool new features.

 

 

Effects > Text formations

 

 Creative Text Pro  Creates professional looking 3D text.  Amazing.  I still can't believe we give this one away for free.

 Outlined / Gradient text  Creates text that is outlined with a selected color and filled with a solid color or a gradient.  I have really enhanced this one during this release.  Be sure to check out all the new features.

 

 

Window > Colors > More > Open Palettes Folder

 

 I have also included my Rainbow Palette. This is very popular on the forums.  In the Color docker window, click the  button and choose Rainbow from the list.  This is what the Rainbow Palette looks like:

 

 

 

Custom Shapes

 

This plugin pack also includes 50+ custom shapes.  In the installer, you can pick-and-chose which ones you want.

 

 

This pack supersedes my plugins available elsewhere. I will be updating the other locations eventually, but if you want the latest versions, download my plugins from this post.

 

Enjoy.  

 

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Also, for you luddites that refuse to use the installer, here's a zip file with all the DLL's in it: BoltBaitDLLs52.zip  How to install Paint.NET plugins.

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BoltBaitPack52.zip

[Ego Eram Reputo]

'Tis littered with awesomeness. Five stars   Would install again!

[Djisves]

Thanks @BoltBait. This is an essential pack for everyone who has PDN installed. 

What you wrote in "new for this pack" was enough for me to go ahead and overwrite all the plugins I had installed.

[BoltBait]

8 hours ago, Djisves said:

This is an essential pack for everyone who has PDN installed. 

 

Thank you for the kind words!

 

8 hours ago, Djisves said:

What you wrote in "new for this pack" was enough for me to go ahead and overwrite all the plugins I had installed.

 

Glad to hear it.  Be sure to explore all of the other plugins as I didn't mention all changes in the "new for this pack" section.

 

For example, "Floyd-Steinberg Dithering", "Pastel", and "Outlined / Gradient text" have some really cool new features.

 

[null54]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:58 AM, BoltBait said:

My laptop crashed and I lost all of the code for my plugins.  So, in this pack I have gone through all of my plugins and rewritten them from scratch.

 

You may want to consider backing up your plug-in code to a private repository on GitHub.

GitHub made unlimited private repositories available for free accounts in 2019, see https://github.blog/2019-01-07-new-year-new-github/.

[BoltBait]

1 minute ago, null54 said:

 

You may want to consider backing up your plug-in code to a private repository on GitHub.

GitHub made unlimited private repositories available for free accounts in 2019, see https://github.blog/2019-01-07-new-year-new-github/.

 

I plan to do that.  That will also give me history of edits which I think is very important.  (I can also give access to a few trusted people just in case of emergency.)

 

In the mean time, I went out and bought a NAS and have my backup software run once per day.  I've already used it to restore a file I edited by mistake which saved my bacon!

 

Plus, my new laptop had One Drive preinstalled, so every one of my files is now backed up twice... once on the cloud and once on the NAS.

[Hedge1215]

My antivirus picked up the exe and deleted it....😪

[BoltBait]

1 hour ago, Hedge1215 said:

My antivirus picked up the exe and deleted it....😪

 

It is obviously a "false positive".  Feel free to send the zip file over to your anti-virus software developer so they can fix their broken software.

[lefdinthelurch]

Hey there. Just installed this plug-in, after searching options for feathering edges. I tried both of the ones listed in this pack but neither seem to work on this 2 layered project. I have tried selecting just the oval shape, then tried inverting the selection to it's selecting the transparent negative space but neither work. I'm trying to find a way to feather the background of a photo so the underlying stock picture/BG encircles the portrait. Any suggestions?

[BoltBait]

16 minutes ago, lefdinthelurch said:

Hey there. Just installed this plug-in, after searching options for feathering edges. I tried both of the ones listed in this pack but neither seem to work on this 2 layered project. I have tried selecting just the oval shape, then tried inverting the selection to it's selecting the transparent negative space but neither work. I'm trying to find a way to feather the background of a photo so the underlying stock picture/BG encircles the portrait. Any suggestions?

 

 

[TechniKat]

Thank you! 

[mkeezay37]

Thank You very much for your work, it has helped with my images quite a bit, thanks to you guys making these great plugins I've been able to create some very high quality images for my websites and other projects like making textures for games

[DavidP]

Is the download available somewhere as a ZIP file? I can't open the exe file on the work computer because it seems to be requiring administrator rights.

[lynxster4]

@DavidP The zip file is at the bottom of first post.  🙂

[ReverendJ]

How do you install these on the portable version of paint.net?

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

I am loving the Black and White+, especially the newer update.

 

With the same core logic behind it and flexibility that it offers users, are you able to make a Sepia+ filer?

It is basically like the B&W+, but instead of colour mixing, it offers a duotone option that makes a sepia filter what it is. Offer the option to use a colour from hue 40 to hue 50, or maybe a list of compatible Pantone shades.

 

In that regard, maybe a standalone duotone filter, where a user is given full flexibility of two colours?

[BoltBait]

1 hour ago, Colonel_Gerdauf said:

where a user is given full flexibility of two colours?

 

Did you try the different blending methods?

 

 

I like Multiply (selected color + black) and Screen (selected color + white) the best.  But, all the blend modes are interesting.

 

Or, how about this one that goes from white to sepia to black:

Starting with a color image, I ran Effects > Stylize > Floyd-Steinberg Dithering with these options:

followed by a Gaussian Blur of size 2.  To finalize off the image I scaled it down to 800x600 from 3000ish.

 

[CmdrRiker]

Oooops, I think I commented on the older version of this. Is there a manual way to install this without using the installer?

EDIT Never mind, I see the zip.

Edited August 11, 2022 by CmdrRiker
found answer

[Anastrophe]

Hey there, I'd very much like to make a small donation to assist with your current difficulties (assuming they are ongoing!). But I recently closed my PayPal account (after more than twenty years) due to their corporate policies. Do you have an alternative means for receiving a donation? I have Zelle which is fairly platform agnostic and has a smartphone app.

Cheers!

[BoltBait]

You don’t need a PayPal account to use it, just a credit card. But, if PayPal doesn’t work for you, just use the plugins in good health. 

[BoJack]

How do you install these on the portable version of paint.net?(2) It says, it can't find paint.net

[lynxster4]

On 5/19/2022 at 12:58 PM, BoltBait said:

Also, for you luddites that refuse to use the installer, here's a zip file with all the DLL's in it: BoltBaitDLLs52.zip  How to install Paint.NET plugins.

 

@BoJack Welcome and see the above quote from first post.  😊