That said, it’s obviously not the first recommendation for professional photo manipulation, but if well mastered, it does a pretty good job with basic image editing and saves you money as it comes with the Windows package. Here is a list of cool things Microsoft Paint can do.

1. Make gradient

To make a gradient in Microsoft Paint, follow these steps:

  1. Open MS Paint. Draw a diagonal line across the page using the line tool as shown in the image below.

  2. With paint bucket, fill one side of the diagonal with any color.

  3. Click on “Resize” and uncheck the aspect ratio checkbox. Change the horizontal value to 1. click “OK.”

  4. Repeat step 3 but with the horizontal value set to 500.

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4, and you have your gradient.

2. Create custom brushes

MS Paint obviously comes with its set of brushes. Let us assume you are like me and feel you need a cooler brush. To create your custom brush:

  1. Select the pencil tool, then draw a small textured brush in whatever color you desire.

  2. Next, select the image you drew and turn transparency on.

  3. Hold Shift and drag it around.

3. Invert Colors on Images

This is one of the easiest tricks to perform using MS Paint. To invert colors:

  1. Open your image with paint.

  2. Click the “Select” menu and pick either “rectangular selection” or the “free-form selection.”

  3. Select the portion of the image where you need to invert the colors, and right click on it.

  4. Select the “invert colors” option.

4. Trace an Image in Paint

This is a trick I personally find interesting.

  1. Open the desired picture with MS Paint.

  2. Trace over the image using the pencil tool. You could use the brush tool also, but this method will work better using the pencil tool.

  3. Highlight the entire image using the “select all” option of the selection tool and then invert the colors. This process can not be undone.

  4. Navigate to “File -> Properties,” and change the color to “Black and White.”

  5. Highlight the image, and invert the colors once more. Navigate to “File -> Properties” and change color code to “Color.”

5. Change the brush size

Of all the mentioned hacks, this is the easiest and the most handy. To change the size of a brush:

  1. Select the brush tool that you want to use.

  2. Hold down Ctrl and tap the “Numpad Plus Button.” Each tap increases the size of the brush.

  3. To reduce the size, hold down Ctrl and tap the “Numpad Minus Button.” Each tap reduces the size of the brush.

Conclusion

When in search of a free image creation software, you usually turn to GIMP or perhaps Paint.net, but Microsoft paint might just be able to do a bit more than it is given credit for.