How did you guys end up in pdn? + Paint.NET and YOU!

[fallback]

I used to look at pictures in a very peculiar way, like i usually look at the flaws, some mistakes or some wacky objects included in the picture that is not supposed to be included... ahehehe yep stuffs like that. When i stepped in 2nd year i was pretty much interested on photo editing, i used to ask myself, "how on earth did they make those pictures look like that?" then i used to look at billboards, magazines and i told myself someday i'm gonna be a photographer and do edited pictures. I keep on asking my friends how can we edit pictures? what do we need to do? and then someone answered that photo editing uses photoshops and suggested to get adobe.Then one time i was browsing the net then i checked out my profile then caught my eye on a picture and i was just so amazed that i went to search engines, searched for free photoshops then i bumped into this photoshop i forgot the name, well i was happy because that was still my first time, so yah i got some photos edited but the features were only limited but i was really happy that time having no clue what so ever with new fonts, plug ins, so i kinda did only some picture distortions, photo enhancing, contrasting and adjusting brightness. Until eventually our computer crashed so have to format the hard drive, thus erasing all files. So bye2x photoshop, i tried to search it back but i wasn't able to find it. Then i searched and searched and searched until i finally got into pdn. First thing i did was to check whether it's free or not, so when i knew it was free! yey my spirit went back, it was still 3.1 beta before. So yey i downloaded it and read the forums, had an idea on things, added plug ins, read tutorials, did my own experimentations. So there that's how i got pdn, by accident that is. But i am happy that accident happened, now i'm focusing on taking good pictures, so after i finish my nursing profession, i'll probably take up photography. So you guys do share you stories.

[Hellfire010]

Hmm... I've gotta remember.

I don't quite remember how I came upon this program. I think I google'd for an alternative to MS Paint, clicked some links, and eventually got taken to the pdn site. I remember just messing around with it. I pretty much taught myself for a couple months, then found the forum (lots of hard looking, lol...). My first post was asking what the heck anti-aliasing and alpha blending was. Rick, boltbait, and some other people that were on the forum a lot back then helped me out a lot (thanks guys ). Ummmmmmmmmmm... then I took up a couple forum challenges, got addicted to paint.net for a while, then ... all of a sudden ... "Invalid Session." The forums wouldn't work for me. I was like "What the... noooooooooooooooo." So I pretty much stopped using the forums at that point, but still used the program. I managed to post a couple times here and there, but then I'd get the same error.

THEN

When the old forum got attacked, it was moved here. It was an annoyance, but I no longer have problems posting ... so! In a selfish kind of way, I'm sort of happy the attack happened. That is, unless the move would have happened anyway.

And here I be.

[TakeMangaka]

Oh, I remember it clearly.

I was desperatly looking for Photoshop tutorials, Painter, Illustrator, whatever I could use to paint my drawings in the PC, but I was just too stupid to use PS. I had also downloaded many others, such as the GIMP, Artweaver... one my fired came to me on MSN and said "hey, I found you a great program you can use" and he linked me to http://www.baixaki.com.br (it litterally means "Downloadhere.com.br", a very nice program distributing site. I read PDN description and loved it, so I got it. v.2.5, I guess. I didn't know there was a forum ( I used to hate forums), but when I discovered the plugins and the tutorials, wow. The first tutorial I read was how to make a lighstaber xD. And the first plugin was BoltBait's Feather. Thanks for existing, guys.

And now, here I am. TO the future with PDN

[Yata]

I was at school wondering why my tech teacher was teaching me how to draw a star on MS word when I saw the photoshop Icon. I asked her why we didn't use it as it looked to me as an image editing program. She said it was far to complicated and went on with MS word.

I got home and went to the Yahoo Widgets site. I have been interested in creating one for some time now, so I asked for assistance on the Widget forum.

A kind user by the name of EdBarnett (or something similar) directed me to the XML and JS references I had been looking for, so I started to re-code one of his widgets (with his permission, of course). I wanted to change the graphic, but I had absolutely no idea how to go about doing it. I asked him, and he referred me to this program, and said it was free. Within seconds I had downloaded it and was already in the program. The only problem I had is that the idea of transparency did not click in my mind, and thus, I asked Mr. Barnett. He explained, and I went back to work. 10 problems later I registered here to read up on the program a little more and ask questions, but then I saw MadJik's, Helio's, and usedHONDA's sigs (And many others). They threw me for a whirl because I've never saw any graphic design. And thus I stayed because of how great of a help this forum was to me and just the nice people on this board.

