SmartDraw is the easiest and most powerful way to create a diagram on any platform, including your Mac. SmartDraw makes creating any type of diagram a breeze with quick-start templates and smart automation that helps you find and add symbols, format your diagram, and then share it in just a few clicks. All you need is a modern web browser. Patina - the beautiful and simple drawing app for Mac. It's like Microsoft Paint, but even better.
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Description
SketchBook for Everybody! At Autodesk, we believe creativity starts with an idea. From quick conceptual sketches to fully finished artwork, sketching is at the heart of the creative process. You never know when a great idea will strike, so access to fast and powerful creative sketching tools is an invaluable part of any creative process. For this reason, we are excited to announce that the fully featured version of SketchBook is now FREE for everyone!
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Ratings and Reviews
255 Ratings
Super laggy, but hope is a thing with feathers
I’ve been a big fan of the previous releases since the beginning. I’ve used them in studio and home environments and I’ve yet to find another program that matches Sketchbook’s usability, elegance and friendly feel. I’m a storyboard artist and the previous releases have all been perfect for what I do - fast and responsive. This version (8.6.1) seems to have dropped the ball on responsiveness and the knock-on is a pretty frustrasting experience throughout. The brushes lag, particularly the larger ones. I’ve followed all the suggestions in the fora - resetting to factory default, turning off enable rotate, brush stamp, etc, restoring, reinstalling and trying old versions of the Cintiq software - no dice. I’ve even done a clean install of High Sierra and the problem persists. I’m a bit of a luddite, but my other design suite and even video editing software run perfectly fine and I’d imagine they’d be more taxing on memory. I’m running High Sierra on a mid-2012 i5 MacBook Pro, 4gb of RAM and an SSD, and I’m using a Cintiq for drawing. If you have any idea how this can be resolved, I have three more stars with your name on it. In comic sans though.
It was pretty great until it sucked.
I really enjoyed using this app and I used it all the time, but after accidentally exiting out of the small tab on the top of the screen that gave me the ability to do alot of things, I could and still can not get it back. This has made drawing incredibly hard and took away alot of features. I no longer use the app nearly as often, and I have to say that I’m disappointed and are currently on the look for a new drawing app, all because of these little mistakes. Not only that, but 9/10 of the times that I DO use it, it glitches out and won’t let me draw or exit out of the app and therefor won’t let me log out of my computer as well. Please fix these bugs as soon as possible.
So Done With This
First of all, I bought this app I think over two years ago and it was a one time 60 dollar purchase. This was my favorite program I'd used and I loved working with this program and improving my art. However, I took a break from artwork and when I came back to the app it told me to delete and reinstall. Biggest mistake ever. When i redownloaded it, the program was awful and I soon realized why. That one time purchase was all for nothing, because they had changed it and made it a subscription. Their free option is the worst thing I've ever seen. Three layers? Really. I'm still infuriated to this day. They took away all of the things I loved. The infinite layers? Gone. The options to change the layer qualities? Gone. The tons of brushes? Gone. Everything I loved about the program? Gone. You can get those features you just now have to pay a subscription for them, which is ridiculous. It's a way to garner more money from artists, professional or otherwise. Noce work on ruining a good thing.
Information
Size
77.6 MB
Compatibility
OS X 10.11.0 or later, 64-bit processor
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.
Mac has long been referred to as the “Creative’s workshop.” The idea that most graphic designers, interior designers, video animators, and architects are more drawn towards Mac may hold water to an extent. Mac attracts creatives for either of two reasons – as the traditional tool they’ve always used or its perceived high performance standards. Speaking of tradition, the first version of Photoshop was built exclusively for Macintosh users, giving Mac the first mover advantage.
And while the PC versus Mac might present an interesting discourse, I will be walking the safe lines, and a list of simple drawing apps for Mac is all we are talking about today.
Related: 5 of the Best Drawing Apps for Android
1. Patina
This sweet and simple drawing app is certainly closer to Microsoft Paint than Adobe Photoshop on the complexity scale, but lets you illustrate things that certainly wouldn’t have been readily doable on Paint. You won’t find any complexities like layers here, but within the one layer you do have you can do plenty.
You can use it for the basic things like cropping, rotating and making colour adjustments on images, but there are lots of other options here too when it comes to transparencies, brush types, sketching and so on.
The elegant interface makes Patina a delight to use, and it’s compatible with myriad file types like PDF and Photoshop files, alongside JPGs, PNGs and other usual suspects.
2. Markup Feature in Preview
Before going ahead and downloading a bunch of apps you’ve never heard of, you should try out macOS’s secret paint feature, hidden right there in the trusty Mac Preview app.
When you open an image in Preview, click the icon next to the search bar at the top-right to open the ‘Markup Toolbar,’ which you’ll quickly find does a whole lot more than just marking up.
This toolbar pretty much functions like a basic paint program, allowing you to draw, scribble, make shapes and annotate the image you’re previewing. There are even some mildly more advanced functions, like Smart Lasso, which lets you accurately pick out shapes in your image.
It’s simple stuff, but it does the job when it comes to everyday tasks.
3. Sketch
This Mac drawing software holds all the aces when it comes to versatility. Sketch can be used to create professional artwork, draw and design websites and so much more. Sketch is a vector-based application with several features such as a toolbar, canvas, editable shapes and so much more. I have found Sketch a bit irregular, as it may require a little background knowledge and experience in basic designing. It’s nevertheless a user-friendly tool even for newbies. You can blob, warp, and twirl your way into anything.
4. Paintbrush
Paint Brush is a painting and illustrating application for Mac. Paint Brush is quite similar to Microsoft Paint on Windows in terms of functionality and build. Paint Brush offers some of the best freehand art experience in the game. It does not come with the complexity or spec requirements of other third-party applications, but if you need to get a few illustrations made up for occasional doodling, this drawing application tool is all you need to save the day.
5. Made with Mischief
Made with Mischief is a unique, simple drawing app for Mac. This application is as easy and simple as you could ever imagine. After installation you are welcomed by a blank screen and can start drawing right away, creating the nostalgic experience of pen and paper.
Made with Mischief is neither vector-based nor pixel-based and works best on a desktop. Made with Mischief has other exciting features like allowing you to create and customize your set of brushes and pen tools. Made with Mischief is a pretty good application for beginners as it lets you draw without limiting your canvas size.
6. ArtBoard
ArtBoard is a simple Mac drawing application that enables you to create minimalist and elaborate artwork for professional and personal purposes. ArtBoard offers so much in tools, features, usability components and flexibility. You can use any of its numerous backgrounds and layouts.
ArtBoard lets you work in layers, enabling you to work on different aspects of your drawings simultaneously. One of the most remarkable features of ArtBoard is the option of drag and drop which allows you to incorporate images straight from import. Although its lack of distortion tools and shortcomings in image conversion between vector and raster is noticeable, ArtBoard remains a top drawing tool for Mac.
Conclusion
There are certainly many simple drawing apps for Mac out there – free and paid alike. I wrote this list based on a cursory focus on the applications’ imitation of real-life drawing experience, availability of tools, simplicity, flexibility, and interface. I will not have the final word on this and earnestly look forward to your suggestions. Which of these drawing applications do you use? Kindly share your thoughts below.
This article was first published in September 2017 and was updated in June 2019.