Paintbrush for Mac

A simple painting utility for macOS

Paintbrush is a compact, easy-to-use painting app for macOS that fills the gap left by Apple’s old MacPaint. Inspired by the straightforward approach of Microsoft Paint, it’s aimed at people who want a no-frills tool for sketching, quick edits, or casual doodling. Installation is straightforward and the app works with common image files.

Supported image types (examples):

• PNG
• JPEG
• GIF
• TIFF
• BMP

What you can create with it

The app is great for basic creative tasks and light image editing. It’s designed for users who prefer minimal learning curves and instant results rather than complex workflows. Paintbrush includes the familiar set of tools that made simple paint programs popular and lets you produce quick illustrations or touch up photos with little hassle.

Layout and working controls

The interface mirrors classic paint utilities: a main menu across the top plus a floating toolbar that houses the drawing tools. You can import images or screenshots to annotate and enhance. The app supports freehand drawing and provides shape tools and text features for more controlled compositions.

Common drawing tools:

• Circles and ellipses
• Rectangles and squares
• Straight-line tool
• Text insertion and resizing

Brushes, edits, and file handling

Paintbrush provides a handful of brush types, color pickers, adjustable stroke widths, fill options, and a simple eraser. While it lacks advanced photo-manipulation features, it’s handy for tasks like removing backgrounds, adding captions, or resizing images. Files can be opened and saved in widely used formats, making it useful as a lightweight image editor.

What you can adjust quickly:

• Brush thickness and color
• Text font and placement
• Fill a closed shape with any color
• Basic crop and resize operations

Known limitations

While convenient, Paintbrush has a few constraints to keep in mind:

• Drawing with a touchpad or mouse can feel imprecise.
• Complex curves may require several attempts to get right.
• There is no layer system; only single-level editing with undo is available.
• It’s not designed to replace professional editors like Photoshop or Illustrator.

Quick start: using the paint tools

To begin drawing, pick the pencil or brush from the toolbar and drag on the canvas to create strokes. Use the eraser to remove mistakes, or select a closed outline and fill it with color. Select preset shapes from the floating palette and set their size before placing them on the canvas.

Basic workflow:

• Choose a tool (pencil, brush, shape)
• Drag to draw or place shapes
• Use the eraser or undo to correct errors
• Fill closed shapes with color and add text as needed

Cost, safety, and downloads

Paintbrush is free to download. Some distribution sites may ask you to log in to obtain the installer, but you won’t need to provide sensitive information to use the app. Always download from a reputable source to avoid tampered installers.

System requirements and footprint

The app is lightweight — just a few megabytes — and uses minimal system resources. It runs on older macOS versions (10.10.0 or later), making it suitable for many Macs that don’t need cutting-edge software.

Other simple painting options

If you want alternatives with different features or interfaces, consider:

• Paint X Lite
• Pixelmator
• Mischief

Each option offers its own balance of simplicity and additional capabilities.

Why choose Paintbrush

For anyone who misses the simplicity of classic paint programs, Paintbrush is a convenient, straightforward choice. It’s ideal for casual art, quick annotations, or simple image edits without the complexity of professional suites.