layers／channels／masks／filters／gradients／typography
About
A new macOS image editor with familiar key bindings and a somewhat retro aesthetic. Keeping the dream of the '90s alive!
No AI tools here – plenty of other apps do that. We focus on deterministic and mathematical mutations rather than stochastically generated slop.
Built for Apple Silicon. Requires macOS 15 Sequoia.
This free download offers a 14-day trial period, after which
it's a $9.99 one-time purchase to buy a perpetual license.
Blog
Features
What can you do with Mojave Paint?
Design a flyer!
Design App Store screenshots!
Draw an icon!
Re-color specific areas of a photograph!
Video gallery
Recent releases
1.6.0 – September 5, 2026
New
- Quick Select tool. Make a selection easily by painting rough brush strokes that snap to nearby edges.
- The "Photo Adjust" adjustment layer. Make basic photo editing adjustments non-destructively, including color temperature, exposure, shadows/highlights and vibrancy.
- The "Black and White" adjustment layer. Convert a color image to black and white, choosing how much each color channel contributes.
- Threshold adjustment layer
- Added "Layer Mask > From Alpha" to extract the alpha channel of a pixel layer into a mask, where you can edit it, then optionally bake it back in with "Layer Mask > Apply".
Changed (8)
- Resizable Properties panel
- Double-click most slider knobs to reset them to default (in addition to the label)
- Added "Duplicate" to the document tab's context menu
- The Marquee tool now shows the coordinates and dimensions of the selection, and allows you to edit them for precise selections
- When you position a Guide it shows the appropriate-axis coordinate in the status bar
- Cycling through the Marquee slot's 4 tools now skips "Row Select" and "Column Select" which are less commonly used. (Cycle using Shift+M or double-tap the M, which works with any of the tool slot's respective shortcuts.)
- Cycle through the tools in whichever slot you have selected with Shift+Shift.
- When dragging an existing selection around, Shift now constrains the movement horizontal or vertical
Fixed (3)
- The Export quality preview was all messed up with grayscale images
- Pasting into a mask was placing it centered instead of matching the coordinates you cut from
- Pencil dabs were erroneously spaced apart when using larger than 1px brushes
1.5.4 – August 29, 2026
Changed
- Added Command+G keyboard shortcut to group layers
- Improved dark mode colors. Now even darker!
- When you first open a document it fits the viewport instead of snapping to a discrete zoom level. Get back to this view at any time with Command+0.
- Improved usability with the "click to select all" input boxes. Now subsequent clicks place the cursor instead of repeatedly selecting all.
- The color picker's hex output field now auto-selects when you click it, making it easier to get your color values out.
- Free transform's numeric inputs now auto-select when you click them, making it easier to replace their values by keyboard.
- When you update a Free Transform's numeric input value and hit Enter, it now applies it _and_ it commits all pending transforms. To apply and _not_ commit you can tab away or click outside.
- More tips and tip videos, and gave tips a keyboard shortcut of Command+/ for easier access.
Fixed (2)
- Pairwise kerning was getting dropped when you duplicated a type layer
- Free transform got into a bad state when dragging a label while you had keyboard focus in the associated input field
1.5.3 – August 25, 2026
New
- Tips window with helpful tips and tricks you can page through
- Rounding out the blend modes with 10 more of the classic ones, plus the blend mode menu is arranged in two columns now
Changed (1)
- Added a zoom slider to the status bar
Fixed (1)
- After a "Merge down" the layer thumbnail would stop updating
Interactive roadmap
What missing features are your biggest pain points in Mojave Paint right now?
Shape layers
Such as square (with adjustable corner radius), circle, other primitive shapes. Ability to set fill and stroke and stroke width.
Smart objects
Ability to set a bitmap as immutable, such that transforming it leaves the original copy non-destructively in tact. This makes sizing up and down not lose detail.
Dodge and burn tools
Brush that lightens and darkens.
Warp tool
Warp on a grid, or fancier options like Liquify.
PSD import and export
And layered TIFF while we're at it. Pixel layers and type layers (with styles) should come across in high fidelity, other features will have to be lossy.
Pattern fill
Repeating patterns you can use as a fill anywhere you'd otherwise use solid color or gradient fills.
Brush support
We currently just have circle and square. This would let you use arbitrary bitmaps as brushes, and import Photoshop ABR brushes.
Character and paragraph styles
Character style would include kerning and tracking. Paragraph style would include alignment and leading.
Snap to guides
Dragged element snapping to guides. Affects the move tool and the rectangle marquee and crop tool regions, among possibly other things.
Camera Raw features
This has nothing to do with raw files, it means photo retouching controls such as sliders for exposure, color balance, shadows, highlights, etc.
Layer styles
Color and gradient overlay, drop shadow, outline, outer glow, etc.
Dark mode
Configurable in settings to be "Light", "Dark", or "System (OS)"