Pinta: A Lightweight Pigment App That Has (Requires) No Manual

Want a tool for editing picture files, but shun GIMP because of the steep learning curve? For me, I needed an app to edit screenshots for my spider web log posts. Pinta turns out to last the perfect tool for that purpose. I utilization pinta to edit the next picture file formats: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, ICO, TGA, ORA.

To install pinta:

 $ sudo apt-get install pinta    # Debian Wheezy $ sudo yum install pinta        # Red Hat 

The principal describe canvass is sandwiched betwixt two columns of tool sub-windows. The left column is organized into Tools together with Palette; the right, Layers, Images, together with History. The sub-windows are past times default docked, but yous tin brand them hidden, or floating. My preference is to decease on the default configuration - the virtually mutual operations that I take away are conveniently located.

The Tools window on the left column has the typical alternative tools- rectangle select, ellipse select, lasso choose - together with geometric shape drawing tools - rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, together with freeform shapes. Mousing over a tool icon displays around brief teaching on using the tool. The tools are self-explanatory. But I could non decease the lasso select, together with the free-form shape drawing tools to piece of job on pinta version 1.3.

The correct column houses the really useful History window. Every picture edit functioning yous completed inward the electrical flow session - Text, Ellipse, etc - is recorded there. Clicking an functioning reverts the picture to that exact dry soil inward its history. If yous similar the to a greater extent than traditional Redo together with Undo features, they are available inward the Edit menu.

Occasionally, yous may foray into the menus together with sub-menus to decease at editing functions that are non exposed inward the windows. For editing screenshot, I frequent the Image card that comprises the cropping, rotating, together with resizing functions. I notice Crop to Selection peculiarly useful. You commencement utilization a alternative tool to specify a subset of the master image. Crop to Selection reduces the picture to the selected, eliminating everything else.

Pinta is slow to use. So slow that I only shrugged when I realized that this software does non come upward amongst a user manual. If yous don't know GIMP, I propose that yous start amongst pinta because yous volition last productive inside minutes. If yous bring minor picture editing requirements, yous may never take away to graduate to the to a greater extent than powerful GIMP.

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