What Is the New Project File in Windows 11 Paint and How Do I Use It?

How Can I Use the New Opacity Slider in MS Paint for Better Shading?

The Microsoft Paint application on Windows 11 has been updated with two significant features that add more advanced editing capabilities, including a new project file format and an opacity slider. These additions allow users to save their work with editable layers and control the transparency of their brush strokes, bringing more creative flexibility to the classic tool.

Understanding Paint’s New Project Feature

Microsoft Paint now introduces a “Project” feature, which utilizes a new file format called .paint. This is a major step for the simple drawing tool. Think of it like a special save file that remembers all the different parts of your drawing separately. In the past, when you saved a picture in Paint as a JPG or PNG, all your work was flattened into one single image. If you drew a circle on top of a square and saved it, you could not go back later and move just the circle. The two shapes became one permanent picture.

The new .paint project file changes this. It uses a concept called layers. You can imagine layers as clear sheets of plastic stacked on top of one another.

• You could draw a background scene on the bottom sheet.
• On a new sheet placed on top, you could draw a tree.
• On a third sheet, you could add a person.

Because each element is on its own separate, clear sheet, you can move the person around without disturbing the tree or the background. You can also erase the tree without affecting the other parts of your drawing. The .paint file saves this entire stack of sheets, so when you open it again, you can continue editing each part independently. This is what designers call non-destructive editing because you are not permanently changing the original image parts. You can always go back and adjust things. This feature is incredibly useful when you are working on a piece of art over several sessions. You can pause your work, save it as a project, and when you return, everything will be just as you left it, ready for more edits.

How a Paint Project Differs from Photoshop

Many people compare this new feature to Adobe Photoshop’s .PSD files, and it is a good comparison, but it is important to understand the differences. Photoshop is a tool built for professional designers, photographers, and artists, so its project files are extremely complex. The new Paint project feature is much simpler, designed for everyday users and beginners.

Feature	Microsoft Paint (.paint)	Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
Primary Purpose	Simple, non-destructive editing for basic projects.	Professional-grade, complex image manipulation and graphic design.
Layers	Supports basic layers for separating image elements.	Supports advanced layers with masks, smart objects, and blending modes.
Saved Information	Saves the state of layers, canvas size, and basic tools.	Saves layers, masks, color profiles, smart objects, text styles, and more.
Target User	Beginners, casual users, and students.	Professional artists, designers, and photographers.

Paint’s project file saves the essential information: your layers, their transparency, and the overall canvas. Photoshop’s project file saves a vast amount of data, including advanced color correction settings, special effects, and editable text properties. Microsoft is not trying to make Paint a replacement for Photoshop. Instead, it is making Paint a more capable tool for everyone. It gives beginners a gentle introduction to powerful concepts like layers, which are fundamental to almost all modern digital art software.

Saving and Using Your First Paint Project

Creating a project file is very straightforward. When you are working on a drawing and want to save its editable state, you simply go to the file menu.

1. Click on the “File” menu in the top-left corner of the Paint window.
2. Instead of choosing “Save as” and picking a format like PNG or JPG, look for the option that says “Save as project.”
3. A save window will appear, and the format will be set to “Microsoft Paint Project File (.paint).”
4. Give your project a name and save it.

You can still export your work to share it with others. After you are finished editing your project, you can go to “File” > “Save as” and choose a standard format like PNG, JPG, or GIF. This will flatten your layers into a single image that anyone can view. The .paint file is for you, the creator, to keep working on your art. You can also share the .paint file with a friend, and they can open it in their version of Paint to see your layers and even add their own edits.

Controlling Transparency with the Opacity Slider

Alongside the project feature, Paint now has an opacity slider. Opacity is just another word for how solid or see-through something is. In the past, any color you used in Paint was completely solid. If you picked red, you got 100% red. The new opacity slider lets you control this. It is located near your color palette and works with tools like the brush and pencil.

Think of it like working with watercolors. If you use paint straight from the tube, the color is dark and solid. This is like having the opacity set to 100%. If you add a little water to your paint, it becomes lighter and more transparent. This is what happens when you lower the opacity percentage in Paint. For example, setting the opacity to 40% means your brush stroke will be 60% transparent. You will be able to see the colors and shapes underneath it.

This simple slider opens up a world of artistic techniques that were not possible in Paint before. It allows for more nuance and subtlety in your drawings.

Practical Uses for the New Opacity Feature

The ability to control transparency is not just for advanced artists. It has many practical uses for everyday drawing.

Shading and Highlights

You can create realistic shadows by drawing with a black or gray color at a low opacity. This makes the shadow look soft and natural instead of like a hard, solid shape. Similarly, you can add gentle highlights to objects using a light color with low opacity to create a sense of light and dimension.

Color Blending

You can layer different colors on top of each other with varying levels of opacity to create new shades. For instance, painting a semi-transparent yellow over a semi-transparent blue can create a soft green where they overlap.

Creating a Watermark

If you want to put your name or a logo on a picture without covering it up completely, you can write the text and then lower its opacity. This makes the text visible but see-through.

Soft Glows

To make a light source like a lamp or a star appear to glow, you can paint a soft, low-opacity circle of light around it.

How to Access These New Paint Features

These new features are currently available to users in the Windows Insider Program, which is a program that lets you test upcoming Windows features before they are released to the public. To try them, you need to be running Paint version v11.2508.361.0 or newer. This version is typically available to Insiders in the Dev or Canary channels.

Sometimes, even after updating the app, new features are rolled out gradually. You might see a banner in your Windows Settings app asking you to sign up for “Windows AI Labs” to try new features in Paint and other apps. This is part of Microsoft’s phased rollout and may not appear for everyone at the same time.

If you are not a Windows Insider or if you try the new version and want to go back, you can always revert to the stable release. To do this, you can uninstall the current Paint application from your computer and then reinstall it from the Microsoft Store. The store will provide the latest official version available to all Windows 11 users.