Software Update: Paint.NET 4.1.4

Version 4.1.4 of Paint.NET has been released. This drawing and image editing program bridges the gap between the Paint supplied with Windows and expensive but very extensive programs such as Adobe Photoshop and CorelDRAW. Since version 4.0, the program performs a lot better, especially on multicore processors, but has at least Windows 7 as a system requirement. Since version 4.0.18, the program is also available via the Windows Store offered, but a small fee is charged for that version. The release notes for this release can be found below.

Paint.NET 4.1.4 is now available
This is a small update that fixes some important bugs and substantially improves plugin loading performance. Sorry for the random crashes — it was actually a bug in Direct2D (a Windows component), and it took about a week to fully debug.

If you’re using the Windows Store release, you should get the update automatically within the next 24 hours. You can also force an update check by following these instructions.

For the Classic release, you should be offered the update automatically within the next week or so. You can get the updater sooner by going to: Settings > Updates > Check Now. You can also download and install it directly from the website.

Changes in this update:

• Improved: Massive startup performance improvement when lots of effect plugins are installed
• Fixed a crash that would happen when closing an image, exiting the app, or sometimes just at random. This was happening due to a bug in Direct2D where ID2D1EffectContext does not honor the multithreaded initialization flag from its ID2D1Factory, and was thus corrupting its own internal data structures when released on the finalizer thread.
• Fixed: DirectX 9 GPUs can now utilize hardware acceleration again (in 4.1.3 they were forced to use software rendering)
• Fixed: The Black & White and Invert Colors adjustments no longer display an OK/Cancel dialog