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Essential drawing app for Mac
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Macs have always been known as creative machines for creative people. It's likely the reason you actually bought one! So naturally Macs offer a wide variety of opportunities for you to express yourself, whether that's building apps, writing prose, or drawing.
Having a good drawing app for Mac is priceless. Retina screens, accurate touchpads, and native support for a variety of inputs make sketching on Mac a pleasure. But with so many drawing programs to choose from, how do you pick the right one? Welcome to the no-sweat guide to the best free drawing software for Mac!
Best drawing, design, and editing apps
Figure Drawing Software Machine
With Setapp, you don't have to choose only one — get a large choice of the best drawing software to support your creativity flow.
The Best Drawing Programs On Mac Today
It's not easy to pinpoint the best drawing app for Mac. Is it one of the free drawing programs? Is it made for simple drawings or lets you paint on Mac beautifully? The level of skill has to be considered as well.
The collection of drawing apps below features something that appeals to everyone, from the Mac equivalent of Paint you can find on Windows to a simple drawing pad for Mac to the likes of Sketch software that can be used by professional designers too.
Communicate with the markup feature in Preview
If you just want to do a rough sketch for Mac or a few simple drawings, you don't necessarily need to go about downloading lots of drawing apps, you can just use a drawing app for Mac you've already got — Preview.
While most of us think of Preview as an image or PDF viewer, it's also packs a basic toolset for annotating, drawing, and sketching. To see what you can do with Preview:
- Open an image, document, or just a white sheet in Preview
- Click Show Markup Toolbar in its top menu
- From here you can choose tools, shapes, colors, thickness, type, and more to make necessary adjustments or create something completely new
- Save and share your image
For those who don't intend to draw complicated scenes, Preview might just might be enough. For everyone else, there are, of course, more powerful third-party apps.
Get nostalgic with Paintbrush
Lots of us remember the simplicity and versatility of Microsoft Paint. Macs used to have a similar app too called MacPaint (that's been discontinued). Well, good news is some enthusiastic developers took the matter into their own hands and essentially recreated a Paint app for Mac — Paintbrush.
This Mac equivalent of Paint will strike you as a complete duplicate of that old software you used to love. It features all the same tools, including rectangular and oval shapes, paint bucket, pencil, spray, lines, etc. You can also easily switch and add colors to your palette as you go.
Make professional mockups with Sketch
If you've already outgrown simple drawings you can do with Preview and Paintbrush, and want to move higher — try Sketch.
Sketch took the world by storm just a few years ago, when they essentially introduced a viable alternative to complex apps like Adobe Illustrator and targeted it specifically to digital design professionals.
Everything you do in the Sketch program is done in vector, which means all shapes are infinitely resizable, in contrast to the raster graphics of Paintbrush. With Sketch for Mac, you can design high-fidelity mockups for your website, prototype your iOS app, or just create complex illustrations.
You can download and try the Sketch software for free, but after a month, you'll be required to pay the annual license fee, which is a big downside if you don't plan to use the app regularly. In addition, Sketch for Mac is not the most accessible app for beginners and it's not exactly a drawing app for Mac due to its vector nature.
Create digital art with MediBang Paint Pro
Perhaps an equivalent of Sketch, but in raster graphics, is MediBang Paint Pro. This drawing software for Mac allows you to execute your dreams beautifully with over 50 custom brushes as well as its extensive support for layers and fonts.
Originally developed for comic creators, MediBang Paint Pro got quickly adopted by everyone looking for a versatile drawing pad for Mac and is hailed by many as the best free drawing software around. However, since it was built for the purpose of creating comics, you might face a few problems adapting it to your needs — it's definitely one quirky drawing app for Mac. Another issue is the app's slow update release cycle. So far, it's been unavailable to macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur users due to the lack of security updates from the developers. This means you can only use MediBang Paint Pro on macOS 10.13 or older.
Set your imagination free with Tayasui Sketches
Talking about the best drawing programs, it's simply impossible to avoid Tayasui Sketches. This intuitive sketch program is universally loved by painters, designers, illustrators, and art aficionados alike.
Ultimate drawing app for Mac
Draw on your Mac's screen like on canvas with Tayasui Sketches. Mix colors and experiment with limitless layers!
Tayasui Sketches makes it easy to bring what you have in mind to reality with its support for unlimited layers, infinite undos, smart rules, and a wide variety of drawing tools. If you want to paint on Mac, nothing else comes close to representing the physical experience of applying colors to paper than this drawing software for Mac.
