I have my staple design toolkit that I reach for, but sometimes, I just need to create something fast. Whether a quick edit, social post, or thumbnail, I've found the perfect tool for it: Pinta.

Pinta is a free and open-source drawing and editing app, but that's not the only reason I use it. It's also fast; it launches in seconds, doesn't choke my older laptop, and isn't bloated with advanced features and functions. Plus, it actually feels fun to work in. It's like opening a blank little sketchbook instead of opening a whole production studio.

Here's why I've been reaching for Pinta when I need to design something quick and simple...

It's lightweight

But not barebones

What I liked about Pinta right out of the box was how familiar it felt. If you've ever used Paint.NET, you'll likely recognize the layout and UI — in fact, the design is largely based on Paint. There's no learning curve; it's the easiest tool for any non-designer to pick up. The interface is super simple and clean, and it's not stuffed with menus or trying to wow you with advanced features.

Despite being this bite-sized, Pinta handles everything I usually need for quick day-to-day design tasks, such as drawing a couple of shapes and placing some text on them. It loads up incredibly fast and stays fast, even if I'm juggling multiple open files or stacking layers. For things like thumbnail design or annotating screenshots, it saves me from firing up a much heavier program.

Full layer support

It handles multi-layer projects with ease

I didn't expect Pinta to have full layer support, but it does. I can add as many layers as I want, rename, duplicate, reorder, and even merge them. It's not Photoshop as it doesn't have advanced blending features, but it's more than enough for simple designs and quick visual work. For such a lightweight app, it handles layers very well.

An impressive toolkit

It has everything you need for comprehensive designs

The toolkit was also better than I expected. You've got the usual suspects, such as a brush, pencil, eraser, fill bucket, clone stamp, and color picker. There are also a handful of selection tools, including rectangle select, ellipse select, Lasso select, and even a Magic wand select — the latter I did not expect to find in the app, but it's surprisingly accurate and effective.

My favorite tools are the line and shape tools. The Line/Curve tool is what I reach for most often because it lets you create more accurate illustrations than using the pencil or brush tools. It lets you place points wherever you want, extend the lines, curve the lines, fill in the space between the lines — it does it all. And the Gradient tool is a lifesaver for creating any sort of color gradient on your shapes or illustrations; all you have to do is pick your colors, click on the canvas, and fine-tune the gradient by moving your mouse.

All these tools work super quickly; there's never any lag. I'm more than happy to forgo advanced features in a fancier program if it means completing a project quicker in Pinta.

It's also a decent image editor

You don't need to leave the app to edit your images

While primarily a painting and design tool, Pinta also doubles as an image editor, which is perfect for when I use photos in a design. I can edit the photo within the app, and once done, I can just add it to a design I'm working on in another tab.

The tools here are plentiful. You've got a host of adjustments such as Curves, Brightness, Black & White, Levels, and Hue & Saturation. The Curves tool actually surprised me with the amount of precision it lets you manipulate an image. On top of that, there's a wide selection of filters too, including blurs, colors, distortions, and artistic filters. All of them are powerful enough to completely transform an image without using another app.

Of course, the selection and brush tools are also really handy for images. They're what turn a good photo editor into a powerful one.

Cross-platform

With common formats

I really appreciate that Pinta runs seamlessly across Linux, macOS, and Windows without being inconsistent. I can hop between my Windows desktop and Chromebook without relearning the UI or dealing with weird bugs that often pop up in cross-platform apps.

The same flexibility applies to how Pinta handles files. It supports PNG, JPEG, TIFF, ICO, .ora, WebP, and more. I don't have to worry about file conversion before import/export, and there's also no proprietary format to worry about, so my projects remain simple and compatible.

The right tool at the right time

Pinta isn't trying to replace professional tools; it's just there for when you need to move fast and get a small project out of the way quickly. But its toolkit remains impressive: it has everything you need for basic design, illustration, and editing. I didn't expect it to stick, but it turns out nothing beats the lightweightness combined with the reliability of Pinta.