Feature Request: Averaging pixels with the color picker

[MarkS]

I just found out about Paint.net via gamedev.net and I'm glad to find this! I did look at the frequently requests thread and did a search, but I couldn't find this request, so here goes...

It would be nice if the color picker had an option to pick the average color of the pixels surrounding the cursor. Inkscape does this interactively (clicking and dragging shows a circle in which the pixels will be averaged) and GIMP allows the user to select the radius via a slider and edit box.

I'm in need of this feature because I'm editing some game images (tiles and sprites) from a game my dad was working on in the 90's. They are 8-bit and dithered. By averaging the colors, I can get a pretty close color to what was intended with the dither. Of course, that requires the color picker to average the colors. Both GIMP and Inkscape are very powerful, but neither are really suited to edit images as I need. Inkscape is a vector program and makes it difficult to edit individual pixels and GIMP seems to think that drawing in a solid color with a single click is a bad thing to do :shock: (???).

If this feature currently exists, please show me how to activate it. I went through the documentation, but to no avail.

[edit]

I did find a plug-in that averages the colors contained in a selection and it works suitably, but this would still be a good feature. The plug-in requires several redundant steps, e.g., making a selection, choosing the plug-in, deselecting, picking the color with the color picker and then drawing. These steps could be reduced to two (picking and drawing) with this feature.

[Simon Brown]

Have you tried duplicating the layer and running gaussian blur?

[MarkS]

I don't want to blur the layer. What I'm doing (or rather have have done) is average the colors used in the dither and then filled the dithered areas with the averaged solid color. It is just that doing so required more steps than should be necessary.

[Simon Brown]

I'm suggesting using the new layer to pick the colours from.

[MarkS]

There are ways to do this. You have mentioned one and I've use a plug in to accomplish it. My point is that in order to do this in Paint.net, more steps are necessary than should be required. This is a common operation in image editing programs and one that is done via the color picker tool. It is an extended functionality that the color picker in Paint.net is missing. I'm not saying that it is impossible to do without this functionality. In fact, as I've stated, I've already done it. I'm just saying that there is and should be an easier way. This is a simple bit of code to write.

[Crazy Man Dan]

... and GIMP seems to think that drawing in a solid color with a single click is a bad thing to do :shock: (???).

I know this isn't a GIMP support forum, but as a regular GIMP user myself, I'm going to guess you're using the Paintbrush tool, which is soft edged and not grid-constrained, therefore making it difficult to use to draw single pixels. The Pencil tool is hard-edged and pixel-constrained, so it will always make a solid pixel fill of your selected color.

[MarkS]

... and GIMP seems to think that drawing in a solid color with a single click is a bad thing to do :shock: (???).

I know this isn't a GIMP support forum, but as a regular GIMP user myself, I'm going to guess you're using the Paintbrush tool, which is soft edged and not grid-constrained, therefore making it difficult to use to draw single pixels. The Pencil tool is hard-edged and pixel-constrained, so it will always make a solid pixel fill of your selected color.

I've tried the pencil tool as well with the same effect. I'm assuming it is due to my unfamiliarity with GIMP. But, like you said, this isn't a GIMP support forum. :wink: