PC Paintbrush
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PC Paintbrush was a graphics editing software created by the ZSoft Corporation in 1984 for computers running the
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
. Published alongside
Microsoft Mouse The Microsoft Mouse is a computer mouse released by Microsoft in 1983. It is the first mouse released by the company, and it was bundled with the first versions of Microsoft Word, and/or Notepad (inclusion of these two programs varied in the in ...
DOS drivers version 4 from 1985 as a direct response to
Mouse Systems Mouse Systems Corporation (MSC), formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch. The company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time. History Mouse Systems' optical mouse, wired to a Sun works ...
bundling
PCPaint PCPaint was one of the first IBM PC-based mouse-driven GUI paint programs, released in 1984. It followed after Microsoft Doodle, released in 1983 with the Microsoft Mouse version 1 drivers for DOS, and around the same time as Digital Research ...
with its mice, millions of copies were sold, and the program itself ended up licensed and used inside Windows 1.0, as Microsoft Paint; with an updated version licensed again for Windows 3.0, which (in an updated state) is still included in Windows today.


History

It was developed at a similar time to various
bitmap In computing, a bitmap (also called raster) graphic is an image formed from rows of different colored pixels. A GIF is an example of a graphics image file that uses a bitmap. As a noun, the term "bitmap" is very often used to refer to a partic ...
paint programs for home computers such as
PCPaint PCPaint was one of the first IBM PC-based mouse-driven GUI paint programs, released in 1984. It followed after Microsoft Doodle, released in 1983 with the Microsoft Mouse version 1 drivers for DOS, and around the same time as Digital Research ...
, which had been published in 1984 by
Mouse Systems Mouse Systems Corporation (MSC), formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch. The company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time. History Mouse Systems' optical mouse, wired to a Sun works ...
, who bundled it with their IBM PC mouses. PC Paintbrush also competed with Apple Paint on the
Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
and MacPaint on Apple Inc., Apple Computer's new Macintosh Computing platform, platform. When PC Paintbrush was released in 1984, it had support for Enhanced Graphics Adapter, EGA. PC Paintbrush was published as included software by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, with the early Microsoft Mouse, from version 4 of the DOS drivers in 1985. Both Microsoft and their competitor, Mouse Systems, bundled their mice with paint programs to drive sales. Microsoft's mechanical mice outsold Mouse Systems' optical mice after a few years. Microsoft eventually bought the rights to use PC Paintbrush and incorporated it into Windows 1 in a cut-down edition, and bought the rights to a later more featured version of PC Paintbrush for Windows 3. Along with the release of PC Paintbrush, ZSoft created the PCX image format, also used by Paint and Paintbrush in early Windows.


Version history

The first version of PC Paintbrush released in 1984 only allowed the use of a limited EGA 16-color palette. PC Paintbrush II was released in 1985. PC Paintbrush 3.10 was released in 1986. PC Paintbrush Plus 1.20 was released in 1987. In 1987 a Microsoft licensed version was released as Microsoft Paintbrush 2.0. It supported saving images in PCX or GX1 file formats. It featured adjustable palettes, different aspect ratios, fifteen fonts and supported printers, amongst other options. A
Windows 1 Windows 1.0 is the first major release of Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is ...
and 2 version, named PC Paintbrush 1.05 for Microsoft Windows was released the same year. A version called Publisher's Paintbrush allowed import of images via TWAIN-based capture devices like handheld and flatbed scanners. PC Paintbrush III was released in 1988, allowing 256 colors and extended
SVGA Super VGA (SVGA) or Extended VGA is a broad term that covers a wide range of computer display standards that extended IBM's Video Graphics Array, VGA specification. When used as shorthand for a resolution, as VGA and XGA often are, SVGA refers to ...
resolutions were supported through the use of hundreds of custom-tailored graphics drivers. The PCX format grew in capability accordingly. By its final version, ''Paintbrush'' was able to open and save PCX, TIFF, and
GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , ) is a Raster graphics, bitmap Image file formats, image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released ...
files. PC Paintbrush IV was released in 1989. PC Paintbrush IV Plus, an updated version released the same year, supporting scanners. Also in 1989, PC Paintbrush Plus 1.12 for Windows was released, eventually becoming the Windows Paint program. PC Paintbrush Plus for Windows v1.5 was released in 1990. PC Paintbrush V+ came in 1992. PC Paintbrush for Windows 1.0 was adapted to the Windows 3.0 graphical environment in 1993. Support for
24-bit color Color depth, also known as bit depth, is either the number of bits used to indicate the color of a single pixel, or the number of bits used for each color component of a single pixel. When referring to a pixel, the concept can be defined as bit ...
and simple photo retouching tools were also added, as well as the ability to open more than one image at a time. The program also added many simulations of real-world media, such as oil paints, watercolors, and colored pencils, and it had a number of new smudge tools that took advantage of the increased color depth. Both PC Paintbrush and Publisher's Paintbrush were supplemented and later replaced with the more budget-oriented PhotoFinish, first released in 1991, with version 4 released in 1994. After ZSoft was sold, resold, and then finally absorbed by The Learning Company, an extremely low-priced and simple graphics application was released in 1994 under the title PC Paintbrush Designer.


See also

*
Mouse Systems Mouse Systems Corporation (MSC), formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch. The company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time. History Mouse Systems' optical mouse, wired to a Sun works ...


References

{{Raster graphics editors 1984 software DOS software Raster graphics editors