Microsoft Confirms 3D Design Capabilities for Paint and Other Applications With Upcoming Release of Windows 10 Creators Update

A few weeks ago, a stealthy Twitter user leaked the news that Microsoft was planning to update their decades-old Paint application with several brand new features including 3D design capabilities. When the word got out, several people speculated that Microsoft might be making the official announcement at a New York event scheduled for later in October. The speculation was correct, as Microsoft formally unveiled Paint 3D yesterday at a large conference in New York City.

As many suspected, Paint 3D will be released as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update, to come out in early 2017. Along with confirming the impending release of Paint 3D, Microsoft also unveiled several features of the app that weren’t apparent in the leaked video. For example, a 3D platform called Remix 3D is being launched along with the new Paint. Remix 3D, which you can preview by signing up at the website, is both an online community and a model library, which already contains thousands of 3D models that users can import into their Paint designs or save for later. Users can also share their own 3D models with the rest of the world.

“A big part of creativity is being inspired by the ideas of others,” says Megan Saunders, General Manager of the Windows Experiences Group. “Remix 3D is a hub for connecting with content and creators including over a million 3D objects and models that you can repurpose for your own creations.”

Remix 3D will also be integrated with SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse, so users can pull 3D models directly from that platform, as well. In addition, Minecraft fans will be able to easily export their creations to Paint 3D and then 3D print them, or share them with the community. Users can scan objects or import photographs or other images into Paint, then make them 3D with just a touch or a click. 2D and 3D images can be combined, too, and users can easily incorporate elements from a photograph into a drawing with a simple select tool.

“Simple” is an important keyword – for all of its new capabilities, Paint is still Paint, with clear, easy to use toolbars and a simple interface. It’s optimized for touchscreens, and responds immediately to a stylus or fingertip. Over the course of the next year, 3D design capabilities will also be integrated into other Windows programs such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel, and ultimately, Microsoft intends for users to be able to take their 3D content anywhere: onto the web, onto their virtual reality headset, HoloLens, etc.

“Windows 10 allows your 3D content to seamlessly flow not only across your screens, but also out into your world,” continues Saunders. “Take an object from the real world, capture it in 3D, edit it in Paint 3D, share it out to the web, bring it back into your world as a hologram or take it into a virtual world. The barriers between the physical and the digital worlds are removed.”

While an exact release date has not been revealed, Microsoft has indicated that we should see Paint 3D and the rest of the Windows 10 Creators update early next year. If you’d like to start using it now, you can sign up for the Windows Insider Program and be among the first to get access. Discuss in the Paint 3D forum at 3DPB.com.