This update is focusing on small fixes, performance improvements, and getting some infrastructure ready for future releases.

Pen/stylus support (pressure sensitivity) is finally coming back in 4.3, but the initial groundwork for that is in this release. If you’re not using a pen or a stylus then you should see no difference in this release, but it’s also really important to verify that that’s the case! If anything has changed then it’s very important to report that to me. I’ve redone a lot of the input stack to use WM_POINTER if available, but the “classic” path is still there for handling regular mouse input.

To get this update, make sure you have "Also check for pre-release (beta) versions" enabled in Settings, and then click on the Check Now button. (Unfortunately alpha/beta releases are not currently available for the Microsoft Store version of the app.

There’s also a direct download link over on the forum.

Changes since 4.2.5:

Improved input handling systems to use WM_POINTER, which enables glitch-free drawing when using a pen or stylus (e.g. Surface w/ Pen) (see here: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113173-the-first-5mm-of-a-freehand-line-are-straight-when-using-a-tablet/ ). This will also be the basis for adding pressure sensitivity in a future release (v4.3). Note that Windows 7 is unaffected by this.

input handling systems to use WM_POINTER, which enables (e.g. Surface w/ Pen) (see here: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113173-the-first-5mm-of-a-freehand-line-are-straight-when-using-a-tablet/ ). This will also be the basis for adding pressure sensitivity in a future release (v4.3). Note that Windows 7 is unaffected by this. Greatly improved performance of layer thumbnails when switching between images

Fixed a crash (OutOfVideoMemoryException) on systems with hybrid GPU setups that are configured wrong. This seems to be a bug in Windows and DirectX. A "hybrid GPU" setup is an Intel iGPU or AMD APU paired with a discrete GPU in a laptop.

a crash (OutOfVideoMemoryException) on systems with hybrid GPU setups that are configured wrong. This seems to be a bug in Windows and DirectX. A "hybrid GPU" setup is an Intel iGPU or AMD APU paired with a discrete GPU in a laptop. Improved handling of the dreaded "NoHardwareDeviceException" crash: The user will be notified of how to fix this. It happens only on 2nd generation Intel Core systems with NVIDIA "Optimus" GPUs (GeForce or Quadro) when the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to force apps (or just Paint.NET) to use the NVIDIA GPU. This is a bug in the NVIDIA driver and/or in DirectX.

handling of the dreaded "NoHardwareDeviceException" crash: The user will be notified of how to fix this. It happens only on 2nd generation Intel Core systems with NVIDIA "Optimus" GPUs (GeForce or Quadro) when the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to force apps (or just Paint.NET) to use the NVIDIA GPU. This is a bug in the NVIDIA driver and/or in DirectX. Improved performance of Move Selected Pixels, Shapes, and Gradient tools when releasing the mouse button at the end of drag-and-drop gesture. Previously, anything rendered between the last mouse "move" and "up" events was re-rendered, resulting in the appearance of a delay/lag.

performance of Move Selected Pixels, Shapes, and Gradient tools when releasing the mouse button at the end of drag-and-drop gesture. Previously, anything rendered between the last mouse "move" and "up" events was re-rendered, resulting in the appearance of a delay/lag. Fixed some clipboard image handling for plugins (regular Copy/Paste is unaffected)

some clipboard image handling for plugins (regular Copy/Paste is unaffected) Improved window chrome/theming when the app is running in Remote Desktop on Windows 10

window chrome/theming when the app is running in Remote Desktop on Windows 10 Fixed images being pasted incorrectly from Outlook 2016/365. This is actually a bug in Outlook: it puts PNGs on the clipboard that are arbitrarily cropped and scaled for some reason, and specifies they are the preferred format to use when pasting. This completely boggles my mind, it’s just really weird, I can’t imagine why it’s done this way.

images being pasted incorrectly from Outlook 2016/365. This is actually a bug in Outlook: it puts PNGs on the clipboard that are arbitrarily cropped and scaled for some reason, and specifies they are the preferred format to use when pasting. This completely boggles my mind, it’s just really weird, I can’t imagine why it’s done this way. Changed: The size of the default/initial image ("Untitled") is now scaled exactly by system DPI setting (previously scaled by integer/floor of DPI setting). So at 150% DPI scaling this image will now be 1200×900 instead of 800×600.

The size of the default/initial image ("Untitled") is now scaled exactly by system DPI setting (previously scaled by integer/floor of DPI setting). So at 150% DPI scaling this image will now be 1200×900 instead of 800×600. Fixed some high-DPI layout bugs with the Layer Properties dialog, while also preparing this UI for future additions

some high-DPI layout bugs with the Layer Properties dialog, while also preparing this UI for future additions Updated bundled WebPFileType plugin to v1.3.1.0 (thanks @null54!)

bundled WebPFileType plugin to v1.3.1.0 (thanks @null54!) Updated bundled DDSFileTypePlus plugin to v1.9.8.0 (thanks @null54!)

bundled DDSFileTypePlus plugin to v1.9.8.0 (thanks @null54!) Changed: SSE2 is now required for 32-bit/x86 systems (prevously, only SSE was required). See blog post: https://blog.getpaint.net/2019/10/14/paint-net-v4-2-6-will-require-sse2-on-32-bit-x86/