When comparing Pixel.Tools vs Paint.NET, the Slant community recommends Paint.NET for most people. In the question“What are the best pixel art / sprite editors?” Paint.NET is ranked 9th while Pixel.Tools is ranked 21st. The most important reason people chose Paint.NET is:
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.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Offers Colordex system
Included in Pixel.Tools is the Colordex system which allows the user to utilize multiple color ramps in a single brush stroke.
Pro Record and replay
Pro Free and open source
Pixel.Tools is licensed by MIT, making it free of charge and open source.
Pro Pixel with others simultaneously
Note: the multi-user feature is currently broken (at least in Chrome), but might work if using http
instead of https
. You can read more here.
Pro Wacom tablet support (via plugin)
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.
Cons
Con Unintuitive interface
Zooming is reversed, the screen flickers a lot, and the flip/rotate selection is very buggy (selection will re-size though it should not). Essentially, the interface of Pixel.Tools is clunky and unintuitive.
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.