SuperPaint is a

graphics program In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate images or models visually on a computer. Computer graphics can be classified into two distinct categories: raster graphics ...

capable of both bitmap painting and vector drawing. SuperPaint was one of the first programs of its kind, combining the features of

MacPaint MacPaint is a raster graphics editor developed by Apple Computer and released alongside the original Macintosh personal computer on January 24, 1984. It was sold bundled with its word processing counterpart, MacWrite, for US$195. MacPaint was n ...

and

MacDraw MacDraw is a discontinued vector graphics drawing application released along with the first Apple Macintosh systems in 1984. MacDraw was one of the first WYSIWYG drawing programs that could be used in collaboration with MacWrite. It was event ...

while adding many new features of its own. It was originally written by William Snider, published by

Silicon Beach Software Silicon Beach Software, Inc. was an early American developer of software products for the Apple Macintosh, Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California, in 1984 by Charlie Jackson (software), Charlie Jackson and his wife Ha ...

(which was acquired by

Aldus Corporation Aldus Corporation was an American software company best known for its pioneering desktop publishing software. PageMaker, the company's most well-known product, ushered in the modern era of desktop computers such as the Macintosh seeing widesp ...

in 1990), and released in 1986 for the

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

. William Snider wrote and designed the program from his house on an

Apple Lisa Lisa is a desktop computer developed by Apple, produced from January 19, 1983, to August 1, 1986, and succeeded by Macintosh. It is generally considered the first mass-market personal computer operable through a graphical user interface (GUI). I ...

in Pascal. It was the only program that outsold Silicon Beach's ''

Dark Castle ''Dark Castle'' is a 1986 platform game for Macintosh, originally published by Silicon Beach Software. The game was designed and animated by Mark Pierce and programmed by Jonathan Gay, with Real Sound provided by Eric Zocher. In ''Dark Castle'', ...

'' games, but SuperPaint was much more lucrative for the company, representing about 70% of the revenue. The program and packaging was also localized into Japanese. As it requires

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

, SuperPaint is unsupported as of Mac OS X version 10.5, but can still be used with the assistance of

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

History

* Version 1.0, released in 1986, has a fixed-position user interface with palettes arranged on the left and bottom edges of the screen. Includes ''LaserBits'' 300dpi editing mode and the ability to print in color despite only being able to display in black & white. *1.1, released in 1988, included the ''SuperConvert'' app to convert to/from ''LaserBits''; was bundled with Microsoft Word 4.0 for Macintosh in 1990. *2.0, released in 1989, introduced many new features including: AutoTrace, ''SuperBits'' (formerly ''LaserBits''), freehand Bézier tool, multi-page documents, rich text in text blocks, rotation and transformations, plug-ins, a multi-palette user interface, custom tools in the paint palette. * 3.0, released in 1991, was a major revision that added many extra features, most notably color support, but also image enhancement functions and texture fills; hotkeys were revamped to simplify the interface; tear-off palettes. * 3.5, released in 1993, brought support for

System 7 System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file shari ...

, copy brush tool, several other new drawing tools including some that are pressure sensitive, expanded importing capability including still frames from QuickTime. This was the final version of the app. Later versions were published by Aldus after their 1990 acquisition of

. The application continued to be sold by

Adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

after their 1994 takeover of Aldus.

Plug-ins

In 1988, alongside version 1.1, an SDK (software development kit) was released that allowed the creation of software plug-ins to add features and capabilities to SuperPaint. Many plugins were created and shared, including some that added support for pressure-sensitive pens such as those made by

Wacom is a Japanese company headquartered in Kazo, Saitama, Japan, that specializes in manufacturing graphics tablets and related products. As of 2012 Wacom generated sales of approximately 40.7 billion yen with 785 employees. The company's shares ...

Later use

Artist Richard Bolam used images drawn using Aldus SuperPaint in the 1990s as part of his "Bolam at 50" exhibition in 2014. Naoki Yamamoto is seen using SuperPaint in the Documentary ''Urasawa Naoki no Manben'' in season 4, episode 3 (broadcast in 2017).

References

External links

A screenshot from SuperPaint version 1
(includes source code)

(includes source code) * Graphics software Raster graphics editors Macintosh-only software Classic Mac OS software Macintosh graphics software Discontinued software Aldus software 1986 software {{graphics-software-stub