Mac has long been referred to as the “Creative’s workshop.” The idea that most graphic designers, interior designers, video animators, and architects are more drawn towards Mac may hold water to an extent. Mac attracts creatives for either of two reasons – as the traditional tool they’ve always used or its perceived high performance standards. Speaking of tradition, the first version of Photoshop was built exclusively for Macintosh users, giving Mac the first mover advantage.
Sketch has become the 'de facto' tool for UI design - i.e., for producing mockups for both mobile apps, as well as websites. There are now dozens of plugins adding features to the app, and integrating it with external third-party services. Add to this the fact that Sketch should be receiving a healthy injection of cash from its 'subscription-ware' business model, and you'd expect a solid, refined and feature-full application.Unfortunately, IMHO, that is not the case. This is an app that has what are now long-standing, frustrating omissions and faults. THE PURPOSE OF PLUGINSAn app should have all the functionality its users need 'out-of-the-box', and should not rely on extensions and plugins to provide functionality that core users may consider 'essential'. Plugins should address edge use-cases, which might not be interesting or financially viable for the developer to cater for. If I want my designs to be automatically uploaded to some third-party online sharing service, that is a good use-case for a plugin. If I want to create full-blown animations from my static designs, that is another. An app that is designed for mocking up user interfaces of websites should, however, have pretty solid built-in *auto-resizing* tools - tools which should help me align and resize my layout elements to fit into different sized canvases. That is an essential function. Sketch's 'Resize' function is, however, limited and buggy: it does not resize items based on your canvas size (only on container groups). Resizing options are hard to understand, and buggy, often not allowing you to have the resizing effect you need. This forces the user to have to download a plugin in order to have 'proper' resizing functionality - such as 'Fluid' or the better 'Auto Layout'.But the bugs and lack of functionality don't end there. Although Sketch has 'Symbols' - i.e., 'master elements' that you can use multiple times in your design, overriding content but keeping styles - these don't work as expected. For instance: there is *no way* to create symbol buttons that automatically resize when the text is changed. Although several plugins have been created to try to address that - 'Button', 'Adjust Button Shape', 'Dynamic Button Symbol', etc. - none of them actually work well, because of limitations in Sketch itself. In fact, there are limitations, gaps and omissions *everywhere* in Sketch. There are wonderful plugins that can, for instance, download an image automatically from Unsplash, and apply it as a background fill to one of your shapes. But once the image is applied as a fill, there is no way to export it, so it can be used in your actual html or code (you have to export the 'shape'). Want to document your layout with notes? You should get a plugin. Need icons from FontAwesome? Get a plugin. Want standard colour palettes - like Material Design, or Pantone? A plugin. Need to have auto-stacking, grid layouts? Plugin.So, with so much relying on plugins, we would expect Sketch's plugin architecture to be solid, and their developer support to be nothing short of stellar.PLUGIN PROGRAMMING LIMITATIONSUnfortunately, Sketch plugins are written basically in Javascript, and use a Javascript-Cocoa bridge to access native MacOS functionality. Although widely used on the web, Javascript is a notoriously tricky and difficult language for newbies to learn, and Cocoa is a gigantic framework. This means, that the developer trying to produce plugins for Sketch should expect a *very* steep learning curve. Sketch's own documentation starts by encouraging prospective developers to learn by exploring the code of existing plugins.Adding to this difficulty is the fact that Sketch's API keeps changing - as they fix bugs and add necessary features - and developers have to keep updating their plugins in order to keep them working. Many of the plugin developers, however, seem to be well-intentioned amateurs, who are trying to address the shortcomings of the program as best as they can. This means that the quality of the code is not high, and as updates are rolled out, many plugins break. Constantly. LACKING PLUGIN MANAGEMENTIf plugins are so vitally important to Sketch, you'd expect the app to have fantastic plugin management features - like a way to search, instal and update plugins in-app. Sketch's official way for the user to manage plugins is, however, for them to download the plugin manually - often from a GitHub repository - then, double-click on the main plugin file (which copies it into Sketch's plugin folder), then to open the in-app 'Manage Plugins' dialogue, and enable the plugin. Uninstalling a plugin involves having to open the hidden plugin folder, and manually drag the plugin to the trash. With such dismal support for plugin management, it's no surprise that over the years there have been a few projects that have tried to fill that void. 'Sketch Toolbox' and 'Sketch Runner' both tried to ease plugin management pains for Sketch users, and the latest one to take on the mantle is 'Sketchpacks' (the most promising and feature-full so far). Some plugin developers, like Craft, have ended up developing their own plugin manager, for their own plugins. Which means that if you have Sketchpacks and Craft plugins installed, you will have 2 extra items in your Mac menubar - just to keep your Sketch plugins up-to-date.THE SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION MODELI understand why some companies like the 'software subscription' business model: it's a more reliable source of income for them than the traditional pay-per-license. Ultimately, it might not cost any more money to the customer, and it provides the company with a steadier flow of cash that makes planning and everyday operations easier.Unfortunately, what is best for the company, is not always best for the customer. As a customer, I want to buy a *product*. I want the company to take responsibility for delivering to me what I'm paying for, and not deliver a promise that they will improve. If you make *substantial* improvements and add features to the software, then charge me for an *upgrade*, as this is now a new product. I should not have to pay for your software as if it were electricity, or water, or gas, or some sort of regular utility bill. If you start charging me a subscription, I will *always* give your competitors a chance.SKETCH'S POPULARITYWith so many shortcomings, why is Sketch so popular? Unfortunately for us, because at the moment we have nothing better in this design space. Affinity Designer is a much more solid tool, with incredible features, but it is geared solidly at print production, and lacks the plugin ecosystem that Sketch has forced its users to build. Adobe tools suffer from the same bugginess, and the same subscription model, as Sketch. Other new tools lack in features. This lack of competition is probably the very reason why these shortcomings in Sketch have gone for so long without being addressed by the developer. We can only hope this may change.
