What do macs have instead of paint

If you've been using PCs all your life and have recently switched to a Mac, you wouldn't miss a lot. But you've probably felt that there is one missing program which has inadvertently won the hearts of PC users worldwide — Microsoft Paint. It's true that objectively MS Paint is not the best raster graphic editor around.

It's clunky, slow, not accessible to beginners, and at the same time doesn't offer enough for pro-level users.

Still, Windows Paint might be the most widely used graphic software around. And lots of people wish there was Paint for Mac as well.

Is there Paint for Mac? Well, not really. Official Microsoft Paint for Mac doesn't exist. But there are in fact more accessible alternatives that allow you to do better things and present much less of a learning curve at the same time. One of them is already installed on your Mac by default, only that its toolkit is hidden inside the app called Preview.

Since its inception, Mac has been the operating system of choice for creative enthusiasts and professionals around the globe.

So it's no wonder that macOS is the primary destination for the best new drawing, painting, image and video editing, and sketching applications. As mentioned above, beginning your journey with Preview will cover all your basic needs that Windows Paint used to do.

To get a specific result, you can try apps with more to offer, such as Tayasui Sketches for painting or Capto for working on images. Not everyone knows that Mac's default Preview application is not only an image viewer but also provides a basic painting and annotating toolkit that's just enough for it to be a decent substitute for Microsoft Paint for Mac.

Here's how to access it. For example, if you attempt to freehand a circle, the application automatically smooths the curve. A rough circle like this …. Draw, on the other hand, relies on a Force Touch trackpad to capture various stroke widths. The next button group mostly relates to adding specific shapes and text. It also includes the ability to resize photos. The Shapes tool lets you add shapes — rectangles, circles, speech bubbles, and stars — directly to an image.

Adjust the overall size using the blue handle and the magnification using the green handle. The Text tool inserts a text box to the center of your image. You can type whatever you want, then move the text box to its desired location. Font and color choices are handled with the Text Style tool on the right-hand side of the toolbar.

You can set the font, size, color, and alignment of the current text box or the next text box. The Adjust Color tool brings up a panel to change the contrast, saturation levels, and so on. Experienced designers will know what to do here, but everyone else could do worse than hitting Auto Levels and seeing if they like the results. Finally, if you want something really fancy, check out Pixelmator.

Pixelmator is like a deluxe version of MS Paint and is aimed at those that want a powerful image editing and drawing tool but it can also be easily used like MS Paint for doodling and simple drawings.

Pixelmator is made specifically for Mac users and utilizes all the latest technologies and capabilities of OS X to produce fast, professional and powerful image editing and drawing tools. You can even change the hardness of brushes and blending modes. Finally, you can also share images instantly to social networks and email or export them to OS X Photos, Photoshop or iCloud if you want to show-off your creations instantly.

Pixelmator is so good in fact that it was voted Mac App of the Year by Apple in If you want something for more than just doodling, and especially if you want a powerful image editor without paying big bucks, Pixelmator is the best image editing and drawing application for Mac for the money. The good news is that Paint 3D is free in Windows 10 and if none of these Paint alternatives will do, you can also run it on your Mac for free.

Nowadays you can run Windows 10 on Mac for free because Microsoft no longer require users to activate it with a Product Key in order to keep using it. To start using Paint 3D on Mac in just a matter of minutes, just follow these instructions how to install Windows 10 on Mac for free. If you just want something really basic and free, Paint 2 is worth checking out although you really need to upgrade to Paint Pro to make it a genuine alternative to MS Paint.

If you have any comments, experiences or suggestions about the apps featured here or Mac paint or drawing apps, let us know in the comments below. I appreciate this article, and have been a Patina fan for years. However, I am trying to add Patina to a new work app and the App Store is telling me it is not available in my country or region.

I tried contacting the authors but no response. You can also import brush and texture packs if you want to expand the tool set and customize them with more than 9 unique brush engines with more custom settings.

If you want to bring your drawings to life, you can layer your animations and share with your friends. Like Paintbrush, Patina is a simple drawing app similar to Microsoft Paint, which you can use for your personal or work needs including drawing diagrams, sketching ideas, painting pictures or illustrating concepts. Patina offers basic image management tools to help you adjust colors, crop, rotate and save your images. You can also use more options such as brush types, transparencies and sketching.

While you can do a lot in Patina with just one layer, you can get the paid version and receive comparable features with a wider scope. ArtBoard is another simple Mac Paint app that enables you to create simple and elaborate drawings for personal and professional purposes. The software offers a rich toolset 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 incorporate images from other locations using the drag and drop tool.

The app offers simple tools that help you create artwork with endless possibilities. The app has a flexible canvas, which you can wipe and start drawing afresh on in one click. It includes a pencil and eraser, color picker and thickness slider. Plus, Deskscribble supports Wacom tablets, and you can activate presentation mode to use it on top of PowerPoint or Keynote presentations.