Microsoft tests new features in Paint, Snipping Tool and Notepad

Microsoft is testing some new features in Paint, Snipping Tool and Notepad for Windows Insiders. Here are the changes coming to the apps.

Paint now lets you save your art work as a project, so you can come back and pick up where you left off. You will need to select the Save as project from the File menu to preserve your work.

Paint is also getting an opacity slider to adjust the transparency level for pencil and brush strokes. Select one of the tools, and you will be able to access the opacity slider on the left edge of the screen.

The new enhancements are available in Paint version 11.2508.361.0 or later.

Snipping Tool is getting a Quick Markup tool, to help users annotate their screenshots, before even capturing it. To use it, you need to select the Quick Markup button from Snipping Tool's toolbar, or use the hotkey Ctrl + E.

Mark the area of the screen that you would like to capture, for example, draw a box around a part of the screen.

Once you have made your selection, you can directly start annotating (highlight, arrows, etc.) and edit the image in the selection area before finalizing the screenshot.

The Quick Markup tool is available in Snipping tool version 11.2508.24.0 or later. For once, these changes are good, especially since they don't use AI features, except for the changes to Notepad.

Notepad can now summarize content, write (generate text from prompts), and rewrite text using local AI models. These features are free and can be used without signing in to your account, but you will need a Copilot+ PC. Users who have a subscription gain access to other cloud models, and can switch to local models based on their needs.

Copilot in Notepad is currently only available in English in Notepad version 11.2508.28.0 or above.

(Images via Microsoft Blog)

Microsoft's announcement says that these features are available for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11.

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