MacPaint

MacPaint
Developer(s)Apple Computer, Claris
Initial release1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Final release
2.0 / January 24, 1988; 36 years ago (1988-01-24)
Written inPascal
Operating systemClassic Mac OS
(System 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
System 6
System 7)
TypeRaster graphics editor
LicenseProprietary
MacPaint image
Filename extension
.pntg[1]
Type codePNTG[1]
Uniform Type Identifier (UTI)com.apple.macpaint-image[1]
Developed byApple Computer
Type of formatImage file

MacPaint is a raster graphics editor developed by Apple Computer and released with the original Macintosh personal computer on January 24, 1984.[2] It was sold separately for US$195 with its word processing counterpart, MacWrite.[3] MacPaint was notable because it could generate graphics that could be used by other applications. It taught consumers what a graphics-based system could do by using the mouse, the clipboard, and QuickDraw picture language.[4][5] Pictures could be cut from MacPaint and pasted into MacWrite documents.[5]

The original MacPaint was developed by Bill Atkinson, a member of Apple's original Macintosh development team.[6] Early development versions of MacPaint were called MacSketch, still retaining part of the name of its roots, LisaSketch.[7] It was later developed by Claris, the software subsidiary of Apple which was formed in 1987. The last version of MacPaint was version 2.0, released in 1988. It was discontinued by Claris in 1998 because of diminishing sales.[8]

  1. ^ a b c "System-Declared Uniform Type Identifiers". Uniform Type Identifiers Reference. Apple Inc.
  2. ^ "MacPaint and QuickDraw Source Code". CHM. July 18, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Young, Jeffrey S. (April 1984). "MacPaint: The Electronic Easel". Macworld. Vol. 1, no. 1. pp. 50–61.
  4. ^ "Definition of MacPaint". PCMAG. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b .Sandberg-Diment, Erik (January 31, 1984). "Software for the Macintosh: Plenty on the way". New York Times.
  6. ^ Elmer-DeWitt, Philip (December 3, 1984). "Let us now praise famous hackers: a new view of some much maligned electronic pioneers". Time. p. 76.
  7. ^ Hertzfeld, Andy (2005). Revolution in the Valley. O'Reilly. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0-596-00719-1.
  8. ^ Walsh, Jeff (November 24, 1997). "Claris puts old Mac applications out to pasture". InfoWorld. Vol. 19, no. 47. p. 35.