When comparing Paint.NET vs Gravit Designer, the Slant community recommends Gravit Designer for most people. In the question“What are the best tools to make simple Social Media graphics?” Gravit Designer is ranked 5th while Paint.NET is ranked 20th. The most important reason people chose Gravit Designer is:
Very friendly interface.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to learn and use
Unlike most photo editing software, Paint.NET is simple to learn and easy to use. This means less time is spent learning the in's and out's of Paint.NET and more time on photo editing. For those who only edit photos sporadically and don't have time to invest in learning complicated tools for editing, Paint.Net will suit your needs.
Pro Free software
There is no charge for this software; but donations are welcomed.
Pro Lightweight
Paint.net provides a streamlined but effective core tool set. Support for advanced and niche features is provided through modular plugins, allowing the user to install only what's needed.
Pro Actively developed
The project is active and being continually expanded and refined.
Pro Active and friendly community
The forums are filled with tutorials, as well as people who are friendly and eager to help.
Pro Plugins allow extra functionality
Plugins can be made by anyone in the community, and are offered for download on the forum. They extend the capabilities of Paint.NET to cover most tasks.
Pro HiDPI support
Paint.NET supports fully HiDPI displays, with no scaling problems.
Pro Simple to understand and use
Very friendly interface.
Pro Cross-platform
It offers total portability to almost any platform.
Pro Modern UI
Pro Friendly keyboard shortcuts
The keyboard shortcuts are very easy to access and remember.
Pro Essential Tools and Effects
Gravit has many tools like Pen tool, Bezigon tool, Lasso tools. We can add Multiple Fills to an element also. It has many effects such as Drop Shadows, Blur, Recolor, Glows, etc. and much more.
Cons
Con Only available on Windows
Paint.NET is only available on Windows.
Con No project-based interface
You can only edit a single image at a time in Paint.NET. For example, in other tools you can open 5 or a 100 images at the same time, and stack those windows in all directions.
Furthermore, when you are editing in Paint.NET you can only "view" a single image at a time, even though you can have multiple images open. This limits your zooming ability, as the image will go fullscreen quite quickly, and hide parts of it behind the floating toolbars which can not be embedded anywhere on the screen.
Con Too simple
If you have used vector illustration software for 10 years or more, you may find Gravit Designer too simple and confusing. Trade in your oil paints and brushes for Legos simple.
Con No longer offically licenced with a GPLv3+ version
In 2014 Quasado released Gravit.io having dual licensing: GNU GPLv3+ or a commercial license. This effectively made Gravit.io opensource, when they transitioned to "Gravit designer" they essentially dropped GPLv3+ license.
You can still get the GPLv3+ licensed version of Gravit.io here: https://github.com/OliBridgman/gravit
You can read the GPLv3+ licensing here: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
Con Confusing bugs
Sometimes Gravit Designer can randomly duplicate your files, causing you to waste a large amount of time trying to find the right one.
Con Pro Subscription
Gravit's many basic features are now included in Pro Subscription. Font Import, Bezigon, Swatches and various Blending Modes fall in Pro Subscription now.
Con Very little information
Official sources do not provide a lot information about the program.
Con No integration into the system
It uses it own theme and icons.