To start your drawing pad for Mac with Tayasui Sketches:
- Open a new document
- Try out all the different tools from the sidebar, from a fine pen to an airbrush
- Use supporting menus to modify your currently selected tool and mix just the right color
With just a bit of practice, you'll see why Tayasui Sketches beats all the free drawing programs out there. Time for your digital painting skills to skyrocket!
Save all the cool colors with Sip
Regardless of the drawing software for Mac you choose to use in the end, one of the most difficult things to do is going to be finding the right colors out there. Sometimes, you might come across a beautiful color you might use in the future, but where do you save it? Sip.
Sip is the most intuitive, handy, and non-intrusive palette organizer available for Mac. This little utility lives in your Mac's menu bar, where it saves all the colors you like and simultaneously features a tiny color picker on the side of your screen, which makes Sip instantly available in any sketch program for Mac, like Tayasui Sketches, for example.
By now, you should be well-equipped to start on your Mac drawing journey, using the selection of the drawing software for Mac listed above, whether it's a simple annotation or a large-scale digital painting.
Best of all, you can try Tayasui Sketches and Sip for free by signing up for a free seven-day trial on Setapp, a platform for more than 200 unique creative Mac apps that literally help you bring your dreams to reality. Why wait, check it out now!
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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What are the best programs to draw with your Wacom Intuos graphics tablet on MacBook? I just bought a graphic tablet from Wacom, the Wacom Intuos, and I started looking for Mac programs to use with this design tablet. There are a few paid and many other free programs to draw on the tablet. Many of these programs also have their versions for Windows.
Not only will you be able to use this tablet for photo editing or drawing programs, but you can also use it as a mouse substitute, especially since it has the same tactile gestures as an Android tablet or an iPad – something that will greatly facilitate its use.
Obviously these graphic design programs also work for other Wacom tablets.
What free drawing programs does Wacom offer for your tablets?
Well, it depends on the model. Some applications are offered for free while others come at discounted prices.
- Intuos Art with Corel Painter Essentials: Intuitive and powerful painting software for everyone, from amateurs to digital artists.
- Intuos Draw with ArtRage Lite: Tools to paint and draw naturally in an intuitive and elegant environment.
- Intuos Comic with Clip Studio Paint Pro and Smith Micro Anime Studio Easily create professional comics and manga from start to finish.
- Intuos Photo with PaintShop Pro X8 (Win), Wacom Creative Kit by Macphun * (Mac) & Corel Aftershot Pro 2 (Win & Mac): Intuitive tools with functions that help you edit, improve and refine digital images.
- Intuos 3D with ZBrushCore: Shape, sculpt and paint your characters, models, toys, and jewels in 3D with this leading 3D application.
The best graphics tablets for Mac and PC from Wacom
You still don't have a graphics tablet to draw or design on your computer? We recommend that you buy a Wacom model. They have several options depending on your needs. The input tablets are priced at about 70-80 euros. If you want something more professional the price goes up to 200-300 euros. Compatible with Mac and PC.
- Wacom Intuos S – The best graphics tablet for less than 100 euros
- Wacom Intuos Pro – The best graphics tablet for less than 200 euros
- Wacom Cintiq 22HD – Perfect graphics tablet for professionals
What are the best programs to draw with your Wacom Intuos graphics tablet on Mac?
Essential applications to get the most out of your graphics tablet.
1. Photoshop (monthly or annual subscription)
It was clear that we were going to be able to use this tablet with the best photo editing program. Adobe has done a great job integrating pressure sensitivity in its software and offers many controls.
2. Clip Studio Paint (43 euros)
The perfect tool to draw manga and comics on your Wacom tablet. Many animation professionals use this app to draw their characters. It has a free trial; and best of all, every month they incorporate new brushes and extras. If you want to draw comics. This is your app.
3. Pixelmator (32.99 euros) and Pixelmator Pro (64.99 euros)
My favorite: Pixelmator. Right now we have it in version 3.7 and are constantly adding new features. I can assure you that it is the closest thing to using Photoshop without having the Adobe program. It also has the advantage of working in a very similar way to Photoshop, so you will not have problems while moving around its menus and layers.
- Send images directly to Photos
- Open and save images using PSD, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, PDF and many other popular formats
- Open and save Photoshop images with layers
- Open and save 16-bit images per channel
- More than 160 effects
- Retouching tools
- Photo Level Settings
- ICloud compatible
- Use the latest Apple technology: Cocoa, OpenGL, OpenCL, Core Image, Grand Central Dispatch, 64-bit,
- FaceTime, Automator
3.1 Pixelmator Pro
A slightly more expensive option is Pixelmator Pro. The new version of the program much more 'set' in the Mac world. Everything is very simple to use. The perfect app for people who want to make very powerful touch-ups.
Pixelmator Pro has a new and intuitive interface that allows you to retouch your photos (even in RAW format) in a simple way
The software uses 'Machine Learning' to detect what type of image you are retouching and allows you to recognize things like the horizon, improve the removal of objects or the selection of specific areas.
Pixelmator Pro offers a non-destructive touch-up and you can create your own touch-ups
Pixelmator Pro costs 64.99 euros. No annual or monthly subscriptions, and you get constant updates.
Pixelmator Pro requires macOS High Sierra and a graphics card compatible with Metal.
4. ArtRage Studio (47 euros, free with Wacom)
Both this application and the following one we can download them completely free by registering our tablet in Wacom. An application to draw with your Wacom, really good and easy to use. ArtRage focuses on how the tools are used, and how the pigments would act in real life. ArtRage incorporates pressure and tilt sensitivity in all of its tools.
5. Autodesk Sketchbook Express (free with Wacom)
The same as before. We can download it for free thanks to Wacom. Another app to paint and draw, cheaper than Corel Painter. You can use a tablet to draw basic shapes in drawing mode or add text. Sketchbook Pro incorporates the pen inclination and sensitivity options in all its main drawing tools.
6. GIMP (free)
The free code software that emulates Photoshop and is totally free. You just have to get used to some changes in the way you work to start retouching photos or drawing.
7. Blender (free)
If you don't want to spend a lot of money on programs like Maya for creating 3D drawings, this is a very good option that supports all the features of Wacom tablets. For example, we can create animated 3D movie characters. The application offers a number of features that incorporate pressure and tilt sensitivity.
8. Autograph (2.99 euros)
A simple application to sign documents, e-mails, PDFs. You can capture your signature on the tablet and then embed it in any document. Very useful.
9. Ink2Go (19.99 euros)
Another really useful application. With ink2Go we will be able to write down anything in the screenshots that we can do with the application. We will also be able to write down any PDF, web page, presentations etc. With the tablet, everything will work much faster than if we use the mouse.
10. Corel Painter 2020 (359 euros)
One of the classic options of a lifetime. It is somewhat expensive but responds very well to this type of graphic tablets. You have many brushes, effects, and enough filters.
11. Inkscape (free)
Another free code application with support for graphic tablets. It is similar to Adobe Illustrator and Corel Painter. The calligraphy option is really good.
Free Drawing Software For Mac
12. EXTRA: the Affinity program pack, By Serif Labs
12.1 Affinity Designer (54 euros)
Undoubtedly one of the best options of 2017 and 2018. Affinity Designer is one of the best applications for your Wacom tablet, so we have expanded the list.
Spectacular, professional graphic design for Mac! Take advantage of macOS technologies such as OpenGL, Grand Central Dispatch, Core Graphics and is fully optimized for 64-bit systems and multi-core processors to squeeze every piece of available hardware performance. It is capable of importing PSD files and is compatible with PDF, SVG, AI (PDF Stream), Freehand or EPS.
Free Drawing On Mac
12.2 Affinity Photo (54.99 euros)
Electrical Drawing Software Mac
Affinity Photo does not stop improving with each new version. The closest thing to Photoshop available for Mac right now and its price is still very reasonable!
- Open, edit and save Photoshop PSD files
- RGB, CMYK, Grayscale and LAB color spaces
- CMYK finishing workflow with ICC color management
- Full 16 and 32-bit channel editing
- Possibility of working with all standard formats such as PNG, TIFF, JPG, GIF, SVG, EPS, EXR, HDR and PDF
- Always scrolling and zooming in real-time at 60fps with real-time previews, real-time tools, and real-time editing
- Open and edit massive images without compromising performance or running out of memory
- Take all the advantages of the latest macOS technology, including OpenGL, Grand Central Dispatch, and Core Graphics
- Full support for MacBook Pro Touch Bar and Force Touch trackpad
- Fully optimized for 64 bits and multicore processors
- Support for normal monitors, retina and multi-monitor configurations – including the latest 5k of iMac
You can work with Photoshop files and the app also has filters, layers and everything that one expects to find in this type of design and photo retouching program. A good purchase and value for the money!
