Free image editing software Paint.NET is finally available to download from the "correct URL" its name implies. This Windows platform image editor was developed by college student Rick Brewster in 2004 to replace Windows Paint. It has been continuously iterated over the past two decades and has now become a very powerful free tool. However, there has been an obvious "shortcoming" for a long time: users have never been able to access the official page through www.paint.net, the most intuitive domain name.
Until now, the official download site for Paint.NET was www.getpaint.net because Brewster did not own the paint.net domain name with the same name as the software. According to a long and detailed article he published on Things took a sudden turn until December 2025, when the current domain name holder made a critical mistake during a website revamp.
In that revision, paint.net was made to look like the official Paint.NET site, misleading existing and potential users. This approach not only blurs the boundaries between official and unofficial, but also involves profiting from the Paint.NET brand and trademark, thereby pushing the original dispute over domain name ownership into the typical category of copyright infringement and domain squatting. Brewster quickly hired a lawyer to intervene, pursued trademark and copyright protection, and finally succeeded in getting back the paint.net domain name he had been pursuing for 22 years.
Currently, when you visit www.paint.net, you will see a prompt message asking users to go to getpaint.net to download Paint.NET, with links to Brewster's instructions on X and BlueSky. This status is just a transitional arrangement. The developers will soon start the migration work to the new official website and gradually unify the entrance for downloads and information release to paint.net. As for how the existing getpaint.net website will be handled in the future, Brewster has not given a clear timetable, but it is widely expected that it will most likely be redirected to a new domain name after the migration is completed, and relevant adjustments will be implemented "sooner rather than later (sooner but more likely as soon as possible)".