What is MS Paint ?
Microsoft Paint is a simple raster graphics editor that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. The program opens and saves files in Windows bitmap (BMP), JPEG, GIF, PNG, and single-page TIFF formats.
The program can be in color mode or two-color black-and-white, but there is no grayscale mode. For its simplicity and that it is included with Windows, it rapidly became one of the most used applications in the early versions of Windows, introducing many to painting on a computer for the first time. It is still widely used for simple image manipulation tasks.
History of MS Paint
The first version of Paint was introduced with the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0, in November 1985.
It was a licensed version of ZSoft Corporation’s PC Paintbrush and supported only 1-bit monochrome graphics under a proprietary “MSP” format.
Features of MS Paint
Paint has a few functions not mentioned in the help file: a stamp mode, trail mode, regular shapes, and moving pictures. For the stamp mode, the user can select a part of the image, hold the Ctrl key, and move it to another part of the canvas.
This, instead of cutting the piece out, creates a copy of it. The process can be repeated as many times as desired, as long as the Ctrl key is held down. The trail mode works exactly the same, but it uses the ⇧ Shift instead of the Ctrl key.
Screenshot of MS Paint
Microsoft Paint is not available for Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Linux, macOS, or other operating systems.
How do I open Microsoft Paint?
Opening Microsoft Paint is a fairly straightforward process, but it does vary depending on which copy of Windows you are running. To proceed, locate your version in the section below and follow the instructions.
Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10
- Press the Windows key.
- In the Search text box, type Paint.
- In the list of search results, click the Paint program or press the Enter.
Windows XP and older versions
- Click Start in the lower-left corner of the desktop.
- In the Start menu, click All Programs, then Accessories, and then click the Paint program.