Formerly known as Google SketchUp, this is a great option for CAD software for Mac. SketchUp bills itself as easy-to-use CAD software with features such as 3D modeling of common projects such as landscaping and buildings, a customizable interface, and multiple file-import options. Our Academic Site Licensing Program is an affordable way for qualifying academic institutions to make the commercial versions of ACD/ChemSketch and ACD/I-Lab available to their students and faculty. Free access to site licenses of ACD/ChemSketch Freeware are available.
And while the PC versus Mac might present an interesting discourse, I will be walking the safe lines, and a list of simple drawing apps for Mac is all we are talking about today.
Related: 5 of the Best Drawing Apps for Android
1. Patina
This sweet and simple drawing app is certainly closer to Microsoft Paint than Adobe Photoshop on the complexity scale, but lets you illustrate things that certainly wouldn’t have been readily doable on Paint. You won’t find any complexities like layers here, but within the one layer you do have you can do plenty.
You can use it for the basic things like cropping, rotating and making colour adjustments on images, but there are lots of other options here too when it comes to transparencies, brush types, sketching and so on.
The elegant interface makes Patina a delight to use, and it’s compatible with myriad file types like PDF and Photoshop files, alongside JPGs, PNGs and other usual suspects.
Sketch Program For Mac Usenet2. Markup Feature in Preview
Microsoft office home use program for mac. Before going ahead and downloading a bunch of apps you’ve never heard of, you should try out macOS’s secret paint feature, hidden right there in the trusty Mac Preview app.
When you open an image in Preview, click the icon next to the search bar at the top-right to open the ‘Markup Toolbar,’ which you’ll quickly find does a whole lot more than just marking up.
This toolbar pretty much functions like a basic paint program, allowing you to draw, scribble, make shapes and annotate the image you’re previewing. There are even some mildly more advanced functions, like Smart Lasso, which lets you accurately pick out shapes in your image.
It’s simple stuff, but it does the job when it comes to everyday tasks.
3. Sketch
This Mac drawing software holds all the aces when it comes to versatility. Sketch can be used to create professional artwork, draw and design websites and so much more. Sketch is a vector-based application with several features such as a toolbar, canvas, editable shapes and so much more. I have found Sketch a bit irregular, as it may require a little background knowledge and experience in basic designing. It’s nevertheless a user-friendly tool even for newbies. You can blob, warp, and twirl your way into anything.
4. Paintbrush
Paint Brush is a painting and illustrating application for Mac. Paint Brush is quite similar to Microsoft Paint on Windows in terms of functionality and build. Paint Brush offers some of the best freehand art experience in the game. It does not come with the complexity or spec requirements of other third-party applications, but if you need to get a few illustrations made up for occasional doodling, this drawing application tool is all you need to save the day.
Sketch For Mac Free5. Made with Mischief
Made with Mischief is a unique, simple drawing app for Mac. This application is as easy and simple as you could ever imagine. After installation you are welcomed by a blank screen and can start drawing right away, creating the nostalgic experience of pen and paper.
Made with Mischief is neither vector-based nor pixel-based and works best on a desktop. Made with Mischief has other exciting features like allowing you to create and customize your set of brushes and pen tools. Made with Mischief is a pretty good application for beginners as it lets you draw without limiting your canvas size.
6. ArtBoard
ArtBoard is a simple Mac drawing application that enables you to create minimalist and elaborate artwork for professional and personal purposes. ArtBoard offers so much in tools, features, usability components and flexibility. You can use any of its numerous backgrounds and layouts.
Sketch Program For Mac Useful
ArtBoard lets you work in layers, enabling you to work on different aspects of your drawings simultaneously. One of the most remarkable features of ArtBoard is the option of drag and drop which allows you to incorporate images straight from import. Although its lack of distortion tools and shortcomings in image conversion between vector and raster is noticeable, ArtBoard remains a top drawing tool for Mac.
Conclusion
There are certainly many simple drawing apps for Mac out there – free and paid alike. I wrote this list based on a cursory focus on the applications’ imitation of real-life drawing experience, availability of tools, simplicity, flexibility, and interface. Potentialy unwanted programs remove for mac. I will not have the final word on this and earnestly look forward to your suggestions. Which of these drawing applications do you use? Kindly share your thoughts below.
Pencil Sketch Program For Mac
This article was first published in September 2017 and was updated in June 2019.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |