Painting programs have been around about as long as home computers. The first program, MacPaint, was released in early 1984 as a standard program on the Apple Macintosh.
Microsoft created a paint program in November of the following year, and painting programs have only evolved since then. These days, there are almost as many ways to make art on the computer as off it.
Once you know how to use paint for Mac or Windows, you can do pretty much anything. The unfortunate truth, however, is that most of us aren’t natural artists.
Even if you weren’t a child art prodigy, you can still learn to paint well on a Mac computer.
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Here are some tips and tricks in the paragraphs below
1. Preview
The preview tool is a feature that comes standard on Mac computers and allows you to edit any existing documents. All you have to do to access this tool is to open an image file by right-clicking.
From there, you will get a toolbar that lists off options. One of them is ‘open with.’ From there, you can select the preview application.
However, preview is a somewhat limited program, though, and doesn’t give the same amount of freedom as MS Paint. However, Preview is not the only option.
2. Tayasui Sketches
Just because Mac doesn’t come with a Paint equivalent doesn’t mean you need to look for a version of Microsoft Paint for Mac. There are plenty of alternatives designed specifically for Apple, or on any system.
One of the programs built specifically for Mac is Tayasui Sketches. As the name implies, Tayasui Sketches is a sketching program that allows you to draw and paint using several different brushes and tools.
Like many downloadable art programs, Tayasui Sketches has more features than Microsoft Paint. Its wide selection of brushes allows you to simulate texture, and choose whether the brush is wet or dry.
3. Autodesk Sketchbook
What’s so special about Autodesk Sketchbook? There are a lot of great things about this program.
It allows you to draw your ideas with a pen or pencil before using the drawing as a background so you can easily paint the final product. All of this can be done on a canvas as large as 100 megapixels.
For those who aren’t very tech-savvy, or just don’t know how large 100 megapixels is, Flickr has created a guide to help. The largest red box is roughly 100 megapixels. This graphic was originally created to advertise the PhaseOne camera, which can take pictures at 100 megapixels, but it works just as well.
In addition to the multiple mediums and massive canvas size, Autodesk Sketchbook also offers a wide selection of tools, from simple classics like rulers to complex algorithms designed to help your visions come to life.
As if that weren’t enough, this program is totally free, unless you’re using it for a business, in which case you need an enterprising license, which will cost about $7 per month.
4. Photoshop
You hear about photoshop a lot. Ever since its inception, it’s been one of the most popular digital art tools in existence. For this very reason, it felt necessary to put it on this list.
Most digital art programs offer a variety of different brushes, but Photoshop may top them all. The application offers literally thousands of brushes for you to choose from.
Much of this is owing to the community participation that often occurs in Photoshop. Many of these brushes are created by Photoshop users because they found they needed them at some point.
This program updates often, so you’ll never feel like you’re left with the same old limited program. Unfortunately, Photoshop isn’t something that you can easily buy outright. It’s a monthly subscription that may cost as much as $20 per month.
5. Rebelle 3
If you’re the type who’s always dreamed of painting breathtaking watercolors, Rebelle 3 is the program for you. Rebelle was specifically designed to mimic watercolor paintings, and it pulls this off well.
You’ll find features in this program that you won’t find in competitors. For instance, you can tilt a canvas so that paint drips in a certain direction. You can also simulate an air current so that the paint is blown in multiple directions.
Unlike Photoshop, Rebelle 3 can be bought outright rather than with a monthly subscription. It costs $90, which is a bit more expensive at first but will likely pay off in the long run.
6. Corel Painter 2020
If money isn’t an issue, Corel Painter 2020 might be your best option. It’s available for $430, but that comes with a lot of features.
In addition to having nearly 900 paintbrushes, Corel also comes with features like patterned drawing tools and gigantic canvases. There’s also a built-in cache of videos that will teach you how to be a better artist and show you techniques you may have never encountered before.
This is all bundled together in masterful programming that helps keeps it all running smoothly. You may need to know a bit about art to use it, though.
The wide range of options and performance are the reason for the high price. It wasn’t intended for the hobbyist. Their audience is made up of professional artists who need the best tools on the market.
How to Use Paint for Mac: Helpful Alternatives to MS Paint
If you’re wondering how to use paint for mac, it’s not that hard. Many different painting programs work on Mac computers.
A few of our favorites can be found in this article, but there were a lot of options to choose from. You may want to look around and see what we didn’t have space for.
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