Revision Date: 2 November 2024

Settings Dialog 

The Settings dialog contains a number of configuration settings for Paint.NET as well as diagnostic tools and system information.  Open the Settings Dialog by clicking the gear icon in the upper right hand corner of the application window.

 User Interface

The first tab in the Settings Dialog contains options to configure how Paint.NET is presented to the user.

 Canvas

The Canvas tab contains settings which allow the customization of the canvas and its surrounding border.

The first checkbox is a toggle which applies or removes a drop shadow from the canvas edge. The drop shadow extends from the edge of the canvas into the border.

The second set of controls gives the ability to change the border color (sometimes called the "background" color).

The last control is the Transparency Checkerboard Brightness setting. As the name suggests, this controls the brightness of the Paint.NET transparency indicator (aka checkerboard). This control has been relocated from the User Interface tab.

 Tools

The Tools tab contains the default actions, behaviors and settings for the various tools.
The current Toolbar settings can be loaded as defaults using the Load from Toolbar button.
To reset the tool defaults, click the Reset button.

 Pen & Tablet

The Pen & Tablet tab contains a setting to toggle Window Ink on and off, as well a providing a link to the Pen & Windows Ink dialog.

 Graphics

The Graphics tab contains a few settings for enabling hardware acceleration, and for selection the rendering device (graphics card) used for tools, adjustments, and effects.

 Color Management

The Color Management tab contains a checkbox which enables Windows Advanced Color (WAC). This setting is not used when the display is configured for Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) mode (see the first image below).

The WAC setting enables high bit-depth output and the use of the display's full gamut (range) of colors, and ensure accurate color reproduction. A display configured for High Dynamic Range (HDR) or Wide Color Gamut (WCG) is required to access the WAC setting. A shortcut to Windows Display Settings is provided to assist configuration.

The Status section of the dialog shows which profile the display is configured for and additional information.

When the display is configured for SDR mode, or when hardware acceleration is disabled in the Graphics settings page, Paint.NET will operate in sRGB mode. This results in consistent color display, but accuracy is only assured if the display itself is also configured for sRGB color display.

 Updates

The Updates tab contains controls which determine if and when Paint.NET checks for available updates.

 Plugin Errors

The Plugin Errors tab in the Settings dialog holds information about plugins that failed to load or were blocked from loading due to known compatibility issues.
The plugin filename is shown in the upper pane while details of the problem or issue are shown in the lower pane.

 Diagnostics

The Diagnostics tab contains information about the system and the version of Paint.NET that is running.
The contents of this window can be copied to the clipboard for pasting into forum posts or emails to the developer. A link provides access to the system folder where crash logs are stored.