Paintbrush is a Cocoa-based paint program for Mac OS X, similar to Microsoft Paint and the now-defunct MacPaint. Paintbrush is probably the application that resembles Microsoft Paint best. They even market it as “Paint for Mac OS”. It’s simple: you open a new file with the dimensions you want, and it shows you a white canvas with a toolbox that has all the tools Paint has – right down to the spray can! Open source Photoshop alternative Paint.NET started life as a substitute for Microsoft Paint, but over the years it’s grown into a powerful photo editor in its own right. The best software I think: MyPaint - Fast-forward to today. MyPaint is a nimble, distraction-free, and easy tool for digital painters. It supports graphics tablets made by Wacom, and many similar devices. Its brush engine is versatile and configur. EffectMatrix Software Studio is a professional provider for multimedia software and Best Paint Apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone to the international users. Since founded in Year 2002, it has been playing a more and more important role in this area. This article rounds up the best 15 free Mac Programs for Graphic Designers. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use.
Mac has long been referred to as the “Creative’s workshop.” The idea that most graphic designers, interior designers, video animators, and architects are more drawn towards Mac may hold water to an extent. Mac attracts creatives for either of two reasons – as the traditional tool they’ve always used or its perceived high performance standards. Speaking of tradition, the first version of Photoshop was built exclusively for Macintosh users, giving Mac the first mover advantage.
And while the PC versus Mac might present an interesting discourse, I will be walking the safe lines, and a list of simple drawing apps for Mac is all we are talking about today.
Related: 5 of the Best Drawing Apps for Android
1. Patina
This sweet and simple drawing app is certainly closer to Microsoft Paint than Adobe Photoshop on the complexity scale, but lets you illustrate things that certainly wouldn’t have been readily doable on Paint. You won’t find any complexities like layers here, but within the one layer you do have you can do plenty.
You can use it for the basic things like cropping, rotating and making colour adjustments on images, but there are lots of other options here too when it comes to transparencies, brush types, sketching and so on.
The elegant interface makes Patina a delight to use, and it’s compatible with myriad file types like PDF and Photoshop files, alongside JPGs, PNGs and other usual suspects.
2. Markup Feature in Preview
Before going ahead and downloading a bunch of apps you’ve never heard of, you should try out macOS’s secret paint feature, hidden right there in the trusty Mac Preview app.
When you open an image in Preview, click the icon next to the search bar at the top-right to open the ‘Markup Toolbar,’ which you’ll quickly find does a whole lot more than just marking up.
This toolbar pretty much functions like a basic paint program, allowing you to draw, scribble, make shapes and annotate the image you’re previewing. There are even some mildly more advanced functions, like Smart Lasso, which lets you accurately pick out shapes in your image.
It’s simple stuff, but it does the job when it comes to everyday tasks.
3. Sketch
Best Paint Tool For Corners
This Mac drawing software holds all the aces when it comes to versatility. Sketch can be used to create professional artwork, draw and design websites and so much more. Sketch is a vector-based application with several features such as a toolbar, canvas, editable shapes and so much more. I have found Sketch a bit irregular, as it may require a little background knowledge and experience in basic designing. It’s nevertheless a user-friendly tool even for newbies. You can blob, warp, and twirl your way into anything.
4. Paintbrush
Paint Brush is a painting and illustrating application for Mac. Paint Brush is quite similar to Microsoft Paint on Windows in terms of functionality and build. Paint Brush offers some of the best freehand art experience in the game. It does not come with the complexity or spec requirements of other third-party applications, but if you need to get a few illustrations made up for occasional doodling, this drawing application tool is all you need to save the day.
5. Made with Mischief
Made with Mischief is a unique, simple drawing app for Mac. This application is as easy and simple as you could ever imagine. After installation you are welcomed by a blank screen and can start drawing right away, creating the nostalgic experience of pen and paper.
Made with Mischief is neither vector-based nor pixel-based and works best on a desktop. Made with Mischief has other exciting features like allowing you to create and customize your set of brushes and pen tools. Made with Mischief is a pretty good application for beginners as it lets you draw without limiting your canvas size.
6. ArtBoard
ArtBoard is a simple Mac drawing application that enables you to create minimalist and elaborate artwork for professional and personal purposes. ArtBoard offers so much in tools, features, usability components and flexibility. You can use any of its numerous backgrounds and layouts.
ArtBoard lets you work in layers, enabling you to work on different aspects of your drawings simultaneously. One of the most remarkable features of ArtBoard is the option of drag and drop which allows you to incorporate images straight from import. Although its lack of distortion tools and shortcomings in image conversion between vector and raster is noticeable, ArtBoard remains a top drawing tool for Mac.
Conclusion
There are certainly many simple drawing apps for Mac out there – free and paid alike. I wrote this list based on a cursory focus on the applications’ imitation of real-life drawing experience, availability of tools, simplicity, flexibility, and interface. I will not have the final word on this and earnestly look forward to your suggestions. Which of these drawing applications do you use? Kindly share your thoughts below.
This article was first published in September 2017 and was updated in June 2019.
When you need to grab and image of what's on your screen there is no need to use expensive tools when there is free screen capture software that will do the job perfectly. At the most basic end of the scale, you could just hit the Print Screen button paste the contents of you clipboard into your favourite image editor, but there's plenty of free screen capture software that gives you a great deal of control over your screenshots.
Whether you're looking to capture everything you can see on your screen, just a section of it, or you want to grab still from hard-to-capture places such as in games, there is a tool out there for you – there's even one built directly into Windows that you might not know about.
The beauty of free screen capture software is that it can be as simple or advanced as you need. Perhaps you just want to be able to easily annotate your screenshots – not a problem. Or maybe you would like to be able to use a range of keyboard shortcuts to grab different types of screenshot – this is possible too! Take a browse through this roundup of the free screen capture software and see which suits your needs.
Best Paint App For Mac 2017
How do I take screen captures on a Mac?
We've covered Windows apps almost exclusively here, but don't feel left out if you're using a different operating system. On macOS, there's no need for a separate screenshot tool – you can do everything with keyboard shortcuts. [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[3] captures the whole screen, [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[4] captures a region, and there are many other edge cases described on Apple's support pages.