Is it time to give Microsoft Paint a chance?

Cast your mind back to the primitive days of digital art and one software will likely bring back fond memories – good ol' Microsoft Paint. While there are plenty of digital art software options available today, many of us made our humble beginnings on MS Paint, and now with its slew of new AI updates, I think it's time we revisited our old friend.

Admittedly MS Paint isn't nearly as glamorous as Photoshop or Procreate, but sometimes it can be good to take a step back and switch up our workflow. Lest we forget that MS Paint was sadly laid to rest in 2017 and this grand AI resurrection is potentially its last salvation – for nostalgia's sake, let's give Microsoft Paint a chance.

The new AI features will be available for Copilot Plus PCs, allowing users to customise their projects with Generative Fill and Generative Erase tools. With an adjustable size brush, users can 'paint' over areas they want to remove, similar to Photoshop's Spot Healing Brush Tool. The Erase feature will remove unwanted objects in the image, while Generative Fill uses text prompts to add new AI-generated assets.

Built on the Cocreator tool for Paint, Microsoft claims the diffusion-based model is equipped with "C2PA Content Credentials" for “built-in moderation”. While these might seem like low-level features to the seasoned creative, MS Paint still stands as an accessible tool for beginners. I firmly believe that everyone should embrace the character-building experience of drawing on MS Paint with nothing but a mouse and a dream.

It's not just MS Paint that's coming for Photoshop's crown – recent updates to CorelDRAW still make it a worthy contender in the digital art space. If you're after more PS alternatives, check out our recent Photoshop vs Krita comparison guide that puts both tools to the test.