How to Save Custom Palettes in Paint.NET

Paint.NET provides a built-in palette management system that allows users to create, store, and quickly reload customized sets of colors for any project. By modifying color swatches in the Colors window and saving them through the palette manager, you can maintain consistent branding, design themes, and workflows across multiple editing sessions.

Editing Color Swatches

  1. Open Paint.NET and ensure the Colors utility window is open. If it is hidden, press F8 or click the Colors icon in the top-right corner.
  2. Click the More >> button to expand the window and reveal the color wheel, hex codes, and the 96-swatch color grid.
  3. Click on the specific color swatch in the grid that you wish to replace. A small border will indicate that the swatch is actively selected.
  4. Adjust the color using the color wheel, the RGB/HSV sliders, or by typing a specific Hex value into the input box. The selected swatch will update automatically to reflect the new color.
  5. Repeat this process for any other swatches you wish to customize.

Saving the Custom Palette

  1. Locate the palette preset section directly below the color grid.
  2. Click the Manage Palettes button (the icon depicting a notepad and palette next to the palette dropdown menu).
  3. Select Save Current Palette As... from the contextual menu.
  4. Type a unique name for your palette in the prompt and click Save.

Your new palette is now saved locally and will remain accessible whenever you use Paint.NET.

Reusing and Switching Palettes

To load a previously saved palette:

  1. Open the Colors window and expand it with More >>.
  2. Click the drop-down menu located below the color swatches.
  3. Select your custom palette from the list. The color grid will instantly switch to your saved swatches.

Backing Up or Importing Palette Files

Paint.NET saves palettes as plain text files containing 8-digit ARGB hex codes. You can back up or share these files directly:

  1. Click the Manage Palettes button.
  2. Select Open Palettes Folder.
  3. Windows Explorer will open to Documents\paint.net User Files\Palettes.
  4. Copy your .txt palette files to back them up, or paste third-party .txt palette files into this folder to make them appear inside Paint.NET.