So here I am now :wink:

[BoltBait]

I don't remember how I got here, but I do remember using Paint.NET version 2.0. I remember when the magic wand was added. 8)

And, I remember making this page to explain to Rick why his GIF export function sucked--he fixed that in 2.1:

http://www.geocities.com/boltbaits/gife ... index.html

I officially joined this forum when 2.1 was the current release. I remember when you could post without joining the forum...

[Myrddin]

I go through these phases where I latch onto a certain thing and do it for a few weeks, so it'd be converting my XP into a Mac look-alike, playing with Widgets or using paint/photo packages.

After browsing Wikipedia for the free stuff I tried The GIMP and was totally confused by all the windows and floating dialogs as it was so alien to what I was used to, and (at the time) the RAM drag it created for my laptop. So I searched some more and came across Paint.NET which was on about 2.7 at the time. I tried, I liked, I disliked, I uninstalled, I tried once more with v2.72 and I kept; been with it ever since. It was the first program I had really got to grips with all that layers lark people were talking about, plus all the effects and adjustments that came packaged, including Curves - curves was a big one for me but layers were more useful at the time.

It has been an invaluable tool on many occasions and I am most pleased to have come across it and also to have joined these forums laid before us.

[oma]

I joined this forum in Jan of 2007 I think I just surfed in on the net. I had been looking for a free program to clean up some jpg pictures and the standard program that came with my computor just wasn't cutting it.

back then I wasn't very familiar with computors one of my very first posts.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3076&p=20845#p20845

Bolt Bait and Madjik were two people that really helped me in the begining and then ASH was great taking the time to explain just basic computor things by PM to this old grandmother. I can't even begin to mention all those that helped me out everyone is so helpful.

I love the forum and its the first place I head to when I turn on the computor in the morning and enjoy my first cup of coffee. I always enjoy the pictorium as there are so many amazing creations, and of course I try every tut.

chow OMA

[Glitchy82]

I came here after I got Vista. Why? Well, I was using GIMP for a long time. I wasn't really good at it (I could make a fire in 35445 easy steps!). Anyway, once I got Vista it kept crashing on me, so I got Paint.net, at that time, I thought it was pretty basic, but now I realize it's everything that GIMP is and more.

[Mr Frojo]

I came here after I got Vista. Why? Well, I was using GIMP for a long time. I wasn't really good at it (I could make a fire in 35445 easy steps!). Anyway, once I got Vista it kept crashing on me, so I got Paint.net, at that time, I thought it was pretty basic, but now I realize it's everything that GIMP is and more.

GIMP doesnt work on vista? That explains why it keeps crashing on me as well.

Ok, so I was browsing snapfiles looking for a graphics editor, because I knew that if I were to be a game programmer, I should also be good at the other stuff for a game (graphics, 3D, sounds, ect.) So Snapfiles gave the GIMP a 5/5, so I thought it must be the best. It did warn that I has a really steep learning curve, but I figured that the best would be kinda complicated at first. So I downloaded and messed around with it, and thought it was really cool. About a couple weeks later, I realized that I had still not gotten used to the annoying interface. I went back to snapfiles to see what other choices are out there. Paint.NET 2.72 had a 4.5/5 rating, so I gave it a shot. I messed around with it, and was amazed. If I had realized pdn's weaknesses at the time, I would have not gotten it and went back to the GIMP (mostly the fact you could only work with 1 image) Luckily, the next day, I went to getpaint.net and saw 3.0 beta 1. I downloaded it, and started to mess around with it. 2 months later, I decided to join the forums. 7 months later, and here I am today.

[Glitchy82]

I came here after I got Vista. Why? Well, I was using GIMP for a long time. I wasn't really good at it (I could make a fire in 35445 easy steps!). Anyway, once I got Vista it kept crashing on me, so I got Paint.net, at that time, I thought it was pretty basic, but now I realize it's everything that GIMP is and more.

GIMP doesnt work on vista? That explains why it keeps crashing on me as well.

Ok, so I was browsing snapfiles looking for a graphics editor, because I knew that if I were to be a game programmer, I should also be good at the other stuff for a game (graphics, 3D, sounds, ect.) So Snapfiles gave the GIMP a 5/5, so I thought it must be the best. It did warn that I has a really steep learning curve, but I figured that the best would be kinda complicated at first. So I downloaded and messed around with it, and thought it was really cool. About a couple weeks later, I realized that I had still not gotten used to the annoying interface. I went back to snapfiles to see what other choices are out there. Paint.NET 2.72 had a 4.5/5 rating, so I gave it a shot. I messed around with it, and was amazed. If I had realized pdn's weaknesses at the time, I would have not gotten it and went back to the GIMP (mostly the fact you could only work with 1 image) Luckily, the next day, I went to getpaint.net and saw 3.0 beta 1. I downloaded it, and started to mess around with it. 2 months later, I decided to join the forums. 7 months later, and here I am today.

