MacMost Now 326: Paintbrush and Seashore

The Mac doesn't come with any drawing tools. Fortunately, two free programs give you some basic ability to draw and edit images. Check out Paintbrush and Seashore for Mac in this excerpt from the MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac.

You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost Now.  On today's episode let's learn about two free drawing tools for the Mac.  
So in my book, the MacMost.com guide to switching to the Mac.  I talk about how there's really no way to edit images on your Mac when you first get it.  You can adjust some things in iPhoto and do some things with Preview but if you want to actually draw on an image you've gotta go to a third-party tool.  There's two free ones that you can get and start editing images right away.  
Paintbrush is a very simple drawing tool.  You can start with a blank image or open an existing one then you can paint on it using a brush tool or an eraser, bucket fill, selection, and so on.  Here we look at some of the basics.  You can select the text tool and then add some text in any font on your machine and then place it exactly where you want on the image.  You can also place a simple brush stroke under the text. You can adjust the brush size and the color and draw freehand using a line or curve.  Here's how you might use Paintbrush to create a picture for an email party invitation.  Find a picture of yourself and open it in Paintbrush.  Then choose the oval tool from the tool palette.  Set it to fill only instead of an oval outline by clicking on the solid rectangle.  Then select a color, if you like, by clicking on the large colored chip set right here.  And you can choose a color many different ways.  Now draw an oval over one eye in the image.  If it doesn't look right you can always use command-z to undo it and try it again.  Now select the line tool.  Draw a line across to complete the eye patch.  Now select the text tool.  Click on the image and a text entry box will appear.  Type the message and you can also change the font if you like.   Now choose File, Save As, and you can save it in a JPEG format for more compact image to use in an email.  You can download Paintbrush at paintbrush.sourceforge.net.
Now, a second program you may want to check out is called, Seashore.  Now first glance it has some of the same functionality.   But, Seashore actually goes a lot deeper.  There are more tools, like a clone tool and a lasso and gradient.  Plus the tools themselves have more depth.  There are many options for a selection of paint brush, for instance.  And support for pressure-sensitive tablets.  Just about every tool has a set of adjustments.  Here I can use the clone took to create a second stem for the apple.  Seashore also allows you to export in a variety of formats.  And you can choose your options, such as the compression level for JPEG image.  You can download seashore.sourceforge.net.  Now, a really high-powered free tool is Gimp.  Which is kind of a Photoshop-clone as an open-source project. You can get for the Mac as well, in fact, Seashore is a subset of Gimp.  So, if you're looking for something simple and don't want to mess with the millions of controls that Gimp has then Seashore is the program for you.  
In the book I mention a few more graphics tools you can get for the Mac.  Including how you can also use Preview and iPhoto to edit some images.  Hope you found this useful.  Till next time this is Gary Rosenzweig with MacMost Now.

Comments: 7 Responses to “MacMost Now 326: Paintbrush and Seashore”

Gill AND JANE JACOBSON

15 years ago

good!

Mio Navman Spirit V505

Fortunately i got this done, thanks for sharing this blog with us, i liked it very informative and helpful, thanks for this blog.

wilson Abrego

Very useful every I watch a new blog I like my Imac better and better!!!
keep up the good work.

Donnie

this is a good video now using seashore

Brian Hallmond

14 years ago

Gimp Sucks. Find it so annoying.
I wish Paintshop pro 9 was available on the MAC

mattsomething

13 years ago

when you put it inmovie can you put more then two because i put two in and only one works whilst the other just freezes the clip any help?

Gary Rosenzweig

Freezes? Do you mean in the preview window? Try exporting. Preview is just a preview and can't render everything in real-time.

Comments Closed.

MacMost Now 326: Paintbrush and Seashore

Comments: 7 Responses to “MacMost Now 326: Paintbrush and Seashore”

Welcome to MacMost

Free Weekly Newsletter

MacMost Online Courses

Keyboard Shortcuts PDF

Connect with MacMost

MacMost Sections

Popular Tutorials

Information