Revision Date: 15 January 2023

Image List

The Image List is displayed in the upper area of the Paint.NET window, next to the Menu Bar.  A thumbnail is displayed for every image that is open, and allows for fast switching between images. The blue highlighting shows which image is currently being edited.

To switch to another image, click on the thumbnail image. That image will be opened in the Editing Window and its thumbnail updated with the highlighting.

Ctrl + Tab switches to the next image in the list.

Ctrl + Shift + Tab switches to the previous image.

If there isn't enough room to show thumbnails for all the open images, arrows appear at the sides of the Image List.  These arrows act as scroll buttons which move the Image List left and right.  The list can also be scrolled by placing the mouse cursor over the Image List area and use the mouse wheel.

The downward pointing arrow at the right of the Image List opens a submenu.

When clicked, this button opens a scrollable list of all the open images along with their filenames.  Clicking on an entry in this list has the same effect as clicking on a thumbnail in the Image List.

Drag & Drop Reordering

Images in the Image List can be reordered at any time using drag & drop. Simply click and drag the thumbnail to a new location.

Closing an Image

Close an image by clicking on it's thumbnail then clicking on the red 'X' that appears in the upper right corner of the thumbnail.  This is a convenient shortcut for the File → Close menu command.

Another method of closing an image is to middle click anywhere on the thumbnail image in the Image List.

Images that have unsaved changes have a small orange asterisk in the upper-left corner of the thumbnail image

When attempting to close an image which has unsaved changes, a prompt will ask you to confirm the action with options: Save, Don't Save or Cancel.

Right-Click Context Menu

Right-clicking on any of the image thumbnails in the Image List opens a context menu. The menu contains commands for Copy Path, Open Containing Folder, Save, Save As... and Close.

The context menu can be opened for the current image using the keyboard shortcut Alt + - (minus symbol).