LazPaint

An office administrator preparing product graphics for a website catalog needs to crop photos, clean transparent backgrounds, and add callout labels without waiting for a heavy graphics suite to launch. Commercial editors often require expensive recurring licenses and substantial system memory for routine touchups. LazPaint delivers a responsive desktop canvas that opens promptly, providing both raster and vector layers for quick visual asset production on Linux.

Why LazPaint instead of Corel PaintShop Pro

Corel PaintShop Pro relies on Windows libraries, commercial filter plugins, and proprietary project files. Switching to LazPaint shifts graphics workflows toward open desktop integration. LazPaint reads and writes OpenRaster (.ora) files, letting multi-layer artwork travel between Linux tools like Krita, MyPaint, and GIMP without flattening image data. It also reads Paint.NET (.pdn) files with layer arrangements intact and opens Photoshop (.psd) files as flat reference bitmaps, acting as a format bridge across applications.

The difference centers on ecosystem ties. Corel PaintShop Pro includes camera RAW pipelines, commercial scanner acquisition, and third-party Photoshop plugins. LazPaint bypasses external plugin standards, offering Python scripts for layer effects such as drop shadows, inner lighting, and outline strokes. A built-in command-line interface allows users to automate format conversion, resizing, and color adjustments in terminal scripts. For routine asset preparation on Linux, LazPaint fits cleanly into scriptable, open file pipelines.

What it does well

• Combines raster drawing tools with vector shapes like rectangles, stars, and curves that remain fully editable until rasterized.
• Handles diverse graphic file formats, reading Paint.NET projects, flattened Photoshop files, and layered OpenRaster archives alongside PNG, JPEG, and WebP.
• Offers antialiased selection capabilities, including a magic wand with progressive fill tolerance to isolate objects and clear backgrounds cleanly.
• Maintains a 200-step undo and redo history stack, allowing users to reverse experimental edits and explore variations without risk.
• Generates procedural textures and artistic filters with single-click tools for wood grain, clouds, rain precipitation, contours, and phong shading.
• Imports three-dimensional Wavefront (.obj) models straight into a layer, allowing users to rotate, light, and render 3D meshes onto a 2D canvas.