Released in 2016, Paint 3D is the “reimagination” of the original Paint program released in 1985 by Microsoft.
Paint 3D is highly versatile, allowing users to create both 2D and 3D drawings and designs. Paint 3D creations can even be 3D printed or exported to 3D printing services. Another reason for its popularity is that it’s intuitive and easy to learn.
While there isn’t a perfect substitute for Paint 3D for Android and Mac, there are plenty of options that do a decent or even great job at providing some of the functionality that Paint 3D does.
In this article, we’ll mostly focus on the alternatives for the Paint part of Paint 3D, and we’ll look at mostly free options, with some paid ones, to cover different needs and objectives.
Short Answer
To be very direct about it, there’s no complete substitute for Paint 3D that works on Android and Mac. But on the bright side, there are plenty of worthy alternatives.
As mentioned, we’ll mostly be focusing on substitutes for the Paint part of Paint 3D. What do we mean by this? Most of the selections here will be digital drawing software, not 3D CAD tools. If you’re looking for 3D modeling software, SketchUp Web and Blender are both great, easy-to-use alternatives to Paint 3D, among other options.
To make our selection, we considered the following about each of the programs:
- Easy to use: The following options range from being for beginner to advanced users, but we’ve specified who each is aimed at.
- Variety of functions: While there’s overlap, these selections specialize in different things, from photo editing to comic book making, so that a variety of functions from Paint 3D can be worked with.
- Variety of tools: We also considered the toolset each selection offers and whether skills could develop in a particular direction.
With these factors in mind, let’s get to the selections!
Options for Mac Users
Macintosh, or Mac, has made quite a name for itself in graphic design. Strangely though, it doesn’t come with a built-in software like Paint 3D for beginners to ease into graphic design.
Don’t worry though, here are our top picks for beginners to try painting and image editing on their Macs.
Paintbrush
This is a streamlined basic photo editor and paint program for computers running MacOS. Paintbrush is a suitable alternative for Mac users who want a Paint-like program for Mac, without a large investment. It’s easy to learn and use. However, it lacks advanced photo editing tools and some of its drawing tools are also limited.
Overall, it’s good for beginners, but it might be limiting for some who may be looking for a wider variety of tools to work with or for more advanced functions to implement.
- How to get it: Download it off trusted sources such as Sourceforge
- Price: Free
Preview
Preview is the default Mac photo app. That means that you don’t have to go through any extra steps, beyond setting up your Mac, to get it running. It allows you to view, edit, and annotate images and PDFs. Preview also gives users the option to convert between TIFF, PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, and PDF files. In addition, you can use it to combine PDFs on your Mac.
While the program allows you to annotate, resize, rotate, and flip images, remove backgrounds or remove images, in addition to editing PDFs and a few more tasks, it doesn’t offer the same creation tools more often associated with Paint 3D. Still, if your main goal is to work on photos or PDFs, this is a great option, especially if you’re getting started.
- How to get it: Pre-installed with MacOS
- Price: Free
Virtual Machine for MacOS
If you can’t beat them, join ’em.
If the above alternatives don’t cut it, there’s a way to use the actual Paint 3D on a Mac. Parallels has developed software that allows users to run Windows on a Mac, as if you owned a non-Apple PC. This emulator enables the use of Paint 3D by using Windows, so you can access all the tools and functionality of the program with no issue.
- How to get it: Download and/or buy from Parallels
- Price: After the free trial, there are different subscription plans ($80 to $100 per year)
Options for Android Users
Why should only some have all the fun? Here are some alternatives for Android users!
Adobe Comp CC
Adobe Comp is an illustrator that allows you to make crisp designs from initial sketches. It also allows you to transfer graphics to other applications. In addition, it’s accessible from a variety of different touchscreen devices.
Comp is mainly geared towards users of Adobe products, since files made with Adobe Comp can easily be transferred to other Adobe programs, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Adobe Comp’s main purpose is to serve as a springboard for new ideas and designs, for example by creating layouts as seen above, which can then be fleshed out in other Adobe products.
- How to get it: Download from Google Play or the App Store
- Price: Free
Clip Studio Paint
This is a family of drawing software applications. It can be used to draw 2D concept art, characters, designs, and comics. In addition, you can use Clip Studio Paint for animations, a utility that’s unique among most of the alternatives in this article.
This program offers a wide range of tools, including customizable brushes, watercolor styles, spraying effects, and different textures, just to name a few, so it’s perhaps better geared towards artists who are further developing their skills or who already know how to make the most of such complete software.
- How to get it: Clipt Studio Paint
- Price: After the free trial, there are different one-time purchase ($50 to $220) and monthly subscription plans (up to $2.50)
SketchBook
SketchBook is raster graphics software, which means it utilizes rectangular pixels to create digital 2D images, made for drawing and concept sketching. One of the most accessible options in this article, it’s available for Android, Mac, Windows, and iOS devices. In addition, it’s easy to learn and has a great variety of tools and functionalities.
The program includes customizable brushes, which allow users to follow their own style There’s also the ability to modify the opacity of the brush, which can help users add more detail to their paintings, as well as symmetry tools and steady and predictive strokes, among other features. Overall, a great choice for both beginning and advanced users.
License: The text of "Paint 3D for Android & Mac: Does It Exist?" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.