Microsoft is adding new AI features to Paint, such as generating drawings to color in. Notepad gets a brand new welcome screen.
No Windows app is skipping the AI dance. Microsoft announces new AI features for Paint in a blog. You could already generate images with color, but with the new ‘coloring book’ feature, you can now also have drawings made to color in yourself. Ideal for those who want to get creative during their break or only get the children to calm down with a screen.
The principle is the same as for generating images. You describe the theme of the coloring book in a prompt, such as cats sitting on a donut, and Paint creates a series of drawings on that theme. The feature is only available on a Copilot PC and requires logging in with your Microsoft account.
Microsoft is taking a less artificial approach to the fill function in Paint. With a new slider, you can determine how accurately the fill tool applies color. Select the fill tool and use the slider to adjust the tolerance and experiment with creative effects in your newly generated coloring book.
Welcome screen in Notepad
Microsoft is not only using Paint as an AI playground. The fact that a simple text editor like Notepad also had to be provided with a layer of AI already made many Windows users raise their eyebrows. If you are no longer up to date with what has recently changed in the application, Notepad will gladly bring you up to speed.
The application gets a brand new ‘welcome screen’ with a ‘What’s new’ section, where new features are neatly listed. Microsoft believes that both new and experienced Notepad users will benefit greatly from this. The welcome screen can be recalled with the megaphone icon if you want to take another look.
Furthermore, it is mainly about improvements for Notepad. New formatting functions are added, such as strikethrough and nested lists. In addition, AI suggestions to (re)write your text will appear faster. The AI writing functions in Notepad again require a Microsoft account; a Copilot PC is not required this time.
These new features will first roll out to Windows Insiders before they come to the general public.