Best Mac Equivalents to Microsoft Paint. Microsoft Paint has always been part of the Windows operating system since 1985. However, there is no native equivalent of Microsoft Paint for Mac computers, especially after Apple removed Mac Paint.
Also see: Mac Equivalents of Windows Programs and Features(Opens in a new browser tab)
While Preview is close to its basic image editing tools like painting, pasting shapes, and adding text, it still doesn’t reflect Microsoft Paint. For example, in the preview, you cannot create new images from scratch, since there is no blank canvas there.
Best Equivalents to Microsoft Paint for Mac
Fortunately, there are several Mac equivalents to Microsoft Paint that are just as easy to use and do better.
1. Brush
Paintbrush is a stripped-down, lightweight Mac Paint program designed to meet the need for a simplified yet basic image editor.
The program has the same capabilities as Microsoft Paint, so you can quickly create simple images. Plus, you can open and save images in most formats, paste images copied from common Mac apps including iWork, quickly crop a photo, add text, or just draw.
Paintbrush has an intuitive user interface with simple tools and colors that you can use to create images or doodles. The software is completely free to download and use on your Mac.
2. Paint S
Paint S is the easy-to-use Mac equivalent of Paint that helps you paint images or edit existing photos. With the tool and image editor, you can easily draw, rotate and crop images, overlay text on images, and edit them freely.
Some of the key features of the app include the ability to open and save images in many popular formats, including JPEG, PNG, and BMP. Paint S also supports all kinds of tools, including ellipse, fill, text and eyedropper, curved texts, undo / redo, cut / copy / paste, and transparency.
Paint S also lets you select and remove any unwanted elements from your images, or insert other images from other Mac apps, including Safari, Keynote, iBooks Author, and more. You can also print images directly from the application.
3. Sketches of Taiasui
When it comes to drawing and painting on your Mac, Tayasui Sketches makes it as easy as grabbing a pen in real life and creating your own images.
The application combines an almost unlimited choice of digital colors and brushes with the natural drawing process you are used to. To use the app, simply select the paper type, select the tool in the sidebar and draw.
Plus, you don’t have to spend hours fiddling with app settings or going through lengthy workshops to understand how Tayasui Sketches works.
4. Pint
Pinta is an open source program modeled after Paint.NET that you can use to draw and edit images. The program makes drawing easy just like Microsoft Paint, so you can draw and manipulate images on your Mac.
Among the basic tools you get with Pinta are lines, ellipses, freehand drawing tools, rectangles, and over 35 effects and settings to customize your images.
To make editing easier, Pinta offers advanced tools like Multiple Layers to help you separate and group elements of your images. In addition, the program keeps track of your entire history, so you can always undo it.
5. GIMP
The GIMP is an open source, cross-platform photo editing tool that can also serve as the Mac equivalent of Paint.
Although GIMP has more features and functions than Paint, its customizable interface offers different environments for simple and complex tasks.
The versatile tool has widgets that allow you to change colors, full screen mode for previewing your work and editing using more screen space. It also supports JPEG, PNG, GIF and other file formats.
6. Inkscape
Whatever design you want to create, be it a drawing or a sketch, Inkscape can transform it from an initial raw draft to a complete image ready for printing or publishing.
The cross-platform software offers several tools for creating objects, including a pencil and pen for freehand drawing, straight lines, and Bézier curves. You can also add shapes such as rectangles, spirals, ellipses, or stars, enter text, insert bitmaps of selected objects, and create patterns.
If you want to add colors or strokes, Inkscape‘s Color Picker and Picker tools can help you with that.
7. Crete
Krita offers a clean, intuitive and flexible user interface with fluid and customizable features for your specific workflow. The open source paint program lets you create concept art, illustrations, and comics with beautiful brushes and vector tools.
You can also import brush and texture packs if you want to expand the toolbox and customize them with more than 9 unique brush engines with additional customization options. If you want to bring your drawings to life, you can layer animation and share it with your friends.
8. Patina
Like Paintbrush, Patina is a simple painting application similar to Microsoft Paint that you can use for personal or work needs, including drawing diagrams, sketching ideas, coloring pictures, or illustrating concepts.
Patina offers basic image management tools to help you adjust colors, crop, rotate and save images. You can also use advanced options such as brush types, opacity, and painting.
The app has a sleek interface that’s a pleasure to use, and you can illustrate things you wouldn’t do in Paint. In addition, Patina is compatible with PDFs and other files, including JPG and PNG.
While you can do a lot in Patina with just one layer, you can get the paid version and get comparable features with a wider range of features. However, the application does not allow manipulation of already drawn images or objects.
9. ArtBoard
ArtBoard is another simple Mac Paint application that lets you create simple and complex drawings for personal and professional use. The program offers a rich set of tools with numerous layouts, backgrounds, and a powerful style editor that can create simple stroke and fill styles for basic illustrations or expert stacked styles.
You can also include images from other locations using the drag and drop tool. Once you’ve finished editing your images, you can export or print them.
10. Prank
Whether you’re sketching, painting, or painting, you can do it all on Mischief‘s truly infinite canvas. The app offers simple tools to help you create works of art with limitless possibilities.
With Mischief, you don’t have to resize your canvas or use preset paper sizes or resolutions while painting. You can get the richness and scalability of the app’s pixel brushes and vectors, zoom in to get perfect edges, and export at any resolution and size.
11. Described
Deskscribble is an easy-to-use drawing app that’s perfect for visual demonstrations or presentations, doodles, doodles and more. The app has a flexible canvas that you can erase and start over with one click. It includes a pencil and eraser, a color picker, and a thickness slider.
In addition, Deskscribble supports Wacom tablets, and you can activate Presentation Mode to use over PowerPoint or Keynote presentations. The app automatically saves your drawings so you can export your doodles or scribbles in various formats or publish them to social media apps like Facebook or Flickr.
If you want to work on or annotate the file, you can import it into Deskscribble and continue working on it. Full undo and redo support is available in case you make a mistake and need to start over.
12. Color X
Paint X may be in the classic format, but it is full of possibilities to create simple drawings or complex creative projects.
You can use a wide variety of useful tools to draw and edit your own sketches or digital images. These tools include pencils, 150 different brushes and erasers that let you add effects to your drawings or sketches, including text in a variety of formats.
Also included are 25 geometric shapes, adjustable canvases, painting with transparent colors, rotation and resizing, undo / redo and drag and drop support.
Pick the Right Tool for the Job
Whether you are reminiscing about your childhood adventures in Microsoft Paint, or have recently moved to a Mac, these Mac Paint equivalents will be easy to use. Some of them copy and even surpass MS Paint in ease of use and functionality, but best of all, they won’t cost you financially, as most of them are completely free to download and use.
For more drawing guides, see the best drawing apps for Chromebooks and the tools you need to draw in Microsoft Word.
Do you have a favorite equivalent to Microsoft Paint for Mac? Let us know in the comments.
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Best Mac Equivalents to Microsoft Paint
Best Mac Equivalents to Microsoft Paint.