Microsoft’s Updating Paint to Make it Easier to Use

After nearly killing the application, Microsoft’s 11th-hour reprieve of Paint is once again seeing new life. The company announced today that they will be updating the application with new features that should make the app a little bit easier to use.

With the newest update to Paint, Microsoft is adding keyboard input that will let you design your next masterpiece without ever having to touch your mouse or your screen. Of course, mouse and screen inputs are still enabled but these new controls make the application easier to use for those who prefer, or are limited to, the keyboard.

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Using arrow keys, you can now move the cursor and hitting the space bar will activate a tool. If you hold the space bar and use the arrows, this will let you select an area, and by pressing cntrl+space, this will let you commit to an operation. As you would expect, you can tab through the interface and escape will cancel a selection too.

These are minor updates to Paint but for those that use only a keyboard, this will make the app a little bit more accessible. Considering that the app was nearly deprecated and that it’s now receiving updates, it looks like Paint should be sticking around for the foreseeable future.

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Conversation 10 comments

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    15 May, 2019 - 4:30 pm

    <p>I use Paint multiple times a day…best app for cropping a photo to send in email or message. </p>

    • jim.mcintosh

      16 May, 2019 - 11:13 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#428404">In reply to wolters:</a></em></blockquote><p>Not unlike Mary Jo's Notepad – just another "lightweight" tool that gets the job done. </p>

  • RonH

    Premium Member
    15 May, 2019 - 4:40 pm

    <p>I like Snip and Sketch for quick captures</p>

    • AnOldAmigaUser

      Premium Member
      16 May, 2019 - 12:09 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#428414">In reply to RonH:</a></em></blockquote><p>They are improving Snip and Sketch, but they need to add the ability to &lt;ESC&gt; the snip and reactivate it with &lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;PrtScn&gt; that the Snipping Tool allowed, to make it really useful. That way, one can get menu highlights.</p>

  • dontbe evil

    16 May, 2019 - 1:35 am

    <p>hopefully they'll move to the store and it updates will not depend from the OS</p>

    • Greg Green

      17 May, 2019 - 7:51 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#428482">In reply to dontbe_evil:</a></em></blockquote><p>Back in the old days they just got it right the first time.</p>

  • Boris Zakharin

    16 May, 2019 - 4:56 pm

    <p>This really helps with accurate drawing and free-form selection. I've been using mouse keys (an accessibility feature built into Windows) for this in the past, but it's good that Paint will have a native implementation.</p>

    • truerock2

      17 May, 2019 - 7:25 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#428655">In reply to bzakharin:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree. I often use keyboard commands to perform fine-detail actions in draw and/or paint applications.</p>

  • Fuller1754

    16 May, 2019 - 11:39 pm

    <p>A little UI modernization would be nice.</p>

  • truerock2

    18 May, 2019 - 12:36 am

    <p>This really makes me feel good about the future of Microsoft. I think this is indicative that sanity is returning to Microsoft. </p><p>Hopefully the stupidity of Windows 8 will be behind us at some time in the near future.</p><p>There are major architectural design issues that need to be addressed in Windows 10 and I hope Microsoft will focus on making Windows 10 more organized and modular. Making sure that applications are kept autonomous from the operating system and other applications would be a huge step forward. I think eliminating the Windows Registry would be a good place to start.</p>

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