Wow, quite similar to mine.

[UnforGiven]

I found PDN through

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

In my never ending search for free software.

[Artic_Ice]

Well..... I hated MS Paint....So i went to Google... and typed "Free Paint Programs" then thats where Paint.Net Came. Then I tried GIMP then went back to Paint.net....Thats a summary.

[Crazy Man Dan]

A classmate and friend of mine knew I was into free graphics applications - I liked to try them all to get a feel for their features. (I'd even given Babya PhotoWorkshop XL a try back in those days... <_<)

One day, this friend asked me if I'd heard of Paint.NET. I hadn't.

I went to check it out that evening when I got back home, and I found http://eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net, Paint.NET's hosting home at the time. I downloaded it, tried it out, and thought it was a rather interesting program with some huge potential. I decided to stick around both to see where it would go and to help anyone I could along the way.

And here I am. Yeah! Still! :wink:

[shootingstarswishingheart]

I love messing around with pictures and such. And GIMP was just too annoying. I love Fireworks, but its expensive. So I was looking in Downloads.com and looking up free programs, and there it was with a high rating. At first I used it for photo editing. Mainly cropping, resizing, ect. And then I started doodling. I went through the help menu and ended up being directed to the forum where I discovered a whole new world. And now PdN is my most used program. (second to net of course)

[david.atwell]

It was a dark and stormy night...nearly a year and a half ago. As footsteps trudged eerily up the sidewalk outside, my trusty computer and I searched frantically for an image editing program in order to create images as Powerpoint backgrounds for the meeting of the campus ministry to which I belong. Google was failing me; GIMPmania seemed to have gripped the internet, and searching for "Photoshop Replacement" would only turn up that UI nightmare, which my confused (and terrified) mind was completely unable to comprehend.

The stairs creaked, and the mental image of a fearful, hair-covered face spurred me onward. Wikipedia revealed a blessed light at the end of the tunnel! The Free Software Portal! Of course! The "Free Bitmap Image Editors" category led me to the Wikipedia page for Paint.NET, which sent me to the http://www.getpaint.net website. Hallelujah! I hurriedly clicked "download" as the doorknob squeaked behind me. Fear gripped my heart! My soul shuddered as the door swung open, and lightning illuminated the dark room, silhouetting the figure standing in the doorway.

My roommate flopped down in his chair, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He had shaved his nightmare of a beard. Finally. "I found a program that will do what I want it to do," I said excitedly. "Nice shave."

[TakeMangaka]

It was a dark and stormy night...nearly a year and a half ago. As footsteps trudged eerily up the sidewalk outside, my trusty computer and I searched frantically for an image editing program in order to create images as Powerpoint backgrounds for the meeting of the campus ministry to which I belong. Google was failing me; GIMPmania seemed to have gripped the internet, and searching for "Photoshop Replacement" would only turn up that UI nightmare, which my confused (and terrified) mind was completely unable to comprehend.

The stairs creaked, and the mental image of a fearful, hair-covered face spurred me onward. Wikipedia revealed a blessed light at the end of the tunnel! The Free Software Portal! Of course! The "Free Bitmap Image Editors" category led me to the Wikipedia page for Paint.NET, which sent me to the http://www.getpaint.net website. Hallelujah! I hurriedly clicked "download" as the doorknob squeaked behind me. Fear gripped my heart! My soul shuddered as the door swung open, and lightning illuminated the dark room, silhouetting the figure standing in the doorway.

My roommate flopped down in his chair, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He had shaved his nightmare of a beard. Finally. "I found a program that will do what I want it to do," I said excitedly. "Nice shave."

That was a great story. You should work with writing, not image editing.

[david.atwell]

That was a great story. You should work with writing, not image editing.

Thanks! :-) Everything's true except the fear...hehe...

[BoltBait]

I also do some creative writing.

You can read some of it here: http://www.fictionpress.com/~boltbait

[cjmcguinness]

I work for a software company as a business analyst. Customers come to me requesting new features in their software and I have to interpret their ideas and communicate them to the programmers/developers. Quite a big part of this is designing GUI's to make them functional and user friendly. I use MS Visio for generating GUI component elements, but laboured for a long time with MS Paint to composite them and add design and developer notes.

I also produce technical documents with lots of screenshots (both real and imagined) as well as designing Optical Mark Recognition forms and wanted a better tool for image editing. My company wouldn't lay out for expensive graphics software as they felt it wasn't necessary so I started looking for a free graphic image editor that was better then MS Paint. It didn't take long to come across Paint.NET and I used it for a couple of months as a work tool.

I wanted to learn to use PdN more fully so I joined took a look at the forum and started reading tutorials - needless to say some of the artwork I saw was fantastic, so I started spending my spare time using PdN for pleasure. It didn't take long to become addicted.

It's kind-of opened up a new world to me; I've discovered the joy of digital art and been introduced to a massive community of like-minded individuals.

[Stephan]

My story:

Once upon a time, I was playing an online game (I'd link it if it weren't advertising). This particular game had its own forum, thus, looking for some help, I leaped into that very forum more then a year ago, and it introduced me to the wonderful world of forums.

I took my first steps and realized... I needed a signature. For 2 months i had been searching for (animated) online sig creators, without ads these being non-existent, i stopped looking, and asked for a member of said forum to make me a sig.

A few weeks later, another member redirected me to a cool site with all sorts of XP OS Skins. Looking through its archives, I found an amazing little program, called Paint.NET. It was version 2.7 when i downloaded it. There wasn't even a gradient TOOL when i got it. However, i figured PDN out, and came up with this as my first good work:

Note, that i only used 1 layer, and the Gaussian blur to do a gradient. It was a sig for someone in my class.

I wouldn't even have known about layers until a nifty little update reset the windows. The layer windows wasn't visible before that, so i was quite surprised when it pooped up

From then, i created lots of sigs for people, and joined the forums, to become the amazing person i am now.

The End

[HITMAN-X-]

I do levels for video games in my free time and I need a good image editor for making textures for levels I was making for Call of Duty at the time. A friend told me about Paint.NET (Funny thing he wont install it because he don't like .NET Framework). Anyway that was when Paint.NET was still project and hosted on the old site.

WOW almost 3 years now.

[Tendercrisp]

Me, I was tired of being ridiculed on other forums for my extremely crappy MS paint signatures, and was looking for a free alternative to photoshop. It was around November 2006 that I stumbled across paint.NET, and I have used it ever since. With plugins, upgrades, bug fixes, etc. It has long since evolved from what it was when I first discovered it.

[Bob]

the mental image of a fearful, hair-covered face spurred me onward...

Quoted!

You should work with writing, not image editing.

Work on both

I don't remember how I got here, but I do remember using Paint.NET version 2.0. [...]

I officially joined this forum when 2.1 was the current release. I remember when you could post without joining the forum...

I can't remember if I used v2.0 or not, but as I joined one month later, maybe.

I do remember posting several times as a guest and post bugs reports (all guest posts are deleted now)...

my story:

Bored at school and very curious, I was looking for an open-source C# project to learn this attracting language.

Well, I found it, thanks to Google (little growing search engine, ever heard about it?).

To those interested, I gave up on C# (I try again every year, and fail miserably) but as I needed* to improve my graphic skillz, I learned by trial and errors, was astonished by the few tutorials written back in those days by some guy named... Dan and the artwork produced by Buzzkill, BB00, Ilnab1024, trickman...

Well, some days (urm.. nights) the stuff and chat were really delightful, entertaining and exciting (thanks thesaurus.com), some days it was hateful, trolling (guilty!), bitter, or spamming, but after all I always come back and don't regret it

Keep up the good work!

* Well, need. I still suck.

[skystars5]

I found out about Paint.Net while attending a live remote radio Tech Show in Los Angeles. I create recolors for Sims2 games on several websites as a hobby. I needed a paint program that could do layers. One of the radio hosts mentioned Paint.Net as a respectable free paint program that he used and I wrote the name down. I googled it after I returned home, downloaded it and then discovered that I needed .NET Framework 2.0 for it to work. I posted a question in the forum about it. Here

BuzzKill and Rick Brewster answered my question. I happily installed it and have remained a satisfied customer.

I have been a lurker ever since. I haven’t really posted but a couple of times, but I love coming onto this forum and reading, getting inspired, and looking in awe at the impressive artwork from the members. As well as getting the plugins. I have not found the need to purchase Photoshop.

[david.atwell]

the mental image of a fearful, hair-covered face spurred me onward...

Quoted!

I'm honored. :-D