From MacSketch to MacPaint

[slomacuser]

Just posted an article on LEM - From MacSketch to MacPaint

When the Apple Macintosh debuted in January 1984, it revolutionized personal computing with its intuitive graphical user interface and accessible creative tools. Among these, MacPaint stood out as a groundbreaking raster graphics editor.

Early MacSketch

QuickDraw’s speed and versatility made it the perfect engine for a new drawing application. Atkinson began adapting SketchPad for the Macintosh in early 1983, initially calling it MacSketch. This early version retained some of SketchPad’s menu-driven interface but was tailored to the Macintosh’s constrained hardware, requiring tight, efficient code to deliver a seamless user experience.

VIDEO of MacSketch to MacPaint evolution

 

[adespoton]

That's an excellent write-up! And it even includes a few things I didn't know before! Still a mystery to me: why some of the original patterns were dropped in favour of the ones that were released with MacPaint 1.0 and became an integral part of the System (default desktop patterns).

 

[slomacuser]

Thanks. Susan probably chose the patterns that most aesthetically appealed to her, but of course you could also customize the patterns by yourself.

 

[slomacuser]

Today I have added some updates as follow:

- Mr. Macintosh drawn on early MacSketch Demo application



- Some new icons found in MacPaint mockup (bucket)



- mockup macpaint files


- Macpaint version 0.95



- and NEW video with narration by @Ron's Computer Videos