Aphelion — A Modern, Extensible Paint.NET-Style Image Editor for Linux
Aphelion is a fast, lightweight, and intuitive image editor designed to bring the familiar paint.NET workflow to Linux. It features a clean, modern interface, full layer support, a growing suite of editing tools, and a powerful plugin architecture that allows the application to expand far beyond its core feature set.
Key Features
Layer-Based Editing
Full support for multiple layers, opacity control, and non-destructive workflows.
Essential Tools
Brush, eraser, shapes, line tool, fill bucket, gradient tool, text tool, zoom/pan, color picker, selection tools (rectangle, ellipse, lasso, magic wand), and more.
Image Adjustments
Brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, invert, auto-level, and other fundamental correction tools.
Plugin System
Aphelion includes a robust, documented plugin framework that supports new tools, custom effects, file formats, and automated workflows. Plugins can be loaded locally or from the user’s global plugin directory.
Cross-Platform Python/PySide6 Architecture
Clean, modular codebase built in Python, with a focus on readability, testability, and extensibility.
User Interface Built for Productivity
Dark theme, dockable panels, tabbed documents, and a familiar paint.NET-style layout that minimizes friction and maximizes speed.
Automated Testing Suite
Comprehensive tests for canvas behavior, I/O, tools, and internal systems ensure stability and predictable development.
Project Goals
Aphelion aims to become a complete, polished alternative to paint.NET for Linux users, while also offering a more flexible plugin ecosystem and modern Python-driven tooling. Its long-term vision includes full feature parity with paint.NET, advanced effects, expandability through scripting, and high-performance image processing.