Paint.NET Plugin Lets You Open Photoshop Files
If Paint.NET is your editor of choice and you find yourself needing to open .PSD Photoshop files, this plugin will help you introduce .PSD images into your Paint.NET workflow.
The plugin doesn’t replicate all of the numerous functions of the .PSD file, just the ones that relate to functionality within Paint.NET. You can work with layers, load masks, and open a variety of colour modes and profiles. Because of the limited integration with the .PSD file, the plugin is best suited for pulling a .PSD file into Paint.Net and converting it to be used in your Paint.NET workflow. Working with it in Paint.NET and then trying to bring it back into Photoshop is a bit dicier as far as compatibility goes and can have unexpected results. PSDPlugin is free and required Paint.NET 3.0+.
Paint.NET PSDPlugin [via gHacks]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
I love paint.net, already replaced it as the default editor
Paint.Net is one of the very few Windows applications I miss after I switched to using a Mac. It had plenty of tools and features, but it wasn't total overkill (Photoshop) for someone like me who only uses an image editor on occasion. It was way easier to use than Gimp. I didn't have to understand the entire application in order to do some simple things. Best of all, it was free to use. Anyone know of a good free/cheap equivalent for the Mac?
MonkeyCookie
@MonkeyCookie: I had the same thoughts about Paint.NET in Linux. I really don't like Gimp and can only hope for mono to be able to support a program as intensive as Paint.NET in the future.
@MonkeyCookie: Pixelmator looks interesting to me, although I don't have a Mac so I can't give you any feedback about it.
[www.pixelmator.com]
weatherking
It works well in a pinch! I have used this plug-in before with great results.
Actually if you surf through Paint.net's forum you will find quite a few neat/useful plug-ins.
It works well in a pinch! I have used this plug-in before with great results.
Actually if you surf through Paint.net's forum you will find quite a few neat/useful plug-ins.
Wow, been waiting for this functionality. Paint.NET just got even better.
Wow, been waiting for this functionality. Paint.NET just got even better.
@rothgar: There's a movement to bring Paint.NET to Linux - I've seen screenshots somewhere.
Hey MonkeyCookie, Yes there sure is. Check out Photoshop.com. Just set up a free account, upload the your images and edit them with some of the more straight forward tools from the standalone program. It's like Flickr with a built-in editor.
FedericoBabcock
I'm in exactly the same position - fell in love with Paint.NET, fell out of love with Windows. I'm currently making do with Paintbrush (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/paintbrush.html), which is MS Paint only less powerful - hey, Paint is surprisingly powerful if you know how to use it. There are really depressingly few decent free image editors on OS X... any suggestions?
SundariAte
I'm in exactly the same position - fell in love with Paint.NET, fell out of love with Windows. I'm currently making do with Paintbrush (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/paintbrush.html), which is MS Paint only less powerful - hey, Paint is surprisingly powerful if you know how to use it. There are really depressingly few decent free image editors on OS X... any suggestions?
SundariAte
Dang, that is good news as I just got a netbook, and was hoping to do photo manipulation without trying to bother with putting photoshop on it, but needed to be able to edit my photoshop files on the go...
AnnunziataSimon
Dang, that is good news as I just got a netbook, and was hoping to do photo manipulation without trying to bother with putting photoshop on it, but needed to be able to edit my photoshop files on the go...
AnnunziataSimon
This plugin makes the image editing wars that much more interesting. I mean, Photoshop is the King, hands down. But for those with a limited budget, it's getting harder to ignore the power and flexibility of free apps like Gimp and now Paint.net. I've been using Gimp for over a year now but maybe it's time I give Paint.net a try. Does anyone have a preference?
SujalaFimbria
This plugin makes the image editing wars that much more interesting. I mean, Photoshop is the King, hands down. But for those with a limited budget, it's getting harder to ignore the power and flexibility of free apps like Gimp and now Paint.net. I've been using Gimp for over a year now but maybe it's time I give Paint.net a try. Does anyone have a preference?
SujalaFimbria
The plugin looks a bit dated, March 2007, anyone confirmed it works before i risk trashing a Paint.net install?
aarste
The plugin looks a bit dated, March 2007, anyone confirmed it works before i risk trashing a Paint.net install?
aarste
@Wine and then use it to install Paint.net onto your mac computer. While I'm a windows man myself I do have some friends that have had success with other apps. Good luck.
@Wine and then use it to install Paint.net onto your mac computer. While I'm a windows man myself I do have some friends that have had success with other apps. Good luck.
Nothing but Photoshop can read and write .psd files 100% correctly. There are even differences among Ps versions. The .psd format is tied to Photoshop internals very tightly. Some limited import is possible but that is all; editing .psd files in anything else than Ps will most likely result in loss of some parts of the data, for example layer effects.
vlasta
Found about this plugin a few days ago and it works okay enough. At least it was enough for my needs, I needed to be able to share files between GiMP and Paint.NET then.
Still use GiMP for a few features that Paint.NET doesn't have. Most notably shrink/grow a selection, and feather a selection. I mean, it's a basic necessity! I hope Paint.NET will continue to develop and add those much-needed tools. GiMP is okay, but it's not working flawlessly under Windows. :(
Trinsec
lol this has been out for almost 2 years..
Been using it for a LONG time
iamkewl
If you're going to be messing with .PSD files, either use IrfanView to view them or Gimp to edit them.
MePerson
@MonkeyCookie: Paint.NET has been ported to Mono, which I believe runs on Mac.
Richard Wang
I found this plugin some time ago :P
Richard Wang
If Paint.Net had a healing brush, I'd use it instead of Photoshop. As it stands, I like Photoshop for some things (Design from scratch, color correction, RAW file manipulation, logo creation), but Paint.Net is pretty good for others (Simple resizing of images, JPEG optimization, running on my freaking netbook).
Don't get me wrong, I use Paint.net for color correction all the time, I just think Photoshop's correction tools are a little better and a little easier to use. Same goes for text editing between programs. Paint.Net still gets the job done, but I like how Photoshop handles the text editing aspect better.
Ty Brown
@Trinsec: There are plugins to replicate the feather functionality in Paint.NET. I use BoltBait's plugin pack, personally. It is the best collection of useful tools I've seen so far.
[paintdotnet.forumer.com]
I've been using this plugin for a while. It's great for saving images with a ton of layers and such and importing them into Fireworks (which I was given a copy of, since I can't afford Photoshop).