Definition: MacPaint

An early, full-featured Mac paint program from Apple's Claris subsidiary that was originally developed by Apple and bundled with the Mac for two years. MacPaint was combined with MacWrite, and images from MacPaint could be inserted into MacWrite documents, making it quite the marvel for that era.

MacPaint's bitmap-based PICT file format was used for printing the screen. By pressing Command-shift-3, the current screen was stored in a PICT file for printing either in MacPaint or another program. In 1998, MacPaint was discontinued. See MacWrite and FatBits.

MacPaint on the First Mac

MacPaint was significant because its ease of use showed a novice audience what a graphics-based system could do. MacPaint and the Mac were rather slow, but the system was affordable